Long Weekend

Hey all,

I took miss chicken pox and whale to southern Illinois this past weekend with my sister, her kids, my mom and my step dad. We left Wednesday and stayed in a hotel on the way down. It is not a terribly long drive, but my sister and I stayed in a double queen with all four kids. At least it was a Comfort Suites and it was a very large, very nice, very quiet room. I got to sleep alone :O) Whale slept on the pull out with my niece M that is 9 months younger than him. T slept in a crib and my other niece E slept with my sister K. We went out to eat at Cracker Barrel when we got there and then the kids swam in the pool. T loved it, but I had left my camera in the room so I didn't get any pictures of her first pool visit. Whale is a fish anyway so naturally he had fun. We all got up and took off the next morning after the free hot breakfast at the hotel and we only drove about an hour before we found a mall with a Target in it. I LOVE SHOPPING!!! I really didn't buy much, but I still like to look. We went and checked into the hotel and the pool was closed for repairs. That really threw a wrench into our plans for the next day. We went and visited my grandmother, and I am adding a picture of my grandmother with my kiddos and my nieces. I love my kids all of them in the picture are my sweeties. My niece E took up with T all weekend and was like a little mother to her. She was such a helpful little girl. She was always buckling her in her car seat and helping her eat on the run since they were in the very back part of the minivan.

We got up the next morning and got ready and went down to eat in the attached restaurant (kids eat free) and then we went shopping in the Carbondale mall. Not a fabulous mall, but better than nothing. It actually Thundered and lightninged that day. We went back to the hotel and I ran in and got a diaper for T and then we met my other sister and her family and my grandmother at Golden Corral and had lunch. Whale was seriously misbehaving and so was T so I had my sister K take us back to the hotel and we all took naps. We got up and then went and visited more family that night. We got back to the hotel late and watched Disney channel and went to bed.

Saturday morning we just snacked in the room for breakfast and then went swimming. The kids had a blast. I took T up to the room early and got a shower so the other kids could swim without the screaming one tagging along. She was not scared screaming, just excited screaming and only wanted my niece E, but she wanted to swim and do tricks in the water. We all got cleaned up and went to eat lunch at Applebee's. We then headed out to visit more family. We spent the afternoon with them and the kids played. Whale is now nicknamed by my step dad "The Cat Whisperer" He was able to catch a couple of kittens that had not been caught before, and they didn't try to scratch him or get away. T just ran around like she had known these people all her life. She definitely came out of her shell this weekend. We had a bonfire and roasted hot dogs and made smores. We once again got home (hotel) late and the kids were seriously sleep deprived. This hotel room was very small and not at all quiet, but it was a nice, brand new hotel. Just very thin walls and doors. We got up yesterday morning and all of us got cleaned up and packed up and headed back to Indiana. We had to be home in time for the Colts at 4:15pm you know. We got home and I started unpacking and watching the game. DH had cleaned up the kitchen for me while we were gone, but he said he was lonely and bored, so I am glad he thought of cleaning as an alternative activity. I mean he could have sat and played on the computer all weekend.

T seems to be adjusting nicely. She absolutely refuses to use English for some of the things she knows the Russian word for. Tonight she was looking at a talking Dora book and said "Vamanos" So I now have trilingual daughter, It won't last long though since she only has a couple of words in each of the three languages. LOL!!! She is most certainly hard headed and stubborn. The caregivers said she was the leader and the bully of the pack, and let me tell you that is the truth. I definitely have my hands full with these two. Whale is having a really hard time adjusting and we are not really sure what his problem is yet. I don't think it is jealousy of her with us, we are certainly giving him his fair share of attention, but she will NOT let him love on her at all. I think that makes him sad. He waited so long for her too, and she won't let him hug her. It breaks my heart.

I have seriously wanted to go back to work early since these kids seem to fight and scream constantly. I can't though, this weekend T called every woman she met "Ma" or "Mama" and when we got home she called DH "Ma" so I think we need to spend more time together so she will realize the difference between mom and everyone else and Dad and everyone else. I am going to go back to work in a couple of weeks and tomorrow she will have her Well baby check up. So they will check all of her medicals from Ukraine and her Vaccinations. I believe she has gained 2 pounds since we have been home and her hair is DEFINITELY growing. From the way it looks she is going to have some curly hair in the back. She is a very happy go lucky girl that is for sure.