An actual kidless vacation - well sorta

I was fortunate enough to get a kidless vacation, to Hawaii!! :) I got to spend 5 days in Waikiki enjoying peace, quiet, sleeping in, good food, nice weather.. did I mention peace and quiet??
The hubby has been working in Hawaii about every three to four weeks... we were able to swing having me tag along for a trip since both Little J and Miss O were in school and my Mom was in town to be able to watch both. Had Big Al been home, this trip would not have been possible!
The weather was super nice... even though it was a bit lonely by myself all day.. I loved the peace and quiet and ability to be able to let my guard down for a bit.. A much needed respite for ME!

Our big summer adventure!

This summer, we took all three kids on an "international" vacation! Ok, so it was only to Vancouver, Canada.... but still! First time that Little J and Miss O got to actually use their US passports! We stayed at the Strathcona Lodge on Vancouver Island - pretty much out in the middle of no-where!
After this so called "vacation"... I think that I have come to the realization that there is no such thing as a "vacation" when you take these kids ANYWHERE! Each child had their own issue with this or that - and when they started feeding off one- another... LOOK OUT!
Fortunately, our little cabin was right on the beach, so the kids spent HOURS playing in the water! That was our only blessing! Well, other than coming home in one piece!

How was our weekend? Hmmmmmm

We decided to go to Disney Land for the weekend! It was sort of a quick decision trip... we planned about a week ago, with out the kids knowledge!
We spent Saturday night in Seattle, just hanging out... then at dinner asked them what they wanted to do tomorrow. Since we did not like any of their ideas.. we decided to tell them! They were SHOCKED!

We jumped on a plane early Sunday morning to Anaheim. Spent Sunday thru Tuesday at Disney, then flew home Wednesday! We did get loads and loads of rain... but we had a great time anyways!

Photos from the weekend!

My favorite hotel!

On Sunday, the hubby and I were fortunate enough to spend a night away - by ourselves! That is a rarity and a first! This was the first time that both of us have been away from Miss O overnight!
We stayed at my favorite hotel, The Davenport. I absolutely love this place! My old employer used to send employees to Spokane for training, and we got to stay at this amazing hotel! It's been 2 years since my last visit, but it was as elegant as always! Not only is it extremely elegant, it has a ton of history and an amazing story! My pictures do no justice... but I had to try!

On the ceiling in one of the ballrooms.
The fireplace in the lobby!
The most amazing floral arrangements! They are super huge and changed out daily! Just beautiful!
You would be amazed by the endless amount of engraved wood and beams... it is just beautiful and so much history!
It was really nice to get away - even if only for 24 hours - it was a good time to recharge!

How quickly things change.....

Miss O spent most the trip checking her feet? Not sure why.. it did keep her occupied!

We crossed over "Galloping Gertie" aka the Tacoma Narrows bridge

Well... It has been a long and hard last 3 days! Within about an hour of my last post, I got a call from my brother-in-law, aka BIL, that there was some problems with their baby (in utero) and they were at the hospital. I had just finished packing for our little weekend get-away, and got the house picked up and all critters "ready to go"...

So - the kids and I went into town, swapped vehicles (as mine only seats 7!) and we took my four nephews back to our house. While my BIL and SIL were in wait and see mode... we kept the four nephews for the next 24 hours or so. We went from a quiet house, with 2 behaving kids to a not as quiet house with 6 kids! Though I loved spending the time with my nephews, the circumstances were not the best. Saturday, my BIL's MIL and FIL drove up to lend heart and a hand - so the kiddos were returned home. We then drove over to Bremerton to pick up Big A...

First we spent the night in Seattle at our favorite overnight spot... so Little J and Miss O could swim! We ate at the hubbys favorite restaurant in Renton and then called it a night.... We were extremely exhausted! But, of course, Miss O had already decided in her little brain that she did not want to sleep until 11pm... UGHHHHHHHH! And, after pulling my hair for about 30 minutes - she fell asleep... only to wake us ALL up at 5:30am!

We had breakfast, packed back up, loaded the car and drove to meet Grandma Judy and Big A in Silverdale for lunch and the great kid transfer!

Little J had a hard time with the whole thing, as first "his" schedule was all messed up, and then the fact that his brother (who he apparently did not miss) was coming back with us....

When we picked up Big A, he did not really appear to be too happy about coming home with us...as he had about a week-long vacation from .... us! That was a little hard at first, for me at least, as it was almost a slap in the face. We loaded everyone up in the car and headed home after a quick lunch... and within about 5 minutes, the boys started bickering! UGH!

We made it home pretty quick (as no one wanted to be in the car any longer than necessary!) and tried hard to resume "normal" activities for the day! HAHA!

The rest of Sunday was sort of a stressed out blur... everyone was tired, no one wanted to get along and tempers for short! Hubby and I both went to bed hoping that the rest of the week goes better... unfortunately...

Our little nephew #5 was met by God and taken from his family to Heaven last night. My BIL/SIL went home from the hospital today and now my other little nephew, Georgie is in the ER with appendix issues..... Our hearts are with all of them during this really rough time for them.

We hope things get better.

Amy

Viva Las Vegas!

Me and Dog, the Bounty Hunter

Funny - we ran into a young slim Elvis!

Jessie, Jenny and Me finishing off our drinks!

We had a total blast on our annual Girls Only Vegas Vacation! We had easy flights on Alaska, and a really great timeshare to stay in (thanks to Nicholes Mom!). The weather in Vegas was about 108 during the day.... NICE AND HOT! The first day felt awesome - as we have not had a good hot day in a long time! It was not too bad!

As a group we went and saw Wayne Brady at the Venetian - too funny! And then Nichole and I wanted something a little more "raunchy"! And we saw Rodney Carrington at the MGM... it was awesome! We had so much fun! We rode in style with limos to and from the airport too!

AND I got to meet Dog, the Bounty Hunter! Hehe! I think that out of everything I got to do, including being actually gone - this was the one thing that the hubby was most jealous of!

The kiddos were pretty good while I was gone... Mr. Mom did pretty well too! He is lucky that Miss O is our EASIEST kiddo! Even at 3 and a half - she is the easiest to deal with! (hmmm what does that tell you about our boys????)

So - it is good to be back.... back to the old grind! UGH!



Amy