Ten

Tonight is one of those nights. A remembering night. An "I don't want to do much but upload and look at my pictures to unwind" night. (Never mind that I cooked and fed dinner, went grocery shopping, and got a couple of children in the bed).

I'll blame the fact that I'm up late again on last night when I did the unthinkable. I went to bed at 8:15 pm. All I remember is laying down to nurse Alysse, thinking about getting up shortly to help Joe get the big girls in the bed. Next thing I knew it was like the wee hours of the morning.

I guess that's what you might call tired. And I think I needed the rest because yesterday I'm pretty sure that...

a.) I forgot that I went downstairs to get a diaper for Maddie until I heard her come running at least a full twenty minutes later and shouting, "I went poopie in the playroom!" Thankfully, it was actually an, "I'm about to go poopie in the playroom!" so I dodged an, ahem, bullet.
b.) I also forgot to put a load of laundry in the dryer so I had to wash it again and perhaps again.
c.) In desperation I finally scotch taped a baby doll's hat onto her stubborn head because I couldn't bring myself to put it on one more time.
d.) The clincher? I was pretty much still in my pajamas from the night before when I laid down anyway.

So, yes, tonight I am remembering a little something we fondly recall as our family vacation. We have to be kind of creative since this spot in the budget is often reserved for trips to visit both sides of our family. Creativity came this time in form of a ninety minute timeshare presentation. But considering the fact that we politely shared from the get go that we wouldn't be joining and that we got loads of free stuff even still... it was worth that hour and a half to spend three days and two nights at a five star resort (plus free water park admissions and kids' meals) for less than you would typically spend one night in an average hotel room!

In honor of our ten day vacation/time to visit family, here are ten snapshots with ten of the things that I'm missing tonight...

One... late night swims in 80 degree water.
Two... first time for sisters to bunk up sofa bed style.
Three... water park adventures.
Four... laughter and silliness enough to balance out any mayhem (and there's always a little bit of mayhem).
Five... lots of family time with people we love and miss.
Six... grinning little girls getting bathed by Nana.
(actually that would be the entire post below)

Seven... playgrounds that meet the mountain skies.
Eight... a bedhead birthday surprise following a party of death by lasagna and chocolate (I especially love how detailed her artwork was!)
Nine... using the fact that we saved enough to eat at a favorite place in an old mill house (Operation Baby Weight postponed for this event).
Ten... loving up a friend who is now in Africa loving on some beautiful orphans.
And honorable mentions... my Mama's cooking including some to die for homemade ice-cream.
And those corn fritters from the Old Mill 'cause when you're postponing, you might as well go all the way out, you know?

~Katrina :)