Come along to Sesame Street

During our drive home from Birmingham on Sunday, Jamie and I decided very spur of the moment that we should take a little getaway with the boys. Jamie hasn't taken off work since our summer vacay so he was pretty keen on the idea and Sesame Street Live just so happened to be in Huntsville and what better fun that to take the kids! So we decided to do just that, as well as get a room in Huntsville for the night.  Jamie took of work Wednesday through Friday and we were super excited about spending some time together relaxing and enjoying eachother's company... I told him if he would give me and the kids Wednesday and Thursday then he could have Friday and Saturday to play golf... he was perfectly okay with that exchange!  The show was Wednesday morning at the VBC and the kids loved it.  Noah's expression when the show began was priceless! He loved all of the music and dancing. Collier paid attention at times and would clap his hands but he was a little less interested, plus he hadn't had a nap and it was about that time.  All was great until the 15 minute intermission. Once the show started back up, the kids were over it at that point.  They were getting hungry and antsy so we ended up leaving about 15 minutes before it ended... funny thing is everyone I've talked to did the same thing!  We went to Parkway Place mall to grab lunch and do a little shopping.  Collier was so worn out that he actually fell asleep in the stroller, which is very rare.  After shopping, we checked in to our hotel room at the Westin at Bridge Street and the kids and I took 45 minute naps. 

Following our nap, we walked down to PF Changs for dinner... this is where things got a little hairy for us.  All day our kids had behaved wonderfully, so I had to know that they would crack at some point.  That point was dinnertime.  They were hungry and tired and worn out.  Collier wanted to feed himself (his new thing and he gets mad when I try to help him) so he fed himself honey chicken and fried rice, which of course created a huge, sticky mess.  He dropped his cup, his spoon, the chopsticks he was playing with and his toy cell phone no less than 50 times.  Noah wouldn't stay put in his chair.  I honestly can't blame him though... he had rode in the car to Huntsville, sat in the chair / mine and Jamie's laps during the Sesame Street show, then rode in the stroller at the mall.  So he was antsy.  We hurried through dinner (so much so that Jamie left his credit card and we left one of the kid's straw cups and had to return to get them the next day.)  We made a stop at the Chocolate Crocodile to get everyone a treat and headed back to the hotel.  We all slipped into our PJ's and ate chocolate covered strawberries and oreo covered marshmellows in our "heavenly" Westin bed (seriously, that's what they are called and rightfully so!)  Now the tricky part was getting the kids to both go to sleep in a hotel room.  We had a portable crib brought up and actually wheeled Collier into the bathroom so he would fall asleep.  Jamie, Noah and I slept in the king bed.  Once Collier was asleep, we slowly wheeled him back into the room.  All was good.... until 10:30 when Noah woke up.  He does this periodically and he'll "wake" up breathing funny, kind of gasping for breath but his eyes are shut the whole time.  It's almost like he has a bad dream, but doesn't fully wake up.  Sometimes at home, I'll hear him do this so I'll go in his room and rock him gently to wake him up, which calms him down and the funny breathing stops, then he goes right back to sleep.  I've mentioned it to the doctor and she didn't think it was a big deal, either bad dreams or transitioning into a different sleep stage.  Anyways, he started doing this at 10:30 and I tried waking him up to calm him down but I guess he was confused because we weren't at home so he began crying, which of course, woke up Collier.  After 10 minutes of the both of them crying, I wheeled Collier and his little crib back into the bathroom.  He almost immediately calmed down so I just left him in there the rest of the night!  Once Collier quit crying, so did Noah and he finally drifted back to sleep.  The rest of the night was uneventful (other than Jamie being unable to go into the bathroom because of Collier being in there, so he had to pee in a cup!) and we all slept until 8:30 that morning.

The next morning we got up, fed and dressed, and did a little more shopping at Bridge Street.  I guess I should say I did some shopping.  Jamie and the boys were just along for the ride... but they were very patient with me.  A few hours later, we headed home.  Once we got home, the kids took LONG naps and Jamie and I enjoyed the quiet, alone time and watched a movie together.  We ordered sushi and enjoyed an evening relaxing at the house.  I'm glad we took some time out of the normal routine of things, to get away as a family... even if it was just an overnight trip to Huntsville.  I treasure times like these!  Its the small things that mean the most and I hope our boys always remember these little things that we can do together as a family!