#150 In which our hero returns from a successful trip.

So, the trip to the cabin went well.

I got to catch up (briefly) with a couple of cousins I hadn’t seen in a long, long time and generally enjoy being with family. Well, wait… that’s a bit of bullshit, really. I did enjoy my time with family, but mostly I chased around kids.

In hindsight, it was a really ambitious outing… introducing our kids (2 ½ and 1 year old, you’ll remember) to a kinda primitive setting, having them sleep outside in a tent for the first time and trying to squeeze in some quality family time. We brought a ridiculous amount of stuff (tent, air mattress x2, crib, bedding x4, pillows, flashlights, high chair, potty chair…) set it all up Saturday morning and tore it all down Sunday morning. And it was a brand new tent so I wasn’t 100% sure of how it went up. Ugh.

Lily really enjoyed playing with her older cousins (ages 6 and 10, I think); some of the favorite games included “smacking things with sticks” and “filling up the wheelbarrow with dirt” along with a healthy dose of “can I play with your Gameboy? Can I now? Can I now? How about now?!”

Macey is just old enough to toddle off and pick up any rock, acorn or hunk of dirt in a two mile radius and stick it in her mouth. So both of these kids ended up filthy. After chasing them around for eight hours, Macey decided that she only wanted to sleep about an hour at a stretch. Come morning, The Scientist and I were both pretty punch drunk. The whining and crying that occurred while the car was being packed damn near pushed us both over the edge. I’ve noticed that when we’re in that state, most of our sentences tend to start out the same way:

Look, all I’m saying…
It’s not my fucking fault…
Hey, I didn’t want to…
Is that a fucking joke?
Christ! What’s taking so long…

And go downhill from there. But both girls were asleep 15 minutes after leaving, which made for a pleasant car ride.

All the Uncle John drama I feared did not come to pass, at least, not on the surface. He did seem older to me; older than I’ve seen him in some time. But at least he got to meet my kids.

So now, back to business as usual. That is, if Macey would just sleep through the night. I’m seriously considering putting her in the car overnight. I mean, She slept for three hours straight on the car ride home… maybe she’d sleep all night?

Relax, I’d roll down the windows.