Five Days

Kara and Matt have escaped to Hawaii for five days to celebrate their 10th (!) wedding anniversary. Mark and I have been left in charge of Bentley, Jake, and Viva. It is now Saturday afternoon and our time alone with the kidlets is half over. We are all doing well. No major breakdowns, although Jake and Bentley have screamed for their mother at naptime and at bedtime. (Do they really think she would have allowed them to stay up longer?!) Once they get over their little tantrums, they go to sleep and we are all happy. Viva has been sleeping through the night, which was a concern that I had. She sometimes joins her parents in their bed in the middle of the night. What will I do if she wakes up and wants them in the middle of the night? I’ve already made the mistake of allowing Bentley free access to our bed and Jake is there now and again. Sorry Viva—I have to draw the line! (I just hope my resolution isn’t put to the test.)

What have we been doing together while the little ones’ parents play on a sunny beach in Maui? We have not enjoyed much sunshine, that is for sure. It has rained for the past three days and so it’s been too wet to go to the park or playground. Opa took Friday off from work and he and the boys ran errands in the morning while Viva was at Grandma Karen’s. I enjoyed a couple of hours of free time. I read. (I probably should have been sorting boxes in the garage, but I didn’t.) We’ve been hanging out at the house doing the usual—cars, pegs, books, puzzles, train videos, more cars, kitchen time, tea time, dancing, and yet more cars. Cousin Rachel (who will be featured in a post soon) has been entertaining us for a couple of hours every day. She’s a big hit with the children. Bentley is, once again, in love. And, of course, the children spend time with great-grandma—begging breakfast bars off her and cornering her to read books with them. Viva loves to race her great-grandma to the reclining chair in the family room. Hardly a fair race, but, fortunately, Viva’s good about giving up her winning position.

We as a group visited the Chevy dealership twice. Once to drop my truck off and once to pick it up. Bentley was rather distressed when we left the truck there. The children liked looking at the new vehicles and racing around the sidewalks outside the showroom. Between their colds and Bentley’s flu and the rain, they haven’t had enough outside time the past two weeks. They can get a little wild indoors. It’s going to be a loooong winter with a three (turning four) year old and twin two year olds. Maybe I should book a trip to Hawaii?