Permanent Residence: Couch

Wow. OK. Yeah. So if you can't tell from that last post, I didn't have the reorganizing out of my system like I thought I did. It culminated in a quick (hah!)  Ikea trip to pick up a few storage bins for Seth's toys so that they wouldn't take up an entire corner of my living room in all their primary colored glory. I think Ikea is designed so that you can't just go quickly and get what you need...it was over two hours of following the arrows and wishing monopoly money worked in that store. I love Ikea. If forced to choose between a day at Sea World or Ikea, I would choose Ikea, and I'd eat the meatballs for lunch. Yum.

I didn't resurface until about 11 o'clock Friday night, and then only because I was distracted by an impromptu Disney trip we had been blessed to get the chance to take the next day. I forced myself to stop scrubbing a baseboard and pack a bag for the kids for the morning, including enough snacks to feed a small army. So I didn't get to blog. I thought about blogging as I was cleaning my walls, but I couldn't type and clean at the same time.

We set off bright and early, with great intentions, but as always, we ran late, because that's what we do. That could be our motto, really. But finally, we got there and even a massive, award winning diaper blowout on Seth's part couldn't slow us down too much. Although it really did gross us out. Sidenote: It may be a bad idea to feed your child donut holes indiscriminately throughout an hour drive. Keep that in mind.

The day turned out great, which I wasn't sure would be the case, considering we were braving the Magic Kingdom on a Saturday. But Seth was entranced, he high fived everyone he saw very enthusiastically, and every ride was amazingly exciting to him. Ava and Jace were, as always, in love with the place, and had a great time, although I did have to promise Ava would would not ride the Pirates of the Caribbean next time, which will be a problem considering it was Jace's favorite ride. All in all, we left the park with  very few casualties; a sippy cup Seth hurled down the row of chairs in the Hall of Presidents, a Onesie that was not worth trying to save after another blowout, and a misplaced CI battery. Not bad for over ten hours in the park. The kids literally fell asleep on the shuttle back to the car, and believe me, that was a fun walk off the shuttle carrying Seth and shaking awake the other two. I knew we should have taken a stroller that folded more easily! We usually take the ferry and we never have to fold the stroller...let me tell you, if you had seen me chivvying to half asleep kids off the bus and carrying a baby under one arm and carrying a stroller in two separate pieces in the other, man oh man, would you have been impressed. I'm going to add it to my resume.

Of course, after a day of cleaning and a day of walking, I don't know if I'll get off my couch today. I was hoping the kids would sleep in this morning because of our late night last night, but it didn't turn out to be the case, although they are so tired and cranky it's not even funny. To their credit, though, the older kids did walk the entire day without ever complaining, which is amazing considering all of the 7,8, and 9 year olds we saw riding in strollers.

So now I am keeping the lights off and watching the kids play farm on the floor in front of me. Seth and Jace are becoming immensely competitive with each other, and it is both hilarious and a little frightening to watch. Oh, scratch that. Now Ava and Jace are putting on a show. We do a lot of shows around here.

So we're here, and alive, and getting ready for another few busy days, as my great friend and Ava's godmother Lindsey is in town! Sea World is on the agenda for tomorrow, and my legs may actually fall off. Fun!