June 25

I just got a second wind, so I'm going to try for one more catch-up blog post tonight. You'll remember that we arrived at our destination late the night before, after a long day of driving. Sadly, my children still have no grasp of the concept of sleeping in after a late night, so they were up at 6:30, like always. Since we were all in one (really, really large) hotel room (suite, actually, but that didn't help), I couldn't risk letting Lily wake the others when she woke in the night to nurse. That meant that when she woke up to eat at 1:30 in the morning, she ended up in bed with me (and Chris, who gamely shared the queen-sized bed), nursing all night long. Some people love the co-sleeping, bed-sharing thing. I do, up to a certain point. Honestly, this mama prefers to sleep BY HERSELF. (Or maybe with my handsome husbando, but this is a family blog so I won't discuss that further.) So it was a rough night for me. Lily, however, was perfectly content until Caleb and Daisy woke up at 6:30. Then she was awake, too.

We breakfasted in our room (I made these oatmeal packets at home, and they were perfect for a hotel room with only a coffee pot and a microwave!), and then went to visit my grandparents in their condo. Grandma was having her weekly coffee date with friends, but Grandpa, my mom, and my aunt Deb, who was visiting from Oregon, were there to entertain us. We hadn't been there long, when Lily decided she was tired. 

Exhausted, in fact.

Oh, it's so terrible to be a baby, and she let everyone know it.

So I did the only thing I could do: I wrapped her up in my wrap and walked back to the hotel to put her down for a nap. I hated to do it, but I also hated to subject my family to a very-tired baby when I knew how to fix the problem.

Girl was asleep before I had even walked one block. 

While Lily napped, Caleb and Daisy had a lovely visit with my family. Chris kindly took some pictures for me.

I love this photo of Caleb and Daisy eating some melon with their Great-Grandpa. Even though I wasn't there, I can tell that he is clearly telling a story that Daisy finds hilarious.

Then Caleb found a dragonfly.

Or did Grandpa find it? Who knows. But they were both interested in it.

Grandma came home from coffee, and my mom was thrilled to re-introduce her mom to the kids. The last time we visited, Caleb had just turned two and Daisy was two months old!

Chris snapped this shot of Grandpa welcoming Grandma home, and I think it's pretty special. Grandma's memory is failing her pretty quickly, and her trip out to coffee with friends was a big deal.

And then Caleb showed Great-Grandma his dragonfly!

It looks like they enjoyed each other. Caleb definitely enjoyed Grandma and Grandpa's binoculars! Their new condo overlooks a lovely lake, so there's always a lot to see.

I'm not sure what Deb was showing Caleb and Daisy on her phone, but I can tell from Caleb's face that it was interesting! Daisy's face... well, Daisy made that face a lot this trip. I suppose being three, and being in unfamiliar situations, and being away from home, and not sleeping well meant that she took a while to warm up to most of the family. We saw lots of grumpy, unfriendly faces from her. 

Chris brought the kids back to the hotel for lunch, and then Mom and Deb joined us at the water park. I was too busy having fun to take pictures, but it was a really special time. Caleb was brave and tried a water slide... and loved it! He must have ended up going down that slide at least 30 times. Deb even went down the slide with him once!

After the water park, back to our room to change into dry clothes. I realized I couldn't find Lily, and I momentarily panicked, until I saw two little feet peeking out from behind the curtains!

Peek-a-boo!

Daisy thought it was hilarious.