Friday night was rough. We were totally out of our element and had no idea that 5 kids would be so hard. We are so used to the craziness that comes with 2 that we honestly had no idea it could get any worse...until we doubled our two and added one more. This coupled with older kids who simply don't like going to bed at 7pm (WHY?) made everything super scary. We ate take out pizza and watched a lot of TV on Friday. Forget good parenting, it was all about survival.
Saturday morning I awoke with a new attitude and was moving along quite well making breakfast for all of the kids who woke up before the sun and were running hot laps through the house screaming. My cheeriness was put on hold when Jaime burst into the kitchen. "I can't watch this many kids!" he panted, completely out of breath. "Go take a break", I told him.
"Oliver just fell down the stairs! I can't watch this many kids!" he repeated. And so began Saturday.
We somehow managed to get all 5 kids dressed and to Luke's T-ball game by 9am. We were only 4 minutes late and forgot his hat, glove and water. Still a success! After playing at the park we went home to attempt naps. They had to be exhausted, I could barely stand up. Everyone laid down quietly and Jaime tells me he is going for a run. Later gator, he was gone. 15 minutes later, everyone woke up. From this point until around 6pm it is all a blur. Their were tears and temper tantrums (mostly from Jaime and I) and tons of laughter and love (the kids). They were having the times of their lives. Seriously, the love between those cousins was almost enough to make me agree to do this again. At 6 O-clock Lil and Marty showed up. I overheard Lil ask Jaime, "What can I do?" and he replies like a steadfast business man in charge of the accounting department, "Get into that kitchen and do WHATEVER Kelley tells you to do." After that, I knew things were going to be okay. Lil was washing babies, I was cooking and watching out the window as Marty took a screaming Lila on a walk through the yard. When the kids were clean and in their pj's we put them down in front of a movie and the Conley's went and fetched us grownups a fabulous smorgasbord of Chinese food. Their kindness and generosity nearly brought me to tears. You see, there is not much that I can't handle. And there is even less that I will admit I can't handle. But I was in way over my head and they saved the day. THANK YOU Yaya and Grandpa!
Sunday morning we were up again with the sun. Jamie looks at me with renewed look of hope in his eyes, "This is just like a basketball game you know you're gonna lose. From here on out, its all about running down the clock baby". And that's exactly what we did. We took them all to a berry farm out of town that was an hour drive each way (2 hours down!) and we left them in that field picking berries for over 3 hours (5 hours down!). We ate snacks then took them to the beach for for 3 hours. Lila and I walked the loop and ate more snacks. Before I knew it was dinner time again and guess what? Sunday is a school night, time for BED! I have never seen kids so exhausted. After they went to sleep Jaime went for take out and we ate approximately 1,000 french fries and a gallon of ice cream in a celebratory effort. I crawled into bed and briefly awoke at 11:30pm to hear my sister close the door behind her. Ah, freedom.
So in hindsight, nearly a week later, I am actually looking back on the trip with fond memories. I remember some of the best times of my life were with my family at my grandma's house. Josiah has talked non-stop about his cousins all week and I think he may have had the greatest trip of his life. Here are some pics from the weekend. Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment