Skamarakas Family - May 2006

Cast of Characters - Mom Anna (41), and DDs Brighid (14); Eilis (5) and Granuaile (1)

Days 1 and 2 - Wednesday, May 24th and Thursday, May 25th

I drop Brighid off at school at 8, and Eilis at 9 for her end of year beach party. I drive home hoping Gracie will fall asleep so I can pack the car without worrying about her, and she does!! I pop Grace into her crib, and load the car. I can't believe it - I'm all set and ready to go!

I get Grace out of her crib at 10:50, change her and we head over to pick Eilis up, since she gets done at 11:30. Brighid can't get out of school until 12:15 in order for it to count as a full day, so we stop at McDonald's to pick up lunch, top off the gas tank, and then head over to pull Brighid out of school.

My biggest fear - getting to the DC area at rush hour - is mostly averted. We arrive just about 3 in the area, and traffic is just starting to build. We have no dead stops, but there are a few delays - not enough to be frustrating, though. YIPPEEE!!

As we're driving, I'm trying to figure out how late I should stop to keep some kind of bedtime schedule with the kids, and figure I'll be in Lumberton, NC by 10 or 10:30, so we'll stop there. Brighid phones ahead to a Marriott Fairfield Inn (gotta collect my reward points!), and we stop for dinner at a Cracker Barrel. Oh My Goodness - service couldn't have been any slower if the guy had molasses on his shoes, and to further complicate matters, not one, but both elderly women at a table near us suffer a spell and an ambulance has to be called. We are kind of pinned at our table while they get the one woman on a stretcher to load her in the ambulance, and I thank God the other woman decides her spell is just anxiety from the other woman taking ill and we don't have to wait for another ambulance to come and get her - our table is literally in the middle of the action - the manager, other waitstaff, EMTs, and if the other lady needed an ambulance transport, I figure we are stuck there at least another half hour.

I'm regretting now making the reservation in Lumberton, because it is 8 when we get in the car after dinner and I'm tired. I ask Brighid to check which exit number it is, and what a lucky break - she booked the wrong hotel and I only have to drive to Fayetteville! It's about 25 miles closer to where we are!

We check in just in time to see the end of American Idol (Yay, Taylor!), and the kids are too excited to sleep, so we end up awake until after midnight. I have a wake up call in for 4:30, but the call never comes. I wake up myself at 5:05, and we decide to skip the showers and race to get ready. We are in the car by 5:30.

Traffic is not too bad the rest of the way, and we arrive to check in a All Star Movies at 2:30. Our room is not ready - and I guess a lot of rooms are not ready because there is a long line of people sitting and standing against the wall with luggage. We head for the food court and grab lunch, and by the time we are finished, the room is ready. We are in the Fantasia building, much to Eilis' dismay. She wanted Toy Story.

We get our stuff unpacked, make the calls to the hubby and my mom to let them know we've arrived safely, and then to the in-laws to make arrangements to meet them for dinner tomorrow night.

The kids hit the pool while I hop in the shower. I think we may run over to EPCOT, but the kids are tired and crabby. We decide to order pizza and hang out at the hotel. We get a knock on the door, and it's a beautiful gift box of goodies from the Princesses for Eilis to congratulate her on her preschool graduation (Peggy's Sweets comes through in a great way!), and Eilis now has to call Daddy, and Dram, and Nanny to let everyone know of her great package.

It gets to be about 8, and the baby is so tired she is stumbling as she walks. Okay, she is just learning to walk and would be stumbling anyway, but trust me, she's tired. I get the two littles in bed and flip through the dials to find the bedtime stories that Eilis loves. Guess what? NO BEDTIME STORIES!!!

So, the wake up call is in, I'm providing bedtime stories (but I'm really tired, so I cut to the chase, the Wolf eats everyone and ends up in a clinic for treatment of Bulimia, the end, goodnight), and we are heading to the Magic Kingdom early tomorrow.

Highlights - the goodie basket; the great traffic; the good luck on booking the wrong hotel; and Taylor winning American Idol.
Disappointments - Hubby had to cancel at the last minute due to work obligations; NO BEDTIME STORIES - that's a biggie.

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