OK, moving on. I just spent a week in sunny Florida with my family for my aunt and uncles 50th wedding anniversary. It was also her husbands parents 50th as well so a big party was planned. It was a crazy and fun week. I stayed with my cousin Missy and her family. I was so excited to be there! I haven't visited the Sunshine State in about ten years and it was great to be back. I would visit them almost every year. Missy and her husband Allen have six kids between them. The youngest is Sarah and she's 3 the oldest is Brian and he's 23. Needless to say it was crazy.
So many things went through my head that week. One of which was "How do they do it?!" I left LAX at 11:20 pm and arrived in West Palm Saturday at noon. I was exhausted and wired at the same time. Missy and RP picked me up with the 3 youngest. It was a bit of a culture shock for me. I just left my tiny very quiet apartment and was now about to be immersed in house full of people. Among other adventures that week brought it also included 2 songs being sung over and over and over again. Here is one:
And this is the second:
I was a little sad that Megan wasn't with them. I was thinking that she was going to run and give me a hug. I don't know what I was thinking. My little Muffin isn't so little anymore. She's 13 and is almost as tall as me. She's a soccer freak and so in love with One Direction. When I say that she is in love with them I am putting it mildly. We did have fun together being goofballs. I saw her play soccer and went school shopping with her. That was interesting. I would pick out folders and such that I thought she would like and they were all met with a no. She preferred plain solid colors to anything that had a little funk to them!
We also had to sharpen 48 pencils for Emily for first grade. 48! I remember when all you needed were 2 #2's. She also needed paper, paper towels, tissues, disinfecting wipes, six packs of crayons, the list goes on. I don't remember needing half that stuff. Emily has a big heart and smart for her age. She has a great imagination too. We would go everyday to the neighbor across the street to let their dog out and suck. Fancy is the smallest chihuahua I have encounter yet. I think maybe she weighed 5 pounds. She was sweet too and most little dogs like that are very nice. At least the ones I have encountered. Emily would feed her, check her water and play with her everyday. There is way more that goes with the Fancy story but I will leave that alone.
I spent most of the time swimming with the kids and my parents. AJ was calling me Alex for the first 3 days. He eventually got it right. They are great kids and make me laugh with all their questions and thoughts on the way things work. I also fell in love with whiskey sours. My Dad makes the best ones. I've made them since I've been home and they just don't taste the same. I can't believe no one ever told me about this awesomeness before!
It was relaxing and crazy at the same time. I think by day four I had decided that I didn't want kids. There was always something up and I was thinking I don't think I'm cut out for this! It was sort of a relief. I felt like I had been holding my breath for three and a half years. I had made up my mind. I was over this whole being a parent thing. I was just going to move on. I was so over it, all of it.
So moving on, the night before the party Emily and I were watching TV and we saw this huge bug flying all over the place and realized it was a grasshopper. I was thinking hell no am I going to be the one that catches this thing. Everyone else except for Megan was asleep. So I figured Megan can do this and when I asked her she had all the confidence that she could. So wrong. So, so wrong. It touched her hand and she FREAKED out and screamed and ran away. I put on my big girl pants and caught it with a cup and a piece of paper and set it free outside. I was quite proud of myself and the girls were impressed as well. Oh and Missy and Allen heard what was happening and sat in their room laughing. Gotta love my family :-)
The party was great. I love spending time with my family. The day of the party Allison and Wendy (Brian's girlfriend) and myself had to go and pick up two cakes and two trays of cookies for the club. Wendy got off lucky with the smaller lemon cake. I on the other hand had to hold this full on chocolate half sheet cake on my lap. A half a sheet cake feeds about 50 people it that helps. It was heavy and we had to keep the car ice cold. That wasn't that bad at first but by the time we were halfway back to the house all three of us were freezing. That cake was so heavy I couldn't even get out of the truck. Never a dull moment, love it!
My parents and I were leaving the day after the party very early in the morning. So the end of the night was a little bittersweet. I love being in California but it is hard being so far from my family. I missed them all and I hadn't even left yet. Needless to say my flight was postponed until Monday morning so I had an extra day. Having the extra day was great but I had already said all my goodbyes and now I had to do it twice. I love them all so much and can't wait to see them again.
Wait, did you actually believe I didn't want to have a kids anymore?! Fat chance! The moment I was on that plane I knew I could never ever give up. I missed them and all that craziness. Being there actually made it all real. I want to be a mom and everything that comes with it!
