4:30 am

Here's a riddle. What does this ladder,

and these earplugs

and this 9 volt batteryall have to do with 4:30 in the morning?
It's what I was playing with at that time this morning. Our smoke alarm went off at 4:30 making me jump out of bed. Todd's gone on a fire so I was totally freaked out. I had Porter on the floor of my room and Payton was laying in my bed with me. My nephew Luke was staying with us and he was on the floor of the boys bedroom and of course Julia was in her crib. I seriously thought there was a fire. It was good to know I can hear when I'm sleeping and even better to know that even though I'm old my reflexes still work! There was no fire...just the need of a new battery.
I spent the next 30 minutes bringing the ladder in from the garage, learning how to take the battery out and then learned that even with the battery gone our smoke alarms still can "chirp" at me. I finally ended up going into the boys room to sleep because my pillow over my ears and the lack of being able to find earplugs made me go to the farthest room possible. Let's just say I've had better mornings.
Lesson learned: Have a spare 9 volt battery on hand!

Family Fun in Pheonix

The past week the kids and I spent time with our dad down in Pheonix, Arizona. Todd had to work at the BLM down there for a couple weeks and invited us to spend some time with him. I think we are considering this our family vacation this year even though Todd did not get much of a vacation. It was a paid vacation. Todd worked, we played. What more could I ask for?

We really didn't do too much. Ate, swam, slept, watched TV, ate some more, swam some more....Eat, drink, swim and be merry, right? It was nice for Todd even though he was working 12 hour days. At least there was something to come home to. The drive wasn't as bad as I was expecting, thanks to Kandice lending her portable DVD screens. It took us about 6 1/2 hours to get there but we made it and were so excited to be out of the car. The hotel rooms were great. Todd and I {and Julia} slept on the king size bed in one room and the boys slept on the pull out bed in the other room. There was a kitchen with a full size fridge/freezer, a microwave, a sink w/a garbage disposal, a dishwasher and a mini stove. The room was fully stocked with dishes, silverware, pots, pans...every thing we needed to have a home away from home.

We got there late but went and had dinner together at Bajio and then called it a night. The next day we enjoyed a hot breakfast (compliments of the hotel) and then got our suits on to swim. We were in the pool by 9:30 am. We stayed for a couple hours and then decided it was time to fill our tummies. That's how things went the whole week. Breakfast {yes, at the hotel. Hot breakfast EVERY morning!}. Then, wait for Jul's to fill her diaper and then off to the pool. Came home to have lunch, had naps and then off the pool again. Came home again and waited for our dad to get off work so we could all go to dinner.
It was a total vacation for me because I didn't have to cook or clean the whole time. I'm seriously considering hiring a maid. Todd won't be home until Saturday so I'm still asking myself why we came home. The neighbors did an awesome job of keeping our garden growing and the kids were content to stay in the hotel room and watch TV or ride the elevators. It was a nice break from the norm. It's true what they say. Some good things just don't last.