Whew, I Need a Vacation from Our... Vacation?

We've been a trifle busy lately.  You know, with the floor renovations, kidney stones, and random trips out of town.

Wait, what?  Yeah, a little of each. 

I posted awhile back about the question of whether to do hardwood floors or laminate.  We ended up deciding on hardwood, mostly because we found a stellar deal at Home Depot which, combined with Shaun's military discount, was a price we couldn't beat.  So we, (OK, Shaun), hauled like 16 boxes of flooring into our house and let them set up camp in our kitchen.  Sweet!  Except we didn't have time to install them for like a month.  So, there they sat.  Hanging out while we gallivanted here and there and everywhere.

Then we traveled to Baltimore, (not much of a commute, but it was fun to stay in the city), with Sayer for Shaun's work conference.  It was surprisingly more enjoyable than I thought it would be, (because truly, for this introvert, meeting about 100 people and socializing for 5 full days sounded exhausting!  But it turned out nicely). 

The second to last day, I had a kidney stone attack which was as wretched as it sounded.  But I mended quickly.  And we came home for a day before leaving for Deep Creek for a family reunion-esque thing at my grandparent's house.  That was A LOT of fun for everyone and I'll post more later with some pictures, but for now, I'm without a camera cord. 

We came back and ambled through our routine for a few days.  Shaun pulled a piece of the carpet up to prepare for laying the new floor and we were treated to a pleasant surprise.  Hardwood floors!  In decent enough shape that we just needed to clean them up and we could avoid the refinishing.  Sweet!  We were able to take the floors we purchased back to home depot and reveled in the unexpected bonus. 

A few days later, we had our anniversary.  An idea stolen from good friends:  every year we alternate who plans the adventures for that day.  This was Shaun's year.  My sweet husband took off of work and we started the morning as a family and headed to the mall.  He sent me to get a pedicure and a haircut.  Two things that I rarely ever do for myself, so I appreciate them so much.  He and the kids ran around the mall and had themselves a ball.  Then he helped me pick a new shirt out, (and he has great taste, so this was fun for both of us).  We met his mom for a quick lunch then we went on a secret adventure. 

He drove us to the church that we were married in and set up having our awesome friend Kyle there to take some candid pictures of the whole family.  We showed the kids the church and let them clamber around.  (Bean was captivated! Weddings!  Big windows!  PRETTINESS!  It was very cute).  It was fun to reminisce about how far we've come as a family since that day. 

Then we got some ice cream and sent the kids to Shaun's parents' house for the evening.  We had a FANTASTIC dinner at La Scala in Little Italy and enjoyed taking our time and talking together. 

But then...  then the evil kidney stones came back.  By the time we got Sayer and headed home, my kidney was screaming.  It got worse and worse until I couldn't handle it anymore and for the first time out of all of my attacks, I woke Shaun and told him we had to go into the hospital.  Took Sayer back to my in-laws where he tried to party til 4am.  I got some relief at the hospital and was back home the next morning, better and on the mend with more effective, (and safe) drugs in case of another attack. 

That was Monday into Tuesday.  On Wednesday evening, Shaun pulled the rest of the carpet up and realized something quite sad...  there were enough blemishes and scratches to really necessitate a good refinishing.  So he looked at me and sent me away, back up to Deep Creek.  Three hours each way with three kids. Alone.  Eep!  But, with the promise of returning home on Saturday, I figured I could handle three days and two nights.  Plus, I have the best grandparents ever and the kids absolutely delight in being there. 

Saturday rolled around and I was pretty done with being completely disconnected from my cell phone and the internet, (I know, leave me alone), so we decided to head home.  However, due to some complications, the floors weren't finished.  So we ended up staying at my fantastic sister-in-law's place, (they're at the beach).

And we're still here.  It's Wednesday.  We SHOULD be back home either tomorrow or Friday.  Although, the more time that passes, the easier it gets.  The kids are getting used to the new rooms and routines and actually, are sleeping fairly well.  (Sayer crashed for 9.5 hours straight last night... Ah-mazing).  I can handle anything on good sleep.  But I miss my  bed and my husband, (he's at our house so he can let the dogs out), and the familiar routine of being in our house.

So there... there you have our craziness for the last two or three weeks.  Oh yes, and I'm still all pregnant and craving weird foods.  (And who am I kidding?  Acting like a loon, too).  If you actually read all of this, not only do you have more of a knowledge of our happenings lately than most.  And you deserve a brownie.  So, come visit and I'll bake a batch.  I might eat a few, but I'll share. 

That's that!  Now that I've given you every excuse in the book for my absence, (kidney stones!  lack of internet!  no camera cord!  sleepless kids!  conferences!  laziness!  wait, what?!)

But I'm back, Jack.  :)