So yesterday’s post left off when we left Branson on Sunday around noon.
Sunday Afternoon: Return to Tulsa
Mom and I had decided we would take the southern (Arkansas) route back to Tulsa. We tried to stop at a rest area outside of Harrison, AR, but it was under construction. They had a temporary visitors center, but it was closed due to sewer and construction issues. So no Arkansas maps.
We tried to stop at a Mexican restaurant to eat lunch, but there was a wait and the kids were too wiggly. So we ended up going through Sonic.
At some point we stopped to give the kids a potty break. Gabriel was absolutely convinced the whole time we were inside that we were sorely lacking in cheetos. I assured him we were not.
As we drove west, we started getting a bit of rain. Mom turned on the wipes and *clunk*. The driver’s side wiper was banging the trim and the passenger side wiper didn’t even move. I guess when I had my windshield replaced, the installed didn’t re-install the the wipers right. We stopped at a gas station in one of those little towns before we got to the OK border to see if we could fix anything. Nope. Luckily it never did much more than sprinkle hard.
Anyway with all of that stopping and starting, we didn’t get back to Tulsa until 5:45. It was a bit late and the kids were a bit wiggly to visit my grandparents, so we just met my dad at Arizona restaurant for some Mexican food (since we didn’t get any for lunch).
Sunday Evening: Settling In
I sent my mom and her luggage home with my dad so we could head home. The kids all helped unload the van and went to bed pretty easily. They were out enough that I got a nice long shower in before I sat down to write my Sunday post.
Sometime while I was writing, Kraston’s sister texted me about an Easter gathering on Saturday. That was the first I had heard about it, but I thought maybe we could make it work. All 4 kids are off of school on Friday, so I could leave in the morning, have lunch in Stillwater to break the drive up and get to the hotel around check in time.
The Catholic church in Okeene that Kraston’s aunt goes to has their Good Friday service at 7. Then we can come back Saturday afternoon after the Easter gathering and still attend Easter morning at St. Mary. I decided to sleep on it.
Monday Morning: Not Routine
This morning everyone was up at 6am. Ugh. Really children? I manged to convince the baby to snuggle for a bit before she had to get up and eat. She is big on nodding enthusiastically right now as she frequently has her pacifier in her mouth due to a difficult time teething tooth #5. She is pretty attached and might be pretty offended when she turns 2 and the pacifier has to go bye.
So we all ate a bit and then loaded up to take the baby to daycare. The 3 big kids are still home as their school has 2 weeks for spring break (technically spring break one week and intercession the second week). Gabriel was wearing a tie-dye shirt, fleece paw patrol pajama pants, one pink/camo left boot and one grey/blue left shoe. Yes, I let him leave the house like that. No, I neglected to take a picture.
You will probably notice I don’t post a lot of pictures. Part of that is privacy for my kids and part of it is enjoying the moment. When I get around to it, I will batch post pictures to my personal facebook page for friends and family to enjoy.
After we dropped off the baby, we filled up with gas and got a car wash. I know there was rain in the forecast, but I have a car wash subscription, we had time to burn before gym time, and the kids love going through the car wash.
Workout
Somehow in my infinite wisdom a couple of weeks ago, I scheduled a 9am one-on-one personal training session. It was a bit rough after being away from the gym for 8 days, but it was indeed what I needed after being away from the gym for 8 days.
Trainer had a bosu ball themed workout for me today. If you don’t know what a bosu ball, you can certainly google it, but basically the bottom half is part of an exercise ball and the top half is a flat platform.
So I started out just balancing on the bosu platform, then I got to do arm circles and other various things while balancing. My least favorite thing was the plank holding onto the platform of the bosu ball.
I am really not a fan of any exercise down on the floor involving the plank position. I will stand and balance on a bosu ball all day long before volunteering to do a bear crawl.
Wipers
So since I needed wipers fixed, I didn’t bother to contact glass install guy, I just went straight to the dealership. It took 2 hours for them to determine that the “wiper arms had been installed incorrectly” and fix them. Happily they had a kid room and didn’t charge me. So I wasn’t too cranky.
It was already 12:30 and I was supposed to be at work by 2, so we picked up Raisin Canes and headed home.
We did a few chores and I left for work after my nanny Sherita arrived. I also started a load of laundry. Because I do still have a pile of blankets in my hallway. I am getting close though.
Evening Activity
After work I met Sherita and the kids at the Chiropractor. We are on a wellness plan now there where we all 5 go twice per month for a heavily discounted cash price. Oldest son was super cranky about it. Informed everyone in the building that he was hungry.
Hungry usually doesn’t just mean hunger. It usually means some other feeling that he doesn’t know how to express. Probably still being unsettled after being away from home. He is always so cranky.
After we got home, I worked with Ben on a list of the foods he likes to eat since he still claimed that he was hungry. He then wanted me to wait until morning to do my grocery order so he could participate. Alright sure.
I then got to go hang out with some of my retreat friends to help put together some materials for the retreat. I won’t go into a lot of detail since some of my readers are future retreatants. Our get-together did involve pizza and wine though, so a good time was had by all.
Now I am home. I just reserved a hotel room for Friday night in Fairview (about 95% decided to go now). Tomorrow Ben has a his 9yo checkup, so we’ll see how close he is to being taller than I am, lol.
Final Note
I am looking forward to traveling more, but we need to work on some coping strategies for the older two kids. They have such a difficult time transitioning back from time away. What are some of your vacation routines that help your kids?