The Illusion of Normal

My eyes are barely open as I write this tonight. . . and it's not even eight o'clock. Graham and I were soberly reminded over the last twenty-four hours that we are not living a "normal" life right now. Let me explain. Yesterday morning, my husband called from work to say that he had to take a last minute business trip to D.C., and did the kids and I want to accompany him? Of course, I exclaimed! How fun! A road trip with the whole family, so many possibilities of what sights to see, a free room hotel room, an indoor pool. How could it not be perfect? In hindsight, we now understand that we took leave of our senses yesterday for a brief moment.

Fast forward to bedtime last night. Henry and Harper go to bed unbelievably early (like six o'clock early) but we kept them up later so they would just go right to sleep in the little hotel room that we all were sharing (with no partitions to hide us from the babies). Needless to say, they did not appreciate that Mom and Dad and Maddy were just hanging out with the lights low while they were in their cribs, so plan B was to camp out in the bathroom until the babies went to sleep. By eight, Maddox was also lying down in bed and Graham and I could do nothing but surf on the internet for a while and then turn in. Not exactly exciting.

What happened after that is a bit blurry. It all has to do with Henry waking up every thirty minutes from midnight on. At a few points, he was in bed with us. I also remember Graham moving the crib to the other side of the room (as if that would help), and finally, I fell asleep sitting up with him in bed. Around two, Graham said the words that made more sense than anything we had done up until that point: "Never again." Seriously, it was like the night would not end. I was so happy when morning rolled around and we could just get up already! After Graham got back from his brief, we made it to the national zoo, although I think we all looked like zombies, then headed for home.

What in the world made us think we could take three children to D.C. and all stay in one hotel room? Are we so hopeful to be "normal" that we are not in touch with reality? Can you relate to this? Have you ever assumed that everything will go as planned only to spend your time in misery realizing your mistake? Please, let me know I'm not alone!

The little trouble maker himself at about 6 a.m.

No trouble overnight from these girlies. Could have just as easily been Harper up all night, though!

Attempting to make the face of the toad. I think it sums up the trip!