Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

I feel like it's been forever since I blogged. You missed me, right? Right? JK, don't answer that:-)

Our family has actually had a great week. Andrew and Jim got better just in time for us to drive across the state border for a wedding last weekend. It was a lot of fun, and the drive could not have gone more smoothly. Well, I will say that it should be law for every fast-food restaurant to have a changing table, but, other than one nasty mishap (involving a change of clothes for Andrew and lots of purell) the trip went great.

I did learn, however, that I'm going to have to make some adjustments in our trip to Yellowstone next summer. I was delusional to think that I could drive all that way alone. I was so tired after only 4 hours of driving with a baby in the back, even with Jim there to to take turns entertaining the baby/driving. Google Maps said that the trip would take 8.5 hours, which I now know is really 10 hours with a kid, in good weather and no traffic back-ups. One of my driving days to Yellowstone would be, according to the map, 13.5 hours. So that would really be more like 16 hours in good conditions. By myself. Uh, no way. I would be so tired that it would be dangerous. I still want to go to Yellowstone, but we may have to find a way to fly up there together and rent a car. At least we decided to rent a cabin in the park, so we don't have to worry about getting camping equipment up there. I still want a road trip, but we could do so together and just drive to some cities in that region of the country. I hate to think about the cost, though. At least this seems like the kind of thing to do with only one child, or wait until the kids are all school-age.

Anyway, after we got home from the wedding, we had a day to repack and Jim and I went to a local resort for our big (read: expensive) vacation of the year. It was so hard to leave Andrew behind! I felt like my left arm had been left behind, like I was missing a limb. Every time I saw a baby, my heart clenched and I got really sad. I'm glad we did, though. Jim and I needed some time to sleep, watch mindless TV for hours, eat fantastic meals cooked by others, have a cocktail, and just rest. I've spent this whole year taking care of others that it was weird but so refreshing to be taken care of. That is not to say that no one takes care of me, just that this vacation was so appreciated. One day, Jim and I did not even leave our room until 6PM. I bet the housekeeping staff were gossiping about that, and we didn't even do what you must be thinking. We literally just sat around in our pjs.

The room itself was a big chunk of the budget, but we got our money's worth. I highly recommend Hyatt resorts. Going during the middle of the week, in the off season, was so awesome. We saved a bunch of money and the service could not have been friendlier. One night, the server was 15 minutes late with my drink and she comped it. Seriously! I was so surprised. When we went to the fancy resort restaurant for dinner, we had the whole restaurant to ourselves for almost an hour. The weather was overcast in the mornings, but sunny and perfect for sitting by the pool by the afternoon.

While the cost of the room was painful, the rest of it was reasonable because I came very prepared. Here is some of the things I did to save money while we were there:

* I bought supplies to give myself a facial and a mani/pedi instead of going to the spa.

* Jim and I gave each other massages instead of going to the spa.

* We brought baked goods from our local grocery store for breakfast and all of our favorite snacks for lunch. We only ate out for dinner and splurged on room service for one morning.

* I highly recommend a car-sized fridge. We brought our own cold soda and bottled water as well as some cold snacks without the hassle of shopping in town or paying for the room mini-fridge.

* I checked the menus online before we went and actually planned and budgeted our dinner meals. We had one very expensive, fancy meal but, the rest of the time, we ate pretty inexpensively. No bill was a surprise because I had prepared myself for the prices and budgeted accordingly. Yes, I told Jim when he could order steak and beer and when to stick with chicken and a glass of water.

* We were going to pay for horseback riding, but went on a hike instead. It was no sacrifice.

* Jim brought roses and a vase so we could have them without paying to have them sent to our room, and he also brought a bottle of port and some chocolates. That $25 at the grocery store would have been twice that if we paid for it at the resort.

Even though we had a wonderful time, I'm glad to be home. Our house is a wreck because, the night before we left for the resort, we discovered an ant infestation in the pantry and, as if that wasn't enough, evidence of another pest infestation elsewhere in the kitchen. We've got a pest-control service coming soon to tell us what we're dealing with. I had cleared out the pantry before we left and now the kitchen is a complete wreck with dry goods on every surface. I get to come back to reality by scrubbing every kitchen surface, boo! Even so, it feels so good to have our family all under one roof again and healthy.