It was Great until 3am...

Katie R.

Let's start by saying it was wonderful to see my friend who was visiting from Iowa.  She was helping a friend by house/cat sitting and she invited us to visit and spend the night.  So I loaded up the minivan and headed to Salem, Massachusetts.

We got there without too many problems and were so excited to see her we rushed into the house.  And that is when I instantly realized that the couple did not have children.  They seemed to collect, well everything.  The house was beautifully decorated they had so many great pieces and if it could be broken by a child they had it sitting out.  However, Wes went down for a nap and we went outside to play in the pool.  Of course Andrew took a bite out of the noodle in the pool so that was awesome, but he miraculously did a great job leaving the breakables in the house alone so I’ll get over the noodle incident.

After Wes woke up we went to Salem and checked out some stores, the lighthouse, the “pirate” ship and just walked around.  Andrew was instantly taken with my friend and wanted nothing to do with me, which was perfectly fine with me. The boys were amazing at dinner which was a small miracle and at bedtime I put Andrew to bed with the threat of losing everything he held dear if he touched anything in the room.  To my great suprise and relief he read his books and went right to bed.

....and then there was Wes.  We all slept in the same room and Wes was awake and fussing from 3 until 4:30.  He was fine if I was holding him but wouldn't go back to sleep.  Finally I put a pillow over my head and let him cry and thankfully Andrew slept right through it.  Of course Andrew woke up at 6am and I whisked him out of the room before he could wake up Wes. 

The rest of the trip took its cue from the 3am wake up. It rained so beach was cancelled.  We stopped in at my old job to drop some things off and the boys acted like they have never been around strangers.  Andrew had to stop 2 times within 20 minutes on the way home to go potty, and of course it was when we were stuck in a huge traffic jam.   The second time he ran into the bathroom in the gas station yelling "the poop is going to come out".  Finally we got home to find out Joe was working until 11:30pm because someone called in.  Luckily, Wes was asleep at 6 and Andrew at 7:30 sharp so at least I could sit on the couch and watch Downton Abby in peace. 

All in all it was a great trip and even though I was exhausted when I got home it gave Joe a chance to get some work on the renovations done and I got to see a great friend.  Andrew is already asking when we are going to Iowa. 

Andrew on the "pirate ship".