Life in our hotel room.

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate writing. Well, its true I do. And here i am with no pictures to share (again, no adapter to download) about to bore you to death with all my ramblings that fill my head at night when its finally quiet. Ahhhhh.

I am so thankful for this time we've had here in SC. In truth I have been dreading this trip since we found out about it months ago. I'm sure all of my ranting and ravings about the timing of this trip stressed my poor husband out to no end. I almost refused to come thinking of our 3 kids, 2 of them under the age of 3, in a small hotel day after restless day going crazy. Saydee and Elli couldn't handle more than 2 days in a hotel, and frankly I couldn't either.

But, Tyson only gets to be with us for 2 1/2 very short months and I knew how much it would kill Heath not to spend it with him and all of us of course. Plus, after this 5 weeks in SC Heath only has 4 weeks at home before heading to Virgina for 5 Months. Don't they know he has a family.

So, after all of my complaining. This trip has been the best thing for our family and for me personally. Usually it does feel like a real vacation. So far we have had an amazing time here. In fact much to Heath's delight I've decided to extend my stay and remain for the full 5 weeks. We've made some wonderful friends, got to do and see so many things (thanks to the very affordable discount tickets to local attractions through Heath's work). Most importantly we've got to spend alot of great uninterrupted quality time together. I thought I'd go nuts trying to fill our days and entertain these kids without the library and playgroups and unlimited familiar resources back home. But once we got our routine down it's been much easier and alot of fun.

It does help that our room is quite large. It has only one bedroom, but its separated from the living room and small kitchen. No oven but it does have a cook top which has saved us from eating out, which we usually do once a week. On a positive note this bathroom sure beats the heck out of our pathetic little one back home :)

Sometimes we venture out during the day thanks to "Maggie" our GPS. There are awesome parks here and the local YMCA, which the kids love and is free to us because of my work. Lately, we've taken to going to the Church lawn for picnics and playing on the grass. A lot less hassle with the girls and we still get out of the hotel. Strangely enough it's been voted the favorite daytime activity by the kids, especially Tyson, who says he "needs to practice his running and ball throwing/catching/kicking skills". I'm surprised they like getting out so much in this humid heat. (not to worry Grandmas, we stay hydrated).

Then everyday we do a surprise craft, simple and inexpensive. Tyson and Saydee get so excited for this. Then we have naptime, reading/math, and sometimes letter writing. Tyson is becoming an avid reader and likes it. (knock on wood) And Saydee, his copycat, of course pretends to read too, very loudly. Heath usually gets home by 4:30 and we go out to swim at a sister hotel or go to the sprinkler park, rent a movie, or do the dreaded shopping with kids. (This last time we vowed no more).

On the weekends we sight see and visit local attractions. It was the kids' first trip to the beach. Very exciting and for Saydee, frightening. Poor little girl wouldn't even look at the water and hated the sand. She kept calling it "the dirty mud". What do you do.

So there you go. A play by play of our days here. You should probably get a prize if you read this whole post. But I know a few of you (grandmas, grandpa and siblings) were wondering how we were surviving pent up in a little hotel room for weeks on end. Well, for the most part pretty well. Its amazing what you can get accustomed to. Elli having to nap in the bathroom, Tyson having to run to the lobby for the restroom. Definitely not much personal space or time for anyone. Yes, moments of insanity. But on the whole all very happy, contented and connected.