Vacation

Vacationing with little kids shouldn’t really be called a vacation at all. It’s work! We are currently spending Labor Day weekend in Kirtland, Ohio. We left home yesterday after Jeff got home from work, and drove as far as Dayton. We stayed at a hotel, then spent the morning at the National Museum of the US Air Force at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Then we drove up to Kirtland, where I now sit in my hotel room, waiting, hoping, praying that Rachel will go to sleep.

Notice that I indicated that we stayed at a hotel in Dayton. I did not say we slept at a hotel. The only person who slept was Gabi. She slept great (like a baby, if you will). Rachel, not so much. She finally fell asleep around midnight after what seemed like hours, decades, eternities of fighting, screaming, tantrumming (I just made up that word, but I’ll bet you know what it means). Then she woke up again at 3:00 with more screaming. She finally went to sleep for real at around 6:00. Then she woke up for real at 9:00. So tonight I had another plan. I just didn’t put her to bed. We strolled around the hotel, flirted with other people here. (Rachel is developing quite a little strut. She puts her shoulders and her hips into it.) It is now just after 11:00. We just recently put her down, and while she is not asleep yet, she is behaving somewhat reasonably. She has to be so tired, but she can be stubborn.

As I type this she is starting to get a bit upset, and crying like she wants out of the ‘pack and play’ we brought with us. Still, it is nothing compared to what it was last night, and I still have hope that she will eventually fall asleep in her own bed.

We took some cute pictures of Rachel at the museum. I’ll post them after we get home. I will also provide an update regarding our success at getting any sleep tonight. Stay tuned.