We’re Back!

Warning! This post contains a lot of whining and complaining. But it’s MY blog, so I get to whine and complain.

We left Utah at 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday and drove straight through, arriving home at 1:00 p.m. No major catastrophes, although Samantha pretty much cried every time she opened her eyes and realized she was still stuck in her car seat. Also, after picking up his car at John Wayne Airport, Jake was driving on the freeway when a piece of tire peeled off of a semi, slammed into his car and destroyed the front bumper/grill. I guess the technical term for this piece of tire is called an “alligator”…it took me a while to figure out what had actually happened when Jake kept telling me an alligator hit him. Thankfully, it didn’t crack the windshield and Jake was ok, although he was a bit shaken and said his life flashed before his eyes as he helplessly watched that huge hunk of tire come flying at him.

Since we’re still recovering and I’m too exhausted to go through photos from our trip, the following pretty much sums up our glorious homecoming yesterday.

Things I hate about coming back from a road trip/vacation:

1. No longer being on vacation. It was nice not worrying about cleaning the house or making dinner. I also had an average of 2.5 people there to help me out with the girls every day we were in Utah. Clink clink! That’s the sound of a deposit being made into my sanity account.

2. Coming home to a messy house. There’s nothing like opening the door to a sink full of dirty dishes and all the clothes you didn’t end up packing strewn everywhere after you’ve just spent the past ten hours wiping up spit up and peeling fast food wrappers off the car seats to make you super depressed. Talk about kicking you when you’re down.

3. Coming home to an empty fridge. I am so craving a fresh fruit or vegetable right now…it’s been over a day since we’ve been home and I still haven’t made it to the grocery store. We are too tired of fast food from being on the road to want to order out, so fish sticks and peanut butter honey sandwiches it is.

4. Trying to get back into a routine. The girls were not great sleepers while we were in Utah, refusing to nap unless they were held by Grandma (who was willing to oblige!), and wanting to party at all hours of the night. But that was ok, since we were on vacation! Free for all! Anything goes!

Now that we are home, I don’t have an excuse for not forcing the girls back into a routine, and it hasn’t been pretty. Samantha wiggled, winced, and sometimes screamed as she tried to fight me on taking her naps today, although she ended up taking a miracle two-hour nap, while Amelia slept for an unheard of three-hour stretch.

I figured with all the sleep that they were getting today, that the girls would willingly go back to their normal 7:30 bed time tonight, but that didn’t happen. Around 5:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. Utah time– same time the girls began to melt down in Utah…conspiracy?) the girls began crying inconsolably on and off until I finally decided they weren’t going down for their usual cat nap and bathed them/put them to bed instead. They fell asleep by 6:30 p.m., an hour earlier than their post-vacation bed time. I’m fine with an earlier bed time, as long as they sleep through the night, which didn’t happen while in Utah.

After attempting to diaper change, feed, and entertain the girls to no avail, like any good mom, I decided to put the girls down for a second and film their meltdowns for posterity. I recommend turning your sound off during the following videos.

Here’s Samantha’s meltdown. You can tell she’s soooooooo exhausted, poor thing. Prior to this video, I held her for an hour, trying to convince her she needed sleep while she whined off and on. Warning! Not for the faint of heart!

Amelia’s turn:

Five seconds later…

So deliriously tired.

What can make an exhausting day instantly better? A surprise package of gifts! My friend, Kati, who lives in D.C., sent these adorable “First Lady” onesies and “Future President” socks. I can’t wait for the girls to wear them. I love that they have outfits that say both “First Lady” and “Future President” on them, just to make sure all their bases are covered. Between these and their “Future Harvard Freshmen” outfits, the girls certainly have some pretty lofty goals to live up to!