A well deserved break...

This past year has been a little stressful mainly due to the fact that I've been pregnant most of the year.  Taking a vacation was pretty hard so we went to Arizona, and the cabin.  Brian especially needed to take a break.  

I had taken the boys to Legoland with my friend and Brian wanted to bring the boys back so he could go with them.  I booked a condo in Carlsbad VERY close to Legoland with a full size kitchen and an ocean view.  I couldn't wait to get there.

Finally the morning arrived to head to California.  We packed the car and headed out around 7:30am.  Unfortunately, as things often do - a snag in our plans quickly arose.  As we arrived in Primm...state line...traffic almost became standstill.  I quickly called my Mom who told me a tanker truck with chemicals had been in an accident spilling the chemicals all over the freeway.  This caused the freeway to completely shut down.

Thankfully we had gotten off the freeway, and we ended up walking through the mall trying to figure out our next move.  After a little more research we realized this could be an all day closure.  My mom had seen some side streets that we could take.  Otherwise, the only other option was to go through Searchlight.  

All the while I had been talking to Maria, Connor's friend's Mom.  We were supposed to meet her at 3 to go to the beach and have some dinner.  Those plans seemed like they would be ruined.

We decided that we would most likely go through searchlight, but first we checked to see if the road would be passable to get by the tanker truck without backtracking through Vegas.  As we approached the road I quickly saw that it looked like nothing more than a dirt trail.  On top of that there were some really irritated cops telling people to go through Searchlight.

So we turned around, and we almost decided to cancel the trip all together.  But we pressed on and after 10 hours in the car we finally made it to our destination at 6pm.  Thankfully I had brought some frozen pizza and we had dinner in the hotel room, which the boys called our "new home".  The condo was right on the beach so after dinner we took a walk down to the beach.  

From this picture you would never know that they were in the car for 10 hours:

The next day we made it to LEGOLAND!!

The boys had a blast!  Connor even rode some roller coasters!!

The next day we made it back to the beach:

We caught some sand crabs:

Connor didn't want to let them go!  After that first adventure, we ended up having a great time!  It was well worth the trip.

It all pays off...

Connor and Aaron have been going to Vacation Bible School this week, which they have thoroughly enjoyed.  I'm so happy that they have since they were originally not really wanting to go.  I get three hours with Maya in the morning, and she has been taking her morning nap during that time.  Needless to say, I've gotten a lot of junk drawers cleaned out!!

Yesterday I got a call from Aaron's teacher, and I was afraid of what she was going to say.  Aaron is not even 4 yet and I wasn't sure he was ready for 3 hours with someone else.

When I picked up the phone I asked, "Is something wrong with Aaron?"

She said, "No, quite the opposite!  I just wanted to call you and tell you what a wonderful little boy you have raised!  He is a delight in my class and he participates in all of the activities.  He really has a lot going on between the ears.  He is a special little boy and you should feel very good about how you've raised him."

I was in shock.  Not because I was surprised, but because as a Mom I wasn't sure if anyone would ever recognize how gifted and special my children were except for myself.  Tears filled my eyes, and for once my Mommy guilt lifted and I let myself enjoy this moment of being a parent.

Someone was telling me that I was doing something right, and all the sacrifices I've made really have paid off.  Now that's a good feeling.