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Julia and Grace's babymoon staycation of fun

17 April 2014

Remember when I told you on Thursday that Simon's flight had been canceled from Newark to St. Louis because of "weather" aka construction on the runway aka the airline could not care less? Are you still on the edge of your seat? I knew it.

Well, sit back and relax. After talking to multiple unhelpful agents that informed him there were no flights to St. Louis until Saturday (yes, this is the year 2014 not 1932) he finally secured a late Thursday night flight out to Indianapolis, arrived at midnight, rented a car, and drove home to tuck himself into bed to the tune of 4 in the am.

He popped out of bed three hours later at 7, loaded the boys in the car, and drove the six hours into the wild wild west slash Wichita

Dad/husband of the millennium taking a 30 second sleep walking power nap before he got behind the wheel.

...to drop the men off with his parents before he headed down to Oklahoma City for an interview dinner that night and an interview the next day.

I'm not sure how he managed to form coherent sentences during his multiple views but .... we have different thresholds for terrible so ... I'm sure he did fine.

So that left me and Julia and Simon's (still pretty) car.

the click of the phone camera actually echoed throughout the house .... the house was eerily silent.

Which was crazy.
And nice.

We tore up the greater St. Louis metropolitan area by way of hitting up World Market, Target, Dunkin Donuts, Costco, the library, Mass, and a nail salon. And I discovered that when Julia doesn't have the boys around to talk AT ... she asks a million questions. Per minute ...

Where did Simon buy this car?
What color white is his car?
Do you think this car is as cool as I do, Grace?
(she's been calling us by our first names lately and I'm choosing not to pick that battle ... judge me good)
Is this car big enough for your tummy?
Is this car hurting your tummy?
Are we going to long church or short church?
How many sprinkles does this donut have?
How old was I when I was a baby?
Where did this building come from?
Who built this building?
Would you say this is an ugly building?
What do you want to name the baby?
When are you going to turn nine?
When will Simon and the boys come back?
Do you want to sleep in my bed with me?
Do you think I can watch a show?
Just one episode?
But just ONE episode, maybe?
Is Costco your favorite place ever?

And those queries just got us to the stop sign at the end of our street.

doing it right. matchy match.

Learning the moves to Soulja Boy's Crank That.
{just kidding, just kidding}

 
We ate the others on the way home .... self restraint and all of that.

And meanwhile over in Kansas with the grandparents ...

Sebastian softly sings Radiohead's, "creep" and Chevy be like .... NOPE, won't look.

And, according to Simon, shortly after this photo was taken ...

Sebastian popped a squat on the porch and Frankie (the dog to the right to the right) gobbled it right up. Yes, that kind of squat.

On Saturday night Julia opted to sleep right through her nap and continue on into the night even after my pleading to get up for frozen yogurt .... and there were about five brief minutes where I had this funny feeling that I can only try to describe as ............ boredom?!?!? I decided to bask in the foreign and I quickly got to work painting my nails the color of ... my nails and watched one of my favorite chick flicks. And you better believe that I'm going to tuck that memory away and bring it out to play for a chaotic rainy day in the near or distant future.

Simon and I always say we should take the kids out on individual dates but we only ever get as far as quick trips to the grocery store or to Lowes or someplace exotic like that SO ... it was fun to have crazy J all to myself for a few days. And it was great to go out in public feeling so foot loose and fancy free with almost no stares or comments from the general public. And from what I heard Sebastian was la-la-la-la-loving life outside the shadow of his master.

.
And that was that. 

oh! I did catch Julia doing what she does best one evening. 
{it's 18 seconds long ... you have time to click ... you busy little bee}


 (if you're reading this on Bloglovin' click here)

Performers gonna perform. 
Audience or not.

38 comments:

  1. That picture of you two is so sweet! Yay for (chatty) girl time! :)

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  2. You managed to cram in all the essential girls' weekend activities: nails, junk food, girly movie, shopping, and napping. Nice work!

    It seems that at the boys' retreat there were manly things that fall between number one and number three. Also, I love dogs but why are they so gross?

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  3. That video of Julia is too cute! Seriously...

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  4. WOW, Simon! That was so kind. I'm so happy you got some one-on-one time, and that you got to experience ... boredom. Julia seems to be at a good age! When Chris goes to his brothers' bachelor party, he wants to have Conor be a lap baby and have him stay with his family. The funniest thing he said was, "This will give you a relaxing break! You'll just have Ryan." He was serious. Since Bash and Ryan are similar in their destruction tendencies, I'm sure you get why that's funny.

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    Replies
    1. As mother to a fellow destructo, this made me laugh! My husband will often say oh I will take the baby, That way you just have Easton aka the destroyer of worlds...

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  5. I just... I can't. Grace strikes again making me laugh out loud in the office. (I swear I do work; I just read my fav blogs during lunch.) Seriously though, the pop a squat + dog had me spitting out my water on my desk.

    Glad you got a nice staycation before baby comes. ;) And thanks for all the laughs!

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  6. This is simultaneously so sweet and so funny. Love it.

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  7. So can you have Simon's people talk to my husbands people and teach him the ways of giving a mama a nice clean break? Because I mean wow, this just seems amazing!! And I'd like to run all the same errands, donuts included lots and lots of donuts!!

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  8. Simon is a CHAMPION. That re-cap makes me want to take a nap just reading it.... What a man.

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  9. Sounds like you and Julia had a blast with the Patton boys gone...it cracks me up how she calls you and Simon by your first names...from what my Mom tells me I did that too for a bit...

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  10. This post made my heart happy :)

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  11. You found yourself one heck of a man! And I love the video of J-so cute!!

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  12. Yay for quality girl time!! Better get it in now, LOL!

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  13. Oscar the dachshund's favorite pastime here on Patton Lake is eating goose poop. When goose poop isn't available they clean out the litter box for us. Why are dogs so gross?

    Glad you got a break! Simon wins daddy of the year/husband of the year for making that happen!

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  14. I definitely made up songs in front of a mirror when I was little. Yes, audience or not. Ain't nothing gonna break my stride.

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  15. Wow, that Simon, he is a keeper! Looks like girls staycation was super! Gross dogs if the world unite, my parents have one too who enjoys a good squat popped...


    Side note: please do teach Julia the ballerina to crank dat yoouuuuuuu!

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  16. Love that J calls you guys by your first names, hilarious!!! The video = adorable!!

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  17. I'm rooting for OKC! My husband just got accepted to law school there so we'll be moving there this summer. I have a two year old and a one year old, it'd be fun to have a fellow mama of littles nearby! :)

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  18. THIS post is my favorite. :)

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  19. My first was 3.5 when the next one was born, this makes me remember so fondly what life was like with one 3 year old. We had so much fun. (Love life now too! It's just different!)

    And Simon is amazing. But you knew that.

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  20. So sweet!! I love Julia's dress too...so folksy and girly. I also love that both Frankie and Chevy got blogged. Good job, Simon!

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  21. Glad you were able to get some girls time with Julia! Looks like a fun weekend - my favorite is "are we going to long church or short church?" a variation of which my sister and I asked many times, hahaha.

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  22. I love your blog. I laugh out loud. Then I read it to my husband and he laughs too. Thank you.

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  23. We were one on the staycations, girl!

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  24. Holy cow, this post is hilarious…and Simon is a trooper- I would be having serious anxiety attacks after all of that travel/sleeplessness/driving, etc. I so wish that Julia & Marley could meet, I'm still pretty sure they are long lost twins. Also, the floor length mirror is a great idea for entertainment. Maybe that's what Marley will get in her easter basket. Have a great weekend :)

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  25. Oh. My. Gosh. LOVE that you had some time alone with J. That's the best ever!!! and just...love her. So precious! For what it's worth...I think most of us have big dreams of individual dates with our kids and *most* of the time, it's quick trips to the grocery or errands and such. And it really is okay. Because then...once in awhile...we DO have the opportunity for a true one-on-one date (or dates, in this case) and we make the most of it. Good on you, momma!!

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  26. Sounds like you two had a blast! And kudos to Simon...wow. Popped a squat, oh my hahahaha

    Good for you for making a fun girls weekend for Julia - those are good memories!

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  27. Simon is a rockstar. I hope one day to be able to function on as little sleep. And so glad that you and "crazy J" got some lady time. I loved this post. So sweet.

    Also Bash livin it up and singing Radiohead to the dog. Def a highlight.

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  28. i dance like a ballelina when i'm alone in my room too, J. which is often, as of late. the peeping toms in my neighb are highly entertained, i'm sure.

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  29. The incredulity of suddenly finding yourself BORED!? I know it. You did as I woulda dun, though. Movie+nails. Oh the excellence in not having to worry if your nails will dry before a diaper explosion occurs, or someone suddenly chokes on a piece of bacon and needs held upside down. Cause you know they both happen immediately after that first coat goes on. yay for the babymoon!

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  30. this was so wonderful!! i am deeply moved by it. Julia and her pastime of singing and dancing to herself in the mirror? teeth rotted out of head by the sweetness of it all. Sebastian pooing and dog eating it? simple nostalgia back to the land of Scotland where we had a big yellow laborador named "Laddy," and one day my lil brother pooped on the floor (in a perfect pile that looked like an emoji) and in slow motion we saw Laddy react and vacuum up the mess right then and there. my mom says she hoped my brother wouldn't notice and get ideas, but next thing she knew, "hey, Waddy ate my poop." and the bottom line is that you and Simon both are going for full-fledged sainthood with all the hardships you take on in life.

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  31. oh yeah, and i forgot to say that I L'ed O L at the "Creep" captioning of the pic of Bash and the dog. tooo good!

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  32. Who do I call in OKC and tell them, "Pick Simon, pick Simon." Then we'd be about 2 hours apart, well, considering kids and all, 31/2. And then we could meet. Not that that's really been on either of our radar's, but we could bump it up there, right? As I've had to say before to someone, "I'm really not a stalker..."

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  33. Awww I love that you and Grace had a weekend all to yourselves! And that video is precious

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  34. I literately just spat out my food. That Sebastian pic and your comments have me cracking up so hard that I'm trying not to choke. Holy crap, you are one funny gal.

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  35. So my daughter was about Julia's age when she started calling us by our first names {WTH??} We have no idea why she liked this so much other than she could see how much we DIDN"T like it...But like you, we picked a different battle. Well girlfriend, my daughter is finishing up her freshman year in college and never went back to that whole 'mom and dad' thing....nope, she has always called us by our names {even though a lot of her friends are horrified!} She beats to her own drum and always had. You're in for a fun ride, my friend!!!!!!

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