Life as it happens with our three beautiful and adopted children, Shayla, Yamira and Manuel: We are back!

We went to Vermont over the long weekend, so I haven't had a chance to catch up here. We left Thursday night, but we were so busy that I didn't even get to check in before leaving.

We had gymnastics on Wednesday. After gymnastics, I had to feed the kids and get them all packed to go. I had to put them to bed and I also had to clean the house. The hard part was that Bill wasn't home that night as he had EMS training that night and the night before. So basically it all fell on my shoulders. Shocking!

On Thursday, after I dropped off Ping and Yamira, I picked up Bill at work. We went to the DCF office to sign papers saying that we wanted to keep Yamira and Manny. Manny came with us. He did pretty well while we were there. I then dropped off Bill and picked up Yamira and took her to her therapy session at noon. The rest of the day was spent doing those little last minute things that seem to take hours. Once Bill was home, I was ready and raring to go, but he wasn't. He had to do a few things. Finally around 7:00 pm, we left for the long trip up to Stowe. We checked into Smugglers Notch around 11:00 pm. Unfortunately never having been there, we were not sure where to check in. The place is massive. Once I found in the dark and cold where we needed to check in, I found that there was nobody there to work the desk. What you do is grab your envelope and check yourself in the next day. In the envelope is a few keys and some directions. Sadly, there was no folder. So I read the instructions on what to do if you do not have a folder. We located security and found our folder there. Thank god! Due to the condos being individually owned, sometimes the owners make security hold onto the folders. Makes complete sense.

We found out where we were staying and felt like we had arrived at a castle. The place was huge. It had a living room, a kitchen, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. In each bedroom was three beds. So it was nice and spacious. We unpacked and went to bed.

We got up early on Friday as Bill and I had had to greet a babysitter so that we could do a Segway tour. We had never been on a Segway before and I had always wanted to. It was a lot of fun. It was freezing cold and spitting rain, but it was fun. Twice I got really dizzy. No idea why as the Segway wasn't at all dizzying. I believe it had to do with the altitude? Maybe it had something to do with the leg pain I was experiencing. Bill and I both had leg pain. Very odd. Fun to do. The babysitter Brenda was fabulous. So sweet. She took the kids for a walk and to Treasures, the place that watches kids during peak season.

Once we were done with the Segway tour which was just the three of us, we formally checked in and went to the little country store there. Not so little as it had everything. I got three stuffed animals for the kids and a cute little sign that describes our family. We then headed back to the condo. We put Manny in for a nap and then we took a little nap. We then took a ride around and had some dinner back at the hotel. I didn't eat at all. Nothing was working for me food wise. Oh well. We then took the kids to the Fun Zone. They had a blast. We thought putting them to bed would be easy, but none of them wanted to sleep, so we battled them for 2 hours. Very frustrating indeed.

On Saturday, I slept in a little and then we got ready and headed to a local craft fair. We had a nice time. I picked up some cute sippy cups for the kids and an ornament. The kids had pizza and a ton of popcorn. We then drove around a little more and stopped at a few shops. Grabbed some cider donuts for the kid and some apples and then headed back to have dinner at the hotel again. Not what I wanted to do, but the rest of the places for dinner were packed. After dinner, Bill dropped me off at the condo and he took the kids to the Fun Zone alone. Yay for some quiet time. I didn't do anything but watch a little TV. Putting the kids to bed was much easier that night. They were exhausted.

One thing we found on Saturday was that there were a lot of outspoken/rude people in Vermont. While standing in line to get into the fair, a woman turned to me and in a very rude tone said "Make sure you don't push that stroller of yours into my mother's legs as she has diabetes and if she gets hit, she won't heal well." Meanwhile, I was a very good distance behind. Now I understand her concern and being a daughter myself, I understood where she was coming from, but she was really rude about it. I also don't like people to assume that I don't know how to drive a stroller. So I said to her "I try not to run my stroller into anybody regardless!" She just huffed at me. Another instance is one that happened in the big tent. I told the girls not to touch anything because things could break. I did say they could touch the softer things if they asked permission and their hands were clean, but since they were eating popcorn, they couldn't at that moment. One of the vendors looked at them and said "Don't touch anything with those hands of yours." It was the way she said it. That and did she not just hear me????? Most parents wouldn't even bother to notice that their kids hands are dirty and need to be washed before touching anything. Hell there are plenty of parents that don't mind kids with faces and hands that are dirty. They figure they are kids, why not let them get dirty. That is fine. I don't have an issue with that, but I am a clean freak and after eating, my kids don't move without clean fingers and faces! I was insulted that this woman was rudely telling my kids what I had just said in front of her.

The last comment came at the end as we were leaving. I went to get a Christmas ornament with our names on it. I had Manny with me. Bill took the girls to the bathroom. Then they stood at the entrance waiting for me. Apparently, Yamira was running around and Bill told her to stop and to stand next to him. Well when she wouldn't, he picked her up and put her next to him. A woman looked at Bill and said "Disgusting, he is trying to be all Alpha Male with his child." Well I wasn't there, so I don't know what happened, but when I found Bill, I could tell he was very angry. So I asked him and this is what he told me. Bill never gets angry, but he was very angry about this. He told me that he told her where to go. Sorry that I missed it because in 20 years, Bill has never told anyone where to go! See what I mean about the people in Vermont? Granted we can't lump them all, but it's a very unfriendly vibe we get from most people. Anybody remember what happened last year with the magnet????

So enough of that. Sunday we got up and drove two hours to another craft fair. We went to one we went to last year in Rutland. It wasn't worth the drive really, but I found a few things I liked, so it was worth it to me. We then made the long trek home where we ended up having dinner yet again at the same place. The kids didn't care and neither did Bill. I was the only one that cared. However, I couldn't eat, so I am not sure why I cared about it! Yamira and Manny without permission ate all the cider donuts in the morning, so after dinner Ping went to the Fun Zone alone with Daddy. The two youngest were tired, but I also needed them to know that eating without permission isn't cool. The Fun Zone was only open for another 30 minutes anyway, so they didn't miss much. I brought them to the condo and put them to bed and let the other two have fun together. The kids went right to sleep, so I was pleased with that. Ping was not so easy. She couldn't seem to fall asleep. She can cope better than the other two though, so it was okay.

On Monday, we got up and packed our bags and checked out. We headed down the mountain and stopped for a carriage ride. We had a great time. We then went and got more donuts for Daddy. We then began the long journey home and I mean long. We hit traffic of course. I hate coming home after vacation. I hate putting everything away, but you play, you pay!

Bill went back to work yesterday. I went swimming. Manny went to daycare and the girls to school. At 11:00 am, Bill called me to tell me that he was laid off from his job and was heading home. Bill seemed to take it okay. I, on the other hand was pretty upset. However, I reminded myself that things change and as long as I am healthy and those that I love are healthy, that is all that matters.

At 3:00 pm, we picked up Ping at school and headed to ice skating. Ping didn't get why Daddy was home even though I told her and explained it to her. She will get it at some point. She is just thrilled that he is home. More Daddy time? YAY!!!!! After skating, we came home and fed the kids and then I read them a book and put them to bed. Bill had the fire department.

Today I got up early and got the girls ready. Manny stayed with Daddy. I dropped of Yamira at school and took Ping to her Cranial Facial Clinic appointment. I dropped Ping off at 11:10 am which was perfect because I picked up Yamira at the same time. Great switch off. Now Manny is sleeping, Bill is doing laundry, Yamira is watching a movie and I am here catching up. I have a ton of photos to upload, so I will do that now. I have a few other things to do, so I am off like a prom dress.

Mama Out!!!!!!!