Part II: Saturday

Saturday

8:30 a.m.: The phone rings. It is my husband. The van is ready to be picked up. QT is still sleeping and one of the Ladies has at some point crept into my bedroom and taken one of the iPads.

8:45 a.m.: Pancakes for everyone. I prep the kids that we are going to have to leave soon to go get the van. I tell them I am not sure exactly how we are going to get there. The Lady suggests the Trolley. (Our city has a free Trolley that loops around and connects the area where we saw Frozen on Friday night with the downtown, near where the van is.) I have been talking about taking this Trolley for weeks. We have a plan.

9:10 a.m.: I Google the Trolley. I find out the closest stop to our house and see that they have a mobile app where you can follow the Trolley in real time. I throw on some yoga pants, promise donuts and start barking out commands to the kids, "get dressed, brush your hair, put on shoes we will be walking. . ." The Lady insists on wearing a nightgown with shorts. The Little Lady puts on a peasant skirt with a pair of leggings underneath, a t-shirt and a headband that she keeps at the very front of her head. They both wear flip-flops, nobody brushes their hair, however they do brush teeth.

9:21 a.m.: I check the app, the Trolley will be at the stop in 23 minutes. We can totally make it.

9:25 a.m.: We are in the garage, I grab the umbrella stroller because QT has a tendency to run. The Little Lady insists on riding her scooter. She grabs her helmet and we are off. We make it about a half a block before the Little Lady gives up on the scooter. I am visibly annoyed. I throw the Barbie scooter over the handles of the stroller and loop the helmet around them too. The Little Lady tries to keep up but is insisting that we are leaving her too far behind, the Lady and her long legs are about 10 feet in front of me.

We finally round the corner towards the Dunkies. I have already explained to them that we will be stopping on the way back because we have to catch the Trolley, although I am in serious need of some caffeine.

QT jumps out of the stroller, throws a mini basketball that he was carrying into the road. I stop everyone at the corner, get the ball and check the time. It is 9:50, we are not making it. Dunkies is in sight and I tell the kids that we will go there first. QT starts to squirm, he starts itching his whole body. He is covered in ants.

I am now standing on a street corner with three kids, a stroller covered in ants because it had been lying on the floor in the garage and there was some leftover granola bar in the seat from the kids' trip to the zoo earlier in the week. QT rode for a full 10-15 minutes sitting in that ant-infested stroller. I start picking ants off his feet, the back of his neck. I give him a full body check. I am grossed out. It is hot, I need coffee. We limp into the Dunkies parking lot. I pull the stroller up along side of the building and send the Ladies in for napkins.

(The problem with being a regular at places is that you just can't anonymously wipe scores of ants off a stroller on the side of a building in private. No, the owner of the establishment has to come over and offer to watch the stroller for you so that you can go inside, and you have to tell him that "something spilled" on it and you are just going to leave it outside, but thanks so much!)

10:05 a.m.: Stroller de-antified. Everyone is sitting down enjoying a donut and I have some coffee.

10:15 a.m.: I check the mobile app. We have 13 minutes to cross four streets. We head out.

We cross one street, we cross the next. We cross the third street. The Trolley stop is on the next block. All we have to do is cross over and make a left. We arrive at the corner. The Trolley arrives at the light directly across from us. I make some gesticulations with my hands trying to get the conductors attention. Did I mention this is the longest light in Stamford? We wait for the walk sign in the crossroad. The Trolley turns, we book it across the street. I yell for the Ladies to run ahead, the Trolley stops, the Lady is running in her flip flops and nightgown, her long unbrushed hair flapping in the wind. The Little Lady is close behind her, her ankle-length skirt billowing in the breeze. I am following behind with QT in the (hopefully) ant-free stroller, the Barbie scooter on top with the Dora the Explorer helmet banging against my fingers, the Trolley doors open then close and he drives away without us. I make a half-assed attempt at following him on foot. We will never catch up.

We take refuge on a bench at a bus stop.

10:28 a.m.: I call my mom.

10:31 a.m.: QT has to go to the bathroom. Luckily the mall is not far, in fact we are pretty much at the exact spot one of my early blog posts took place and I know the Barnes and Noble bathroom pretty well at this point. We soldier on. Both Ladies are complaining about their feet hurting from the flip flops. We make it to B&N. On a positive, there is one of the benches from the Art Around Town exhibit right outside of the mall. It is painted with birds though, so obviously it isn't my favorite. We sit on that for a few minutes because the Trolley isn't coming back for another 15 minutes and then make our way to the Trolley stop.

11:00 a.m.: The Trolley arrives. The doors open, we stumble in. It it cool and clean and wonderful. Everyone takes their own seat.

We start off in the opposite direction of where the car is. After about 13 minutes aboard the Trolley, we finally get to our stop downtown. We unload. QT insists on riding the scooter, the Little Lady would like to be in the stroller, the Lady runs into one of her classmates on the street. We only have to cross two more streets. I can see the awning of VW up ahead. I convince QT to give up on the scooter.

11:22 a.m.: I park the stroller outside the entrance, I send the kids in through the front door and point them to the waiting area. They each take a seat in a large, black leather chair. I give some guy my name, he tells me everything is ready and he will bring the van around. At that point, I like to imagine what it looked like from the inside of VW as the four of us arrived, as we crossed over the parking lot and into that front door, a little sweaty, an empty stroller with a scooter on top, three kids dragging their flip-flopped feet. I wonder did they have any idea of what it took for us to get there?

I will say they had some pretty good customer service though. The kids all got some water and another guy came by with a candy bowl. Of course they can have double bubble gum and gummy worms, it just took us two hours to get here. The guy who went to get the van came back and said that there was a car blocking it and it would just be another minute. Take your time guy, wherever we are going next, we are driving there and it can't possibly take as long as this excursion did.

Then, there she was in all her glory, Minnie-Ru.

11:37 a.m.: The kids scrambled in the van, I threw the scooter and the stroller in the trunk, took the last sip from the dregs of my coffee, blasted the ac, got in and drove home.

In retrospect, I realize that I probably could have just put QT and the Little Lady in the double stroller and power-walked the 1.2 miles to the dealership with the Lady in sneakers, perhaps switching out with her sister or brother for a spell, but the double stroller was in the top of the garage and on Saturday, it just wasn't our journey to take.

Back to Reality

There is always a day or two of adjustment when you return from vacation. Even if it is just a quick trip to the beach house, there is always one bag still waiting to be emptied or a travel bottle or two of shampoo sitting on the bathroom counter.

I think I am finally catching up on a little bit of rest, and even though the Lady has not stopped talking about all things Disney, I think she is glad to be home.

I am amazed at how quickly this summer has gone by. I have tried to keep busy and we have been lucky enough to be able to spend a lot of time with friends and family.

I am in the process of trying to figure out who is going to watch the Ladies once my sister goes back to college. I am not looking forward to it.

Yesterday, I interviewed someone. She was very nice, totally qualified and tried to make a connection with the Ladies. The problem is that she is only available until 3 or 4 in the afternoon and I need someone all day. She also works more like a nanny rather than a regular babysitter. Apparently, this means that if you cancel on her or take vacation she still gets paid, and paid more than I have been shelling out. Ugh.

I am trying to find someone who will be great with the Ladies and willing to put the time and effort in for no more than 15 bucks an hour. In Farfield County, that can be a bit of a problem.

So, I am sure I will spend some time stressing these last days of summer trying to find the perfect person to care for the Ladies when I am at work. At the same time we are going to try to make a few more trips to the beach and meet up for a few more playdates with friends. All of this before September hits and my husband starts travelling more. Can't wait for that, especially since the Lady is all about her daddy. This helped me a lot in Disney when she only wanted him to take her to the bathroom, but won't be of much help at 7 am when she is screaming for him and I am the only one listening.

It will all work out . . . right?

The Lady Goes First Class

We have been in Florida now for the past three days and this is the first opportunity I have had to get onto the computer. The Lady fell asleep on our morning walk and is now squeezed underneath a counter in the tiny business room I am using to access my e-mail. I didn't want to lug my computer along and the thought that I might be able to use my husbands computer went right out the door the minute that he left us on Monday afternoon, not to be seen again until quarter to one the following morning.

The Lady has been living it up here at the Ritz-Carleton Golf Resort. She started her trip with a very early 3:30 am wake up call for a 6 am flight out of LaGuardia. In order for us to travel anywhere these days we have to take advantage of all the miles my hubby has accrued over the past few years. With these miles we got an upgrade and the Lady was able to fly first class. Yes, the Lady at almost 17 months flew first class, did I mention this was the first time I ever flew first class? So there we were, the Lady in her monkey pjs and me in my Giants sweatshirt ready for the star treatment.

First Class on a 757, 3 hour flight to Miami isn't much different from coach, except you get one of those hot towels and some breakfast. The seats are definitely bigger, which helped considering that I had a 30lb baby sitting on my lap. I was lucky in the sense that the man sitting next to me, didn't seem to mind too much that he had to sit next to a small child, although he did keep reaching for his travel Bible tucked into the back of the seat in front of him--perhaps looking for a bit of patience? Anyway, the Lady was super good. She passed out right after take off but that only lasted for about 35-40 minutes until the flight attendant came with our pancakes. First Class or not, have you ever tried to eat off those airline trays with another person sitting on your lap? Not easy, especially if they keep trying to spear the cantaloupe with a knife.

Needless to say after breakfast there was no more sleep for the Lady, but we made do with an Elmo video and some coloring. When we finally touched down in Miami and met up with my husband we were ready for some serious sun. Did I mention that my husband never popped up to see us at all, even though he was sitting in the first row of coach? Why is that Bean you ask? Oh, he was passed out the entire time. At least one of us got some sleep.

So here we are living the hotel lifestyle and I am once again forced to realize that I really don't have any appropriate clothing for situations like this. I have moved into maternity because the jeans aren't really fitting and I am trying to pass off the thick layer of fat around my midsection as my "bump." The Lady however has a ton of new spring/summer wear that is super cute.

I am also walking around the Ritz Carleton with three giant acne cysts on my face. I did attempt to purchase a new foundation from Maybelline called Dream Mousse at three different CVS's in two states but apparently there are so many other pale animals out there who are wearing Light Porcelain that I am out of luck. My only saving grace is that everyone is looking at the Lady and saying how cute she is. I am hoping they aren't even seeing me at all!

My husband is out of the room by 5:30 every morning and although he pops in for a minute or two around bedtime he usually isn't back until after the Lady and I have already called it a day. I guess I am lucky that I am here in the sunshine of Florida instead of stuck in the snow in Connecticut. It is a little trying having to figure out what to do all day. The pool is great but only for a while and it leaves me no time for me or for me to hang out alone in the sun! I am also still stuck cleaning out sippy cups and snack cups in a hotel sink. Fun stuff.

The money saving mom in me is also a wee bit in sticker shock. Since this isn't my husband's account that he is travelling for, I really can't justify spending $30 per meal for me and the Lady. We made a trip to the supermarket for some fruit and yogurt, but the other day I spent $12.95 on a kids menu grilled cheese sandwich for her, of which she ate one piece and instead comprised her meal of ice chips and the potato chips they put out on every table. UGH. If I only had the money to live this lifestyle! Manicures and massages, nannies and nightlife. Oh well, maybe some day.

Tomorrow we are trying out the Naples Zoo. I am not a fan of zoo's in general and was once left by my parents at the reptile house at the Bronx Zoo. When they came back for me, they found me sitting with the guards, who were laughing because after they asked my name I told them "Mary Jane, ask me again and I'll tell you the same." It isn't that I have bad memories associated with the zoo because of that, it is just that animals smell and zoos are always hot, but the Lady likes animals and tomorrow is supposed to be cool (high only 69) so we are going to check it out. I will let you know how it goes.