Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 3/29 - 4/4)

Friday (3/29) All good things must come to an end and today our vacation is over.  We got up and moving pretty quickly and loaded up the car.  We hit the road around noon, but not before a stock up trip at the Wawa down the street from my parents' house.  We got Herrs potato chips, coffee, pretzels and a few shorties that Adrian and I can eat for lunch and dinner today.  We hit the road and after about an hour we were stuck in our first traffic jam of the day.  We were in the traffic for almost an hour and then immediately had to stop for a bathroom break.

After that slow down, we did a pretty good job the rest of the day.  We hit a few slow downs here and there but it was mostly clear.  Waze also routed us around a few of the slow downs too so we made pretty good time.  We got to our hotel room that we (thankfully!) booked ahead of time in Chattanooga right around 11pm.  We got settled in our two bedroom suite and the boys played for a while, Adrian watched the end of the basketball game & I took advantage of the Wifi.  Then around midnight we all settled in for the night.  We were very thankful to have 2 beds and a sofa bed so we all got to sleep in a bed this time.  Plus Adrian and I slept in a different room from the boys so we were able to sleep with the TV on all night.  It was way better than our room on the way down!

Saturday (3/30) We all got a great night of sleep and were up and ready to go around 8:30 this morning.  Since our hotel didn't have a free breakfast, we headed to the diner that was attached to the hotel for breakfast.  Adrian and I enjoyed omelettes while the boys enjoyed pancakes before we hit the road for the last 6ish hours home.  Once again we hit a lot of stop and go traffic on the drive home, plus we were routed around some back ups by Waze but it still felt like it took us forever to get home.  Plus it started raining in Kentucky and didn't stop the rest of our trip.  We made a quick stop to pick up Jets pizza for dinner and then we finally got home around 7pm.  We had a quick pizza dinner and then unpacked what we absolutely needed for the night while the boys played.  We got them to bed and since Adrian wanted to watch the basketball games, I decided to just head to bed early.  I was really wiped out after a fun but long week of vacation!

Sunday (3/31) We all slept in this morning and had a slow and lazy start.  We spent the rest of the day relaxing and getting ready for the week.  We unpacked everything, did like 5 loads of laundry, did some of our weekly and monthly chores, caught up on a few things and also relaxed a bit.  The boys spent most of the day playing board games, video games and with their toys.  Daniel went to his friend Ethan's house to play with his new plushies and VR Five Nights at Freddie's game.  When Adrian picked him up, he picked up Chinese for our dinner tonight so we could keep things quick and easy.  The day passed quickly and we got a lot done and also had some down time together, plus got to watch both basketball games.  After we got the boys to bed, we finally watched "Survivor" from this past week and then we headed to bed to rest up for another busy week!

Monday (4/1) Back to our normal routine today!  We all struggled to get up after our vacation but we managed to get up and out the door on time.  Adrian got AJ ready and dropped him off at school before heading to work.  I got Daniel and Zak ready and dropped off to school before heading out to do some massive grocery shopping to restock the fridge and pantry.  I ran to Aldi and Meijer and then came home to put away the groceries and get a few things done before heading into school to sub for the afternoon.  It felt good to be back in the groove of normal life!

After school, I headed home with the boys.  After a short break, we quickly got thru homework and dinner before moving on to our evening activities.  I took Daniel and Zak with me to the church for my Zumba class.  I had so much fun doing Zumba roulette and just dancing for the hour with everyone, it was such a fun way to get back to teaching after 2 full weeks off.  Adrian took AJ and headed to his Scouts meeting where AJ passed his requirements for map reading for his next rank.  When we all got home, we got the boys down to bed and then we watched a few comedies and headed to bed too.  All of this work stuff is exhausting!

Tuesday (4/2) Another rough morning getting going, it will probably be like this all week.  Adrian got AJ up and ready and dropped him off at school before heading to work.  I got Daniel and Zak up and ready and dropped them off at school before heading to Harcum for my 3 Silver Sneakers classes.  Much like yesterday, it was so good to see everyone & get back in the groove of teaching.  We had three great, full classes and all had fun while getting a good workout.  And my students gave me a birthday gift that I get to enjoy all week.  When classes were over, I headed into school to do sight words with some of the kids in Zak's class.  I saw about half the class and had a fun time with them.

When we all got home from school, we had a short break and then got quickly thru homework and dinner before a busy night.  Adrian took Daniel to soccer practice while I took Zak to Scouts.  AJ decided to stay home for all of the activities tonight and hang out by himself.  Zak and I had fun practicing a skit with his other den members that they will perform at an upcoming meeting.  Daniel had a bit of a rough practice, but was feeling better about it by the time he got home.  When we all got back home, we cleaned up, got the boys to bed and then settled in to watch a few comedies and head to bed.

Wednesday (4/3) We did a little better getting up and moving this morning.  Adrian got AJ ready and dropped him off at school before heading in to work.  I got Daniel and Zak ready and then had a rare morning off so I came back home and worked like crazy around the house.  I got a bunch done in about 3 hours and then headed in to teach a kindergarten class for the afternoon.  Unfortunately there was a custody issue right at the end of the day so our dismissal was slow and long.  But thankfully we got all of the kids on their buses and home safely.

When we finally got home, I got the boys quickly thru dinner and homework before having to head out to sub a Zumba class for my friend tonight.  We had a fun time dancing together & it was awesome to see many old friends at the Y during class.  I was exhausted & sweaty after it but it was fun!  When I got home, I registered for Aqua Zumba training this summer & I'm so excited about it!  I've been waiting to take this training forever and I'm so glad it's finally coming close to Columbus.  Then I started on the boys' night routine since Adrian was at Bible study.  I got them down to bed and Adrian got home for the night.  We made our snacks and sat down to watch "Survivor" for our weekly date night.  After the show and our discussion about it, we headed to bed for the night.

Thursday (4/4) We got up and moving pretty well this morning for a monster of a day.  Adrian got AJ up and ready and dropped off to school before heading out to work for the day.  I got Daniel and Zak ready and dropped them off at school before I headed to the Harcum Center to teach my 3 Silver Sneakers classes.  We had a fun time in each class, I'm thankful to be back to teaching!  After the classes, I ran a few errands and then picked everyone up from school.  We again got thru homework and dinner quickly so we were ready for a busy night!

Adrian came home from work and had a quick dinner before heading out with Daniel and Zak for their soccer practices.  He dropped Zak off at his, then went to drop Daniel off at his, then back to pick up Zak and then Daniel.  It's a long day of driving for him, but unfortunately it's the only way we can make it work.  While he was doing that, I was at the church teaching my Zumba Toning class.  We worked hard and had a fun time dancing!  When we all got home, we were exhausted.  We got the boys thru their night time routine and when they were in bed, we watched two comedies and then headed to bed.  Getting back to your routine is hard!