:: The Best Laid Plans ::

If Babies R Us could throw up, this is what it would look like spewed all over
a hotel room. Yup, that's our hotel room, and our baby stuff. You can't even
see it all in this picture. There's more behind the bed. Hard to believe you can even take it all with you, but apparently you can.

So, I had all these thoughts of a nice, amusing post today, filled with pictures and anecdotes and all kinds of cleverness. But I'm tired. Very, very tired. I had 24 of my students' drafts to comment on this weekend and, well, they needed lots of comments. And while Evan was a little angel on our trip, he was a devil today, crying more in one day than he usually cries in three or four days combined. He was what we call Not Feeling Up To Par, also known as Off.

This is the price we pay for testing his limits for three days.

A sleepy but happy little swimmer warms up after a dip in the big kid pool.

But it was worth it. This weekend (Thursday through Saturday) we went to the Kalahari, a giant hotel and indoor waterpark.
Brian had to go for work and we decided this was a perfect chance to test Evan on a short trip before we have to take him 400 miles home to Rochester at Thanksgiving. He was so good, napping when he was supposed to nap and smiling when he was awake. And swimming! Swimming was a hit!

I'll spare you the narrative of our trip (read: I'll spare myself the time it would take to recount the trip) and just say this: I really wanted to hate this place (it was so, um, overdone I guess the word is -- everywhere you looked there were animals, pictures, carvings, even African-looking fabric staples to the walls) but I actually really thought it was cool.

According to a sign I saw taped to a wall there, this place will soon (after an addition this winter) be the largest indoor waterpark in the country. It's got all kinds of video games, obstacle courses, and indoor miniature golf, too. It was like kid paradise. My own personal favorite feature was the candy store right in the lobby. This is where we got our "Baboon Bites" -- chocolate-covered frozen cookie dough balls -- and several other tasty items (chocolate-covered strawberries, handmade peppermint patties, and some obscene caramel thing covered in dark chocolate).

All in all, the trip was a success. Evan did great in the car and slept well in the hotel. Brian and I found ways to occupy ourselves while he slept in the corner from 6:30 on each night. Yet somehow I am still completely drained and feel like I need a few days off.

Where's my sub?

Why didn't anyone tell me there's no subbing out of mommyhood?

Damn.

But seriously... what about for injuries?

No?

Damn damn damn.