Weekend at the lake but first you have to get there

Last weekend was Dallas' family reunion at Possium Kingdom Lake. I have went with him for many years and love the time we get to spend with his family. Every year we rent cabins that generally have a bed, small bathroom, table, tv, and small efficiency kitchen. We have shared a larger cabin with D's parents the last few years and it proved to be the best situation. Well this year I decided we needed to get our own small cabin so the kids could nap undisturbed. We tend to be the "cool" cabin with kids running in and out the entire time. Last year the kids could sleep through anything because they were only two months old. This year would be a whole new ballgame. I had to bring my A game or I would surely be out of control and you know I can't handle that.

I had to work the Friday that we left but Dallas had taken off to help me get ready. I had gotten off a few hours earlier than expected and we were both home running around packing. I had stayed up late the night before doing as much as possible and that helped. Dallas actually did a very good job of doing things that day that is until he had to go to work. He got a call at around 2 pm that said he had to go put some loser on crisis suspension immediately. He cussed, threw a fit, and went to work. I was surprisingly not upset I simply went into super strength mode. I finished packing and loaded the car. I was very impressed with my already masterful packing skills. I managed to fit damn near everything but the kitchen sink in the car and left just enough space for the kids! They literally had bags between them, towering behind them, and stacked up to their feet. D's parents had to come by the house and put the essentials that could not be maneuvered into our car into their already tightly packed vehicle. I had planned originally to leave at 4 to go pick up the kids and head to the lake but Dallas was not back from work and it was nearing 5 pm. I decided to go get the kids and swing back by to pick him up. They looked ever so concerned when they were thrown into the packed car and they could barely see each other. Eventually they seemed to enjoy the chaos... who's children are they? We picked up dad and hauled out of town.

We were of course behind schedule but I had brought snacks for the car and Melissa had fed them a heavy snack to ensure we could make it to the lake before they were hungry. Nope that didn't work. They started crying for food before we even made it to Weatherford. I fed them puffs handfuls at a time to buy us some time. Eventually Paige caught on and demanded something more so I jumped out and grabbed anything I could find that was car friendly. I was now giving them crackers and they were happy or so we thought... The next sound I hear is one of the top most dreaded sounds a parent can hear in a car. Ethan had taken too big of a bite of cracker, choked on it, and threw up all over himself. Oh fun! Sign me up, I love road trips with twins! We pull over and clean everything up all the while Paige is crying because she wants another cracker. We are finally back on the road and now we are concentrated on finding somewhere to feed these little piggies. We arrive in Mineral Wells and Dallas spots a Braum's. I swear I heard angels singing.

We run inside and I grab a banana, a jar of peaches, and some water. Dallas had already ordered some chicken and we are back on top. We get the kids fed much to the amusement of Mineral Wells residence. The kids were acting like we hadn't fed them in months! We were back on the road crisis averted and almost to the camp grounds. We arrived at the cabin around 7:30pm which is 30 mins after their bedtime. I handed the kids off immediately and set out to get the cabin in order so the kids could go to bed. I got the cabin set up in about an hour and the kids were so ready for bed. Ethan had already fell head first into a cast iron bbq grill and Paige had bites all over her little legs. They were so extremely tired that they had no problem sleeping that night at all.

The video monitor worked out great and had reception all the way to the lake, D's parents cabin, and to the meeting hall. We had finally arrived and all was well now if I could only sleep it would be perfect. I was so paranoid about how cold it was in the room and whether or not the kids were okay I actually slept with a flash light in my hand! I know, I know.

The reunion itself was really fun. The kids loved running around all over the place. Saturday morning Paige walked around Nana and Granddaddy's cabin at least 6 times just because she could. We took them swimming in the lake which was great except Paige kept drinking the lake water, gross! Ethan likes to "chill" in a floatie but Paige wants to take off swimming when she is in the water. She wanted you to hold her out so she could kick, splash, and drink infested lake water. My only complaint is how much work it is to keep up with the twins schedule while away from home. We didn't have a clock in the cabin but it was easy to tell what time it was by what the kids were doing. I felt like I was feeding, chasing, or changing one or both of them the entire time! Oh I was so exhausted!

Paige had been rather fussy the entire time crying out of the middle of nowhere. I thought it was her ear infection she had had in her left ear a few weeks prior. She kept messing with that ear and she had a recheck appt. on the following Monday. I gave her Tylenol, Motrin, and teething tabs but nothing really seemed to help that much. She did not sleep well Saturday night therefore neither did I. She was in bed with me, in her playpen, and no matter what I did she would not sleep. My lovely husband had added to it all by jumping in my bed earlier that night in between me and the playpens, hello!!! I had to crawl over him several times to see her. If I needed to adjust the ac or anything it was over the hubby and piles of bags and stuff at the end of the bed. he beds made very loud creeks every move you made and the floor did as well. Now to fully get the visual you have to imagine me slowly creeping over everything waiting in between creeks to make sure I didn't wake anyone. If it wasn't that it was me running into things because the entire cabin was pitch black. I had put blankets over the window upon arrival so they would be able to nap in the middle of the day in a strange place. It would have been truly comical to anyone but me. To top it all off my husband had brought his dying phone in the cabin that night and it was beeping loudly every few minutes. I of course could not find it nor could I wake him up.

Safe to say I was not in the best mood Sunday morning. The kids and I got up at the butt crack of dawn as usual. I changed their diapers, got them ready, and fed them while their Daddy slept happily. They were into everything while I tried to get stuff ready to start packing up. Ethan dumped a bag of shredded cheese and Paige got stuck in between the bed and the playpen somehow. It was just all together time to go. I loaded the kids up in the stroller and we went to have strawberry pancakes at the meeting hall. May I just say, "Yum"! I dumped the kids with the grandparents and proceeded to pack everything to head home. We had a plan to return home and I was determined this one would go accordingly. We were scheduled to leave after their snack but before their first nap therefore they would sleep the entire way home. We pulled it off this time and were on the road at 10:40 am only 10 mins after nap time. The kids were asleep within minutes of us leaving the camp grounds and I was not far behind. I cried on the way home from over exhaustion and then eventually I fell asleep.

Before I knew it we were home. We unpacked the car and handed the kids over to Grammy. She was our relief! We went to take a nap before it was time to get up and get ready for the Stone Temple Pilots concert we were attended that night. I know, I thought it was crazy too but Dallas talked me into going before I knew it conflicted with the reunion dates. We were going with friends so I couldn't just back out. After our nap I felt revived and we headed out to meet our friends. We had a great time at the concert and were home by 11:30 pm.

Monday morning my Mom, Grammie, was still there to watch the kids so we could sleep in. We woke up at around 9:40 am only to find that the kids had slept until 9:00 am! What?
They never sleep that late for us. Safe to say the lake wore us all out but it was all worth it. We will do it all over again next year.