We had a fantastic little get a way last weekend. I got off work at 3 on Friday which was a really nice start. After picking up Grace from school, we hit the grocery store for our weekend snack stock up. We made it through the store in less that 20 minutes and only left a small dent in the budget. Next, we picked up Layla from the babysitter and met Alex and Eva at home. They were surprised to see us at only a little after 4.
I went into packing mode and surprised myself when the car was loaded and ready to go by 5pm. We weren't planning to leave until Saturday morning, but I started wondering just why we were going to stay home Friday night. Orginally, I thought Grace might have some plans with her high school friends, and I didn't want her to miss out. But by 5pm on Friday, we had nothing left to do but leave town.
I sent my mom a text inquiring as to the possibility of going to the country house that night. I assumed she'd say no because they are really weird when it comes to me going there alone. And by weird I mean I've never been allowed to go there without them or one of my siblings.
So, imagine my surprise when she said we could go! The kids were thrilled, with the exception of Grace. However, she got on board after the mention of McDonald's for dinner.
I picked up the key from my mom and got a few instructions on opening up the house. Then we set out for the weekend.
The road trip was mostly pleasant. We had left late enough to miss traffic but early enough to complete most of the drive before it got dark. Layla fell asleep a few minutes in and was quite disappointed when she awoke and realized her chicken nuggets were gone. Neither the kids or I realized as we munched away on them that she had only eaten one before nodding off to sleep. She just kept asking for her chicken and didn't understand that it was gone. It was so sad and I felt horrible. I decided I'd stop and buy her a happy meal at the next McDonald's I found. Grace was able to distract her with Beauty and the Beast on her computer, however, and that is the last we heard about the missing nuggets.
As we pulled onto the bumpy road, the kids began to recall how "creepy" it is to go into the woods and up to the house. Grace questioned why we even came at night because there could be a murderer lurking in the woods. As they were concocting their stories in an attempt to scare each other, they didn't realize they were also scaring me. However, I still had to get out of the car to open the gate....the gate that would obviously lead to our eminent deaths. I hushed them and begged them to stop with the dark and scary woods stories. I think they sensed my fear as I climbed out of the car and fiddled with the chain. As any good kids would do, they immediately locked the doors when I got out and then laughed as I ran back to the car and I couldn't get in. They let me panic for a minute or two before hitting the unlock button.
Once we made it to the top of the hill, I got to inflict some of my own revenge. I left the little ones in the car to fend for themselves and made Grace go with me to open up the "cabin in the woods".
By 9 pm we were all set up, unpacked and free and clear of murderers. We broke out some snacks and I poured some wine and snuggled in for our Friday movie night. I was really hoping to find something scary, but I think we all slept better after deciding the Camp Fred Nickelodeon movie would be the best choice.
It was quite peaceful to be there that night. The rain was coming down in a quiet lull on the tin roof. And for the first time in what seems like months, I felt my shoulders relax.
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