Vacation Vacation Vacation

We were so proud at this moment. We're on our first family vacation; a long weekend over Father's Day / Anniversary at Lake Quinault staying at the national park lodge. No TV, no Phone, no 3G and wifi only in the common areas - so we thought. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. We departed about 11AM (would like that to have been earlier...but not a disaster), stopped for lunch in Olympia at 1PM (this is when I should have reconsidered my comfort level). Lunch was at Water Street Cafe and Bar. The menu was fabulous - so me per-baby. The problem was this was not a baby place and the waitress must not have remembered what kids are like. They had high chairs so its not like Olivia was an alien - lunch took 90 minutes - they wanted to preserve the 'experience' I guess. We swapped duties of playing in the park and eating as each course arrived. Then back in the car all set for nap time, this worked perfectly. Awake upon arrival ready for some playtime. We hit the pool at 4:30 with a reservation for dinner at 6. We ordered a bottle of the Lake Quinault Red had a somewhat 'normal' dinner; playtime and then bedtime routine with the picture above taken at 19:59. We spent the rest of the evening playing memory on the iPAD. I beat the pants off of JR. The lodge being so old was a bit loud. Lots of squeaking floors, people walking down the hall and talking and then at very odd hours clanging from the steam heater.

Day 2 started somewhat earlier at around 2AM when I had to rescue Olivia from being stuck under the bed. I tried crawling back into bed with her but she was all over the place. At one point I laid on the floor with her - that sucked - then she finally collapsed and we slept till 8AM or so. Everyone woke up tired; a coffee and some breakfast helped. Hiking the morning away in the splendor of nature - we did our best to stick to the routine - so at 12PM EVERYONE was down for nap time. No one stirred till 4 at which point we woke HER up! For an afternoon activity we hiked to the largest western cedar in the world and took a walk inside. During our drive around the lake we saw a few for sale signs and discussed the idea of a vacation home. Then dinner at the Salmon House (excellent) a shopping trip at the Mercantile. Tonight I'd thought it would be excellent to go swimming then hit the showers in the locker room as 'bath-time'. Also we were thinking wear her out = a full nights sleep. So we closed the pool at 10pm, shower and then a cold walk in a towel back to the room (cause you can't put on nighty nights without a diaper!). Then to bed - again no problem. I was granted a 'vacation' to sit in the common area to surf. Once the snoring began, I went to bed - I was no fool - JR surfed till midnight suddenly wifi was reaching our room!

Day 3 once again started a bit early. The first sounds of life began about 1AM - but those were quickly eased. Then 2AM it was our favorite wiggle worm once again in the (queen size) bed. We fought the bird for 2 hours and the bird finally won. At 4AM - we all got up turned the lights on showered, packed and got the heck outta there! All that pride in that photo evaporated as we were those loud people in a hotel room at ungodly hours - baby crying, doors slamming, talking, walking in the hall, luggage squeaking and hitting the wall (this family doesn't make two trips) - all of it! Back in the car she slept the ENTIRE way home. Jon was all gung-ho to stop at Lana's for blueberry pancakes. That would have meant breakfast at 7:15 - but I said no doubt Olivia will be asleep by then and I'm not moving her. Jon asked - are we going to order and eat separately (to me that meant breakfast would take 2X the normal amount of time). I said no, just bring my plate to the car. I think he was too embarrassed to do that - and knew I was serious - so it was McD's in Aberdeen for breakfast and home by 9:30AM. Considering we couldn't get our act together to leave for vacation prior to 11AM - arriving home from vacation by 9:30AM is definitely a lesson learned.