Though it may sound silly on the glorious day known as Friday, I am kind of wishing that I could have an extra Monday this week. The Flanagan family has had a week full of adventures, and only today am I feeling like I will have time to do responsible things like laundry and child-rearing.
But despite the lack of grown-up activities, we have all had an enormous amount of fun these last few days. Here are some snapshots of our whirlwind life.
On Monday, we escaped the insane heat of our home (no cooling system means yucky interiors) by going to our local thrift store (check out that mail holder!), eating our meals at restaurants, and wandering around Target. Our whole day was spent in preparation for the next day—Caleb's 29th birthday!
Monday night, it was so warm in our townhome (86 degrees at 2 am!) that we all relocated to our basement; makeshift beds and floor fans made sleeping possible, as well as creating our first family sleepover. After a call to the manager confirming that our air conditioning would be installed on Wednesday, we booked a hotel room for Tuesday night.
Caleb's birthday was a great excuse to have this unusual family excursion. I chose the
Airport Inn Hotel because it is conveniently close to our home and off the beaten hotel chain path; the website promised comfy beds, made-to-order breakfasts, and a swimming pool. I packed up the necessities (including the birthday cake!) and the kids, and off we went.
When we arrived, I was exceptionally pleased; we had walked right into the most pristine 80s cheesiness that I had ever witnessed. Everything was dark wood and ivy, all squished together in economical architecture. As you can see in the picture above and the picture below, the pool was not only indoors, it was IN THE LOBBY. No walls separated the areas, though the short railings demarcated the lobby from the swimming pool. Any raucousness from a pool party would be heard and seen from the leather couches thirty feet away.
But also, there was only railing separating the pool from the restaurant. The chlorinated smell of the pool readily wafted into the restaurant, meaning that our breakfast eggs and toast felt like a pre-watersliding delight. I was pleased as punch at all of these happenings. The kids, not so much, because Caleb and I felt extremely uncomfortable taking us all swimming in these conditions. Jacko has yet to forgive us of this slight.
Our hotel adventure ended, and the kids and I were tasked with spending all Wednesday (and surprisingly, all Thursday) out of the house. We did not want to get in the repairman's way, so that he could get our air conditioning in as quickly as possible. Plus, Jacko has a tendency to be a vocal taskmaster to hired help.
We utilized our
Kids Bowl Free coupons two days in a row, plus visited several playgrounds and
fast food playlands; we even made a stop-off at Caleb's office, so that I could drop the kids off and get a new permanent crown in the dental office in the building. Wednesday and Thursday all blended together into a Go-Go-Go chaos machine.
But most shockingly of all, Jacko and Caleb went to get a haircut this week. Jacko had been growing his hair out to "wear a ponytail," but the summer heat doesn't go well with his thick hair. Since he has gotten this clean-cut look, I feel like I am dealing with a much more adult version of Jacko than before. I'll admit, I miss the devil-may-care look. But as you can see, I still have one child who is still into that kind of image (see: Lucy Goosey.)
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