You and Me Baby Aint Nothin' But Mammals...

okay - so west virginia is no wyoming, but we still managed to have a nice, relaxing time. after 4.5 hours of driving and 389 "are we there yet?" questions we finally arrived. the house we stayed in was beautiful, but it was in the middle of nowhere. at night, alex would set up booby traps (note to self: look up the word origin for "booby" trap) at each entrance into the home, for fear that someone would kidnap the kids in middle of the night. on our first night, my husband left our room at 2am and slept with the kids. i asked him, what if someone kidnaps me and there is no one to protect me?? it was dark, but i'm pretty sure i saw a shoulder shrug. thanks honey. i love you too.

we were informed the day before we left for the trip that there would be a TV and dvd player, but no cable. my husband, who was going to the library to return some books, was assigned the task of renting some movies for the week. we spent each night, watching national geographic videos. i was hoping for movies along the lines of the diving bell and the butterfly, but should i have really expected this from the man who took me to see the beavis and butthead movie on our first date? now you'd think watching national geographic movies would be highly educational for our 5 year old. but boy did we have to do some major damage control.

Day 1: Lions

D: "mommy, what is that boy lion doing to that girl lion?"

Alex quickly responds, "he's giving her a piggy-back ride."

D: "can i have a piggy-back ride right now?

Alex: "you most certainly cannot!"

Day 2: Zebras

D: "look guys - even the zebras are giving each other piggy-back rides."

us: "piggy-back rides sure are fun!

Alex: "mommy loves piggy-back rides."

me: "ahem...shut up alex."

Day 3: Rhinos

D: "rhinos give piggy-rides too!! that is so cool! that must hurt the other rhinos back. they are heavy."

Alex: "mommy is heavy too. she hurts my back during piggy-back rides."

me: glare. followed by middle finger (when the kids are looking away of course), followed by mental note: no piggy back rides for daddy in the foreseeable future.

anyway, a fun time was had by all. some highlights: i can't look at another marshmallow until the year 2020. i beat my husband bowling. dina got bed bug bites all over her legs. i ate freshly caught fish from the river and was paranoid all night that i was going to die from some fish-borne disease. i am the UNO queen. my husband has picked the last 3 three vacation sites and being the awesome wife that i am, i have obliged him. it's pay-back time. i'm thinking hawaii in july...sans kids.