So this is how the other half live! James and I had a wonderful week this week thanks to our friends Travis and Marlina.
My week started out Monday with James finally making it home for the first time for longer than a few hours in 2 weeks time span. It was great to have him home and the kids and I enjoyed every minute of it. He even cooked dinner for us and it was so good that everyone had seconds.
Tuesday I left all 5 kids with James and I enjoyed a gift certificate from Travis for a salon in town for a 1/2 hour massage and a haircut and style. He won it at a benefit at work and didn't have a need for it so he passed it along to a tired overworked mommy for a day of pampering. I enjoyed every minute of it. When I was done James had left to take Brooklyn and Makenzie home so that we could pack things up for an evening out of the house. Travis and Marlina invited us over to their house for a some conversation and wine. They have been working very hard on their house that they bought this year and have just put in a hot tub outside in a beautiful gazebo. We hung out and let Victoria and the babies watch Shrek 3 and laughed along with every part. Once the kids eyelids started to get heavy we took them into their spare bedroom and put them down to sleep hooked up the monitor and headed outside to the hot tub. It was so beautiful the steam rolling off of the water and the lights inside the tub changing color in the waterfall. I was in hog heaven. The kids gave us an early Christmas gift of a few hours of peace. They didn't make a peep while we were relaxing with friends. We talked and laughed while the bubbles tickled and relaxed every inch of our bodies.
Wednesday we started early getting the kids ready to go to mamaw and papaws for their first overnight visit. Travis, Marlina, James and I had been planning for weeks for our first overnight double date. Travis has a connection with Ceaser's casino and was given two complimentary rooms and a 300 dollar comp for Portico's restaurant to celebrate Marlina's 24th birthday. I have been anticipating this for a while. I have heard that the food at this restaurant is amazing and have stayed in the rooms there a couple times and knew how comfy the beds were and anxiously awaited a night of good food and great company.
Our dinner reservations were at 9 and we arrived at the hotel at 4 so we headed to our rooms and changed into our suits and hit the pool and hot tub at the hotel. We swam and snacked poolside for a few hours then headed up to our rooms to get ready for dinner. After our calamari appetizer I ordered surf and turf and James ordered a 24oz. Porterhouse steak that you could practically cut with a fork. A bottle of wine was opened for us to share and we sat there enjoying our 55 dollar a plate dinners like we were the type of people that could afford that on a daily basis. The unbelievable dinner was matched by the chocolate lava cake. James ordered bananas foster, his favorite, and the server came to our table and fixed it in front of us we really got a kick out of it. I have pictures above that were taken when he flamed the sauce.
We rolled ourselves back to the hotel to change into stretchy clothes and take a quick nap before making a small deposit into their slot machines. When we met Travis and Marlina in their room to make our way to the boat we decided to take some snapshots of us before we won big or lost miserably. As James was taking a picture of Marlina sitting on the bed and Travis kneeling beside her he proceeded to pull out an engagement ring and pop the question. It was wonderful to be a part of that moment with them. Sadly though it didn't bring us any luck on the boat. We still had a ball and finished off the whole "vacation" with breakfast buffet free with their Ceaser's points. All you can eat bacon and pancakes?!? Sign me up!
I am now at home and the house is quiet. James has left for a run to Jersey and the kids and I just got back from looking at Christmas lights. Victoria and my favorite pass time these days. I promised her that I would take her if she was good at mamaw and papaws. Plus I asked her tonight if she would like our hot chocolate and she responded..... and I quote....."Let me go pick my toys up first". I wanted to check her for fever. I can't believe it! It is an amazing moment in parenting when the week before you were at your wits end and frustrated beyond belief and suddenly your kids show a sign that what you try to teach them is finally sinking in. Granted I know it was a fleeting moment and tomorrow I will be repeating myself all over again it is just nice to see a glimpse of all of the effort come through when for once I don't need to say "Go ahead and put your stuff away" I have had a wonderful week. I am rejuvenated and refreshed. I now can slide back into the roll of mommy with a clear head and a new appreciation for the finer things in life. While fine dining and being waited on hand a foot isn't day to day life for us around here it was nice to pretend for bit.
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