Every Hour on the Hour....Except the Hour I Needed

I went to bed at midnight last night....after getting last minute things together for our trip.  Remember, I'm a Type A personality and I had a huge list of things to do (post-it notes are only during the school year).  On some of the items, I even put when I needed to get them done (tonight, tomorrow, when I wake up, etc.)...so at midnight, I finally got to check off all of the items that could and should be done the night before we leave. 

So at midnight, I fall right asleep....I wake up at 1:12am...wide awake....finally drift back to sleep.....2:12am.....wide awake.....drift back to sleep.....3:12am...wide awake...drift back to sleep......4:36am....jump out of bed and realize that I am 16 minutes late waking up.  Apparently between the hours of 12am-3:12am, my body is excited about vacation, but after that my body says "forget about it". 

I'm rushing to tame the wild mane on my head in the shower and trying to sweet talk the #s into getting up.  Finally....FINALLY....after Hubby and myself have tried to get them up....#1 and #2 realize that we're headed to the beach.  #3.....forget about it.

When I tell you that the four of us were ready when Hubby finally coaxed #3 out of bed is not an understatement.  It was crazy....and he was crying (#3, not Hubby)....and not crying, sobbing....
Me:  Why are you crying?
#3:  Cuz I had a good dream.
Me:  And you're crying?!?!!?
#3:  I had to wake up.
Me:  Well, what was your dream about?
#3:  Me, you and The Hulk were riding unicorns!  And I miss it (cue crying).....
.....yes, I had a bit of mercy cuz that kid was really torn up about having to wake up from this dream.  Lots of hugs and then I looked at him straight in the eyes and said "if you don't hurry up, I'm leaving you here".  #3 rushed.....and when I say "rushed", I mean, he might have actually been a tad bit faster than the slug that I found on our front porch the other day. 

As I'm folding the last load of laundry, I notice that #3 is still in the same shorts that he slept in....
Me:  You need to change your shorts. 
#3:  I'm going to wear these.
Me:  But you wore them to bed.
#3:  But I like them.
Me:  But they are dirty.
#3:  I don't care.
Me:  But....nevermind....find a shirt...you do HAVE to wear a shirt. 

We finally get out the door and into the car and we are on the road....
Me:  We'll, we're only one hour and eleven minutes late in leaving.
Hubby:  Sounds about right for us.
#2:  UGH parents....get it together
....do I really just not have it together?  Is that what my world has come to?  A life where I can't find "B" because I'm not leaving "A" yet?  Will I ever have it together?  I'm going to assume I will NEVER have it together.....I mean, I have three #s....if I ever had it together, I sure am going in three or four different ways at the same time. 

So we're a good hour and a half into the drive, #2 wakes up from his nap and announces that he's hungry.  Seriously!??!?!  I thought we'd at least get four hours in....heck, even two hours sounds better than 1 1/2 hours.  So we go to Chick-Fil-A.....the happiest place on earth (besides Disney, of course). 

Now we LOVE Chick-Fil-A because the food is fabulous and #3 will actually eat their chicken.  (Yes, we've tried the copycat Pinterest recipe.  Yes, it tastes delicious.  Yes, #3 can tell the difference and won't eat it.)  So we are eating and laughing and having a good time and #2 laughs so hard that chicken mini pieces spew out of his mouth and all over Hubby and across the table.  Hubby just looked at him and the rest of us just lost it.  Hubby has a great sense of humor and laughed while he wiped his arms down with many napkins.  It's the little things that make our trip fun....the little gross things....

At one point, #2 was the only kiddo awake and we were listening to the eclectic music that Hubby and I have.  MercyMe's "Flawless" came on and I read the lyrics out loud....
#2:  That's like me!  I'm gonna be flawless no matter what I go through in life cuz Jesus died for me!
....cue the tears....FROM ME!  I love that #2 is SO EXCITED about being baptized on the 12th....that kid is ON FIRE about Jesus!!!

Lunch came around the same time that we needed gas.  We stop at the gas station and I told Hubby that we need to wash our hands before we eat at Subway....which was in a gas station...which should have been my first clue.  First of all, I go into the restroom where two of the five toilets do NOT have a sign not to use them.  Then I get in there and there's enough reading material for days.  I'm serious when I say that my pee was too scared to come out into the toilet.  Seriously I was calming myself and trying to talk myself into peeing.  How crazy...how scary....how ridiculous is that?!?!!  I went to wash my hands and I thought "I could probably be okay to leave now cuz the sink is dirtier than the toilet".  I was mortified.  I went out of the restroom and looked at Hubby....
Hubby:  What's the matter?
Me:  I can't do this.
Hubby:  You can't eat here?
Me:  Absolutely not.
....cue crying from #3...until I told him there was a McDonald's....yes friends, I loathe McDonald's, but even that was better than the sink, toilet, floor, and anything living in that restroom.....which shouldn't be called that because NOBODY is going to rest in that filth.

We went through the order of "we need a cheeseburger happy meal with just bread and cheese...no meat...no pickles...no ketchup...no onions...just bread and cheese".....third time's a charm at the cashier counter, right?

So we made it to the beach!  The #s soaked up the last rays of the sun and played in the ocean and swam in the pool......island pizza....and games with the cousins.  They can't wait to start their day tomorrow...and I can't wait to see how our first relaxing day at the beach is with our life by numbers!