Happy 4th Birthday Nick

So I went to get into the bed at the hotel last night (Rob decided to sleep with Nick) and I was feeling for the bed and found hair. Ellie's head was at the foot of the bed and her legs were hanging off the side - I truly cannot believe how much either of the kids can move in their sleep. I adjusted her back to the pillow and got her the glass of water she asked for - I noticed Nick was sideways in bed so I re-positioned him too. I didn't take an ativan last night and it took me about an hour to fall asleep but I was able to stay asleep. We shall see tonight - I haven't taken one yet and its past 11PM and I am still not really tired. Nick and Rob were up first and went into the living room to watch tv - Ellie and I slept about another 10 minutes after they got up. We got dressed and brushed teeth and hair and went down for breakfast. We sang to Nick - he covered his face in shame. I forgot to mention when Nick was telling all the hotel guests about my alcohol consumption last night he also was entertaining them with Steve Miller, repeatedly singing, I'm a joker, I'm a smoker, I'm a midnight toker. I am quite sure the people around us contemplated calling DCFS - Mom who drinks 'alcohol' everyday, little boy singing Joker - oh it was great to see all the looks. I guess this would be the problem with ipods and random play. We ate breakfast and went back up to then room to let the kids run off some steam and pack up. I did some research on things to do on our way home today and looked up directions to do a loop of downtown Indy. We packed up and loaded the car. We traveled to downtown and I showed the kids the things that always stuck in my head as Indy memories - the huge war memorial roundabout, union station, the stadium. We got on the road and the kids were about done with the whole we've been in the car a bunch in the past 5 days - lots of bickering and yelling today. We stopped about 90 miles from Indy to get gas and coffee. Next stop was Fair Oaks Farm - we decided not to do the birthing adventure (yes, apparently you can watch calves being born) but we did go to the cheese store and got to watch the packaging and try some samples. Ellie and I did like a couple of the cheeses and we picked up a few to go. We got back in the car and ventured about 30 minutes more to Albanese Candy. They are apparently known for their true to taste gummy bears. They offer a factory tour but not during Easter or Christmas months. We did get to see the factory through some large windows and see a packaging machine and a shaker machine going. They had gummy everything - bears, snakes (about 2' long), army men, butterflies, bunnies. We got some gummy bears, snakes and sweet-tart legos - yes, they actually connect to each other. We headed home after the candy factory and got home mid-afternoon. The kids helped us un-load the car and clean up all the stuff we have accumulated. We couldn't throw anything out because they were all treasures - tickets from the museums, brochures from the places we went - all treasures. I got the laundry separated and started a load - amazing how much clothing we went through in 5 days. We gave Nick his present - the ultra discounted Thomas Misty Island set - he was thrilled and told us how much he really wanted it. Ellie helped Nick take all the pieces out and build the set - Rob helped with track placement. We didn't have lunch so we were all hungry and decided it was going to be an early dinner night. Nick didn't want to go out for his birthday - totally different kids than Ellie. I think Ellie was disappointed that Nick didn't want to go out for his day. We ordered pizza and Nick to a ride to pick it up with me. We stopped in and picked Nick up a hot dog and a strawberry milkshake because even though he has promised us when he turned 4 he would try pizza again he didn't feel like trying it today. We ate dinner and talked about plans for the rest of the week. We had some realizing couch time after dinner and then headed off to Mom and Dad's - Mom had made Nick an orange cake for his birthday. The kids showed off all their treasures and pictures and then we sang and had cake. We changed out Scarlett - she is looking pretty good. We packed up and headed home for bedtime. Nick went to sleep pretty quickly and Ellie wasn't far behind. I talked with our friend, Katie, at Red Robin about our experience for Ellie's birthday and she listened to me vent and then asked us to come in again and let them do a birthday re-do and if we come in tomorrow night she will have Red make an appearance. I got to see the elimination on DWTS and then we watched Parenthood - I am sad because there was an article in the paper this morning about how the show might not make it. It was wonderful to get away but it is nice to be home and still have 5 days left to do whatever we want. My hands are still drinking up lotion very quickly - they are similar to what happens when I clean with bleach. My feet are so happy to have other options than gym shoes. I did finally try my Easy Feet - the slipper that suctions to the tub and has 1,000 bristles and a pumice stone. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite suction securely to our shower but the bristles did feel good. Visualising my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree