I am a bad Mommy. I'm keeping Little Boy out of school today to do the homework we didn't do while on vacation. (Ever try to get a kid to do schoolwork when he could be swimming?) Anyway, it's because of my laziness, not his, but I just felt like I was under enough stress. Also, it wouldn't be entirely fair to send him back to Teacher with him still in vacation mode. This will give him the weekend to settle into his routine, finish the assigned work, do his report on sponges, etc.

The vacation?

Let me just start by saying it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. As a matter of fact, many parts of it were very nice.

Aside from the wedding and all...

Here's the breakdown. I'll try to keep it short without skipping too much:

TUESDAY Hit the road running and managed to ease our way through rush hour without incident. Hubband's Traffic Tourette's didn't bother me too much. Weather was fine and we had music. Little Boy is always easy in the car. We stopped around 8:00 pm just the other side of Atlanta.

WEDNESDAY A little more tense. Tired and wanting to get there. Hubband made the mistake of going 27 instead of the Turnpike, not realizing this was a major highway through several towns. Traffic Tourette's reaches a new high. I wanted to kill him. Saw some of the more boring and yet less interesting parts of Florida. Got to the Holiday Inn at 3:00 pm, following a huge argument consisting of a lot of my telling Hubband where to go, him ignoring me, my getting pissed, him finally figuring out I was right in the first place. GRRRRR! By the time we are trying to check in (bad service, long story) Wayne's Sister and Sister-In-Law are standing behind me. They were looking for us and came to tell us we were expected for dinner at 5:30. Food was good but dinner didn't actually happen until around 7:00 and was filled with family drama.

THURSDAY Wanted to hook up with a friend but it didn't work out. Since it was made clear we were only going to have this day without obligations, we decided to take Little Boy to Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure. Very fun, wet, and hot. Managed to sneak out of dinner plans to have quiet family time in front of "Survivor" with Subway. Fun.

FRIDAY Plan was for us to work our tail off all day in huge dome-shaped hall to get ready for wedding/reception. Place was ugly with back/foot killing cement floor and echo-making domed ceiling covered in dirty insulation. Managed to get through day without killing family, very good. Rehearsal dinner was marvelous, most of family in by then. Food yummy. Kids at their own table. Alcohol. Hubband very attentive and proud to be with me.

SATURDAY More work to do but Hubband gave me a break. Worked on homework with Little Boy and took him swimming. Went to Wallmart (Yikes!) and saw "Monsters, Inc." Very nice. Lovely pond behind theatre where we saw about six different species of wading bird. Loved it.

The Wedding started 1/2 hour late. I was touched that the couple not only included us at the family table, but provided coursages and included thanks in their vows for our making the trip. All of us out of towner's felt like we were appreciated. The food was good and the booze was abundant. I got a little drunk. "Hi! I'm Aunt Caribou! Would you top this off for me please?" Hubband and I danced. The majority of the night was spent trying to keep Florida Nephew from ruining the evening with his drunken antics. Cleanup started at midnight and continued until almost done. Gathered up presents to take back to Florida Niece's condo she shares with new hubby.

SUNDAY Ow! My Head! Better after breakfast and shower. All meeting at bar. Lions playing the Buc's and not blacked out plus endless amounts of free beer. Hubband in heaven. Professional pool hustler is teaching Little Boy how to play pool. Spend hours waiting for...???? Finally get to hall to finish cleanup. Everyone limping because our feet hurt so. Finally finish and get to Florida Niece's condo to open her gifts. I write in book while Sister-In-Law shouts rude comments from other side of the room. Florida Niece is racing because her new husband must meet his ex and then they have dinner plans and are leaving for their honeymoon. We enjoy sandwiches then give our goodbyes so we can take Little Boy to cool mini-golf place with giant-red-eyed-skull-with-waterfall as promised. Dance around with bliss as we realize horrible family part of vacation is now over. Cry as we realize feet still hurt a lot.

MONDAY Off to Hollywood! Weep with joy as I realize there is a Starbucks at the Turnpike Welcome Center! Arrive as planned and wisk Florida Friend off to Miami Beach. Get a little lost due to construction. Have really expensive lunch at fancy schmancy hotel served by nearly unitelligable French Waiter. Walk down street to see stuff then walk back down beach. Shells torture feet but Little Boy is in love with the ocean. Hot. Hubband carrying all items as if pack mule while Florida Friend and I chat like magpies. Florida Friend takes us to cheap souvenier shop where we load up then home. Off to Boca Raton! I lost the argument and we are spending the night with Old Family Friends. Turns out wonderful. Hubband is overzealous about our need to have own room and Little Boy ends up sleeping on their screen porch (which he thinks is cool because it's like camping) then we have king sized bed with our own bathroom. Is heaven.

TUESDAY Huge breakfast on top of previous night's huge dinner is killer, but they are so sweet! Spend a few minutes at the pond looking for alligators, turtles and amazing fish that jump out of the water every 10 seconds. On the road to Jacksonville as Hubband promised Ex-Ex-Sister-In-Law that we would stop to meet her husband. Have time to kill so we spend a couple of hours in New Smyrna Beach which has a beach one can drive on. We all agree this is the part of Florida that we love. Wonderfully active ocean, pelicans and such. Beautiful. Saw a couple of dead Man-of-War and Jellyfish. Also huge sea turtle washed up on shore missing head. Had best burgers ever at ocean side restaurant. Got to Jax on time after side trip through St. Augustine. Spent only an hour but needed to get on the road. Wanted to see if we could push it and get through Georgia before stopping for the night.

WEDNESDAY Woke up in South Carolina with plans to head to Charleston for a few hours. Drive there through low country was beautiful. Truly a trip back through time. Charleston is great, easy to find attractions. Do the Aquarium which is wonderful, then take a boat ride (vacation requirement, remember) to Fort Sumpter. History makes the Hubband so happy and I was ecstatic to site DOLPHINS off the side of the boat! Three hours later we're back in the car. (Did I mention I fell and tore up my pants and knee? Uh-huh. Quite the clutz.) Now we're back on the road with plans to get through the Carolina's and into Virginia before we stop. Find a Holliday Inn in Wytheville, VA after beautiful night ride through Charlotte and then mountains. Hubband is pleased when I tell him to go to lounge if he likes. Little Boy is antsy and no longer on his best behavior when we find TV without any kids stations. In room Nintendo proves expensive when the controller sticks. End up ordering "The Princess Diaries" and watching in bed. (Very nice!)

THURSDAY Woke up to see dawn over the Blue Ridge Mountains. Breathtaking drive through the Virginia's and then into Ohio. Stop in Ohio to try to see our Best Man, who works for Hubband's company there. He is in Texas but we use the bathroom and chat with him by phone. Then we are off. We make wonderful time and end up back here by 6:00, which is just when I thought we would.

All in all, a wonderful trip. Our favorite part was necking on the sofa at the Brother's house while everyone else was gone and Little Boy was engrossed in cartoons. We realized we haven't made a lot of time for each other lately. Something we should work on. We felt like honeymooners.

I also felt like I bonded a little with the Hubband's family. I felt closer to them and yet was myself throughout the visit. Usually I try to pretend I'm something I not and end up further removed than before.

There is sooo much to do today I should get going. Must battle Little Boy to finish some of his work. Sometime will have to catch up on what YOU all are doing. Must attend to groceries and finances. Think I'll have lunch with the Grandma. At least the house is clean and the bills are paid. Life is pretty good.