Our Little Baby Blog

Anniversary

Part 2

And now the story continues...

As I was saying, we had a nice long afternoon at the water park. Anna was splashing, Abe was enthralled by the people. Everything was going along swimmingly (hee hee), but it was time to get Abe fed. He is a clock work baby. He eats at 5:15 and goes to bed at 6:00 p.m. sharp every single night. And you don't really want to mess with that schedule.

We got him back upstairs, fed him and bathed him and then I put him down to bed. This hotel has one and two bedroom suites plus they provide pack n' plays. We opted for a one bedroom and decided to put Abe in the pack 'n play and put Anna in the bed. We would sleep in the pull out sofa. We've never had the kids share a bedroom so we were a little concerned, but it just didn't seem worth the price of the extra room.

Abe went down with no problem. Honestly, put him down at 6:00 and he'll get himself to sleep within about 20 minutes. Anna? She's another story altogether. We gave her dinner and she seemed tired, but you never know with her. These days she'll do anything to spite you. Want her to eat? She'll refuse. Want her to take her shoes off, she'll run around screaming that she wants to keep them on. You get it.

I read her books and took her into the room... quietly. We snuggled, as we usually do and I slipped out. A few minutes later - MAMA! I need a blanket!! So I bolted in and gave her a blanket. NOT THIS ONE!! THE OTHER ONE!! We didn't have another one. THE OTHER ONE THAT I LIKE! This goes on and on with me whispering she needed to be quiet and her talking and singingly loudly. Of course, Abe starts to wake up. I take her outside and we try to cuddle on the couch and start all over again.

After ten minutes or so I think she's ready finally so we head back in. Then I hear - MAMA! IS IT TIME TO GET UP YET? IS IT? IS IT REALLY? MAMA!! I yanked her out, as Abe started to sit up and look around. Nooo...

Yank her out again, this time she's crying loudly, saying she doesn't want to go to sleep, doesn't want to go in that bed, doesn't want to do anything. We turned off all the lights and tried to get her to sleep in our arms on the couch. Nothing. Then she finally squirms down onto the floor and lays down on the pile of blankets we had set aside for the pull out couch. We sit quietly and after awhile we watch her fall asleep on the floor.

Whew... it's really late now. Maybe 9:00 p.m. WAy later than she's probably ever stayed up. Mike gently puts her in her bed and we start to get ready. Ahh... now it's time for TV and ice cream.

Then suddenly the fire alarm in our room starts squealing. Mike and I look at each other dumbfounded. What the heck? He's looking around trying to figure out what could be causing it to squeal, I'm grabbing a chair to unplug the thing. It was nuts. I finally ripped the cover off and unplugged it. But the alarm is still going off. What?? Then we realize, it's not just our room. The hall alarm is going off also. I head out into the hallway and smell a faint odor of smoke.

Mike looks out the window and sees everyone in the hotel pouring out into the parking lot. This is for real.

So we throw on our tennis shoes and jackets over our pajamas. Grab the baby bag, kids' jackets and a blanket. Amazingly, the kids were still sleeping. We picked up the sleepyheads and ran down the stairs.

We head outside into the cold (I'm guessing low 40's). I'm holding Abe, the baby bag, the camera, and a GIANT blanket. We squat down on the grass and watch everyone run around, trying to stay warm. I see all these people wearing swimsuits and start to wonder why the heck they didn't grab jackets before they left their rooms -- and then it hits me. They were IN THE WATER PARK. The park was still open and these poor people had to evacuate directly from the pool. No blankets, no clothes. They are soaking wet!

The alarms are blaring. Volunteer firefighters are arriving. The hotel staff starts to explain that there was a small fire in the laundry room, but everything is now fine, it's just the smoke that they need to clear out before everyone can return to their rooms. We are let back into the lobby, but the alarms are still blaring so we sort of hovered there for awhile until the alarms finally end.

Around 10:30 we finally get back to our room. Of course, everyone is wide awake. Mike and I were pretty much bewildered, wondering if we'd ever get them back to sleep. Amazingly, we put them down and they didn't even protest. Both kids went right to sleep. I think they were a little shell shocked by the experience.

Abe woke up right on time, but Anna slept in until 7:00 a.m. This is hands down the latest she has ever slept in her entire life. Of course, we were already awake to feed Abe, but it was still nice to get an extra hour of quiet. She was a wreck most of the day though and ended up sleeping on the way home and when we moved her into her bed, she stayed asleep for another two hours. The night wreaked havoc on her.

Overall, it was a fantastic weekend. Saturday went so well that it made up for any of the chaos that night. We'd definitely do it again. The town is quaint and the water park really is great for very young children. Plus, the drive up there is beautiful so you feel much more peaceful by the time you arrive. Yes, we'd definitely do this one more time. I mean what are the odds that the place would catch on fire again?

Wait - Don't answer that question.