Spring Break

This weekend we are finishing up spring break with the kids.  I know most moms secretly (or not so secretly) dread vacations because they have to "deal" with their kids All. Day. Long.  I've even been that mom.  But I homeschooled the kids for a few years before we moved to this duty station, and I can honestly say that most of the time I like having them home.  This week has also been quite pleasant because Axl, our oldest, has been at scout camp since Monday.  We've missed him, but it's kept him and Sue from fighting, so that has been nice.  Also, he's the kid who'd be happiest staying home all day, every day.  You could say he's not much of an explorer.  My younger children are much more willing to go places, so this week we enjoyed the beach and the aquarium without complaint.  Never once did I have to say, "You're coming with us because you are a part of this family and families do things together!"  It kind of takes the fun out of an adventure when forced cooperation is required. 

Last night my husband Mike went to stay with Axl for the last night of camp.  I think Mike has missed Axl the most, which is ironic because he's hardly home to see the kid anyway!  Those who've been married for a while might understand when I say I had a hard time sleeping last night without Mike.  When you're used to a warm body next to you, it's hard to sleep without them even if they sometimes drive you crazy.  Also, it didn't help that we had a thunderstorm last night.  Or that at 2am the fire alarm went off..for no apparent reason, although I suspected it might have something to do with the air conditioner.   I waited for the A/C to click on again, and thought I smelled something smoke-like, but I might have been imagining it.  Anyway, for about 2 hours I stayed away trying to figure out how I'd get the kids out of the house in case of a fire.  If the front door is blocked, I figured our best bet would be the play room windows (which are the lowest and don't have shrubbery under them.)   So I'm thinking and thinking, what toy could best be used as a missle to break our windows?  Are these windows typhoon resistant?  Can anything break through them?  Oh great....now we're trapped in this firepit!  Thank you base housing!  Eventually I succomed to sleep, but, wouldn't you know it....at 4am the damn fire alarm goes off....again!  Only this time it woke Brick....the lightest sleeper (and most fearful of all the kids.)  This time I was too tired to be scared, but not too tired to be pissed.  I found a stool and started dismantling the fire alarm, thinking it had to be the battary.  Surprise, surprise....the stupid safety thing didn't have a battery!  Either I fixed the problem or I broke it more because after my "repair" it stopped beeping.  So, I went back to bed and, thanks to some smart and understanding children, (who knew they'd have to deal with Grouch Mom if they woke her) I managed to sleep for 3 more hours. 

However, I'm still thinking a nap might be in my future.