Stinky Hotel Room

We had a mini vacation for 3 days as Pat had a work meeting to go to and the kids & I rode along to relax, swim & spend time with another family that was going also. Unfortunately, our hotel room was a smoking room - the only ones available by the time his group booked their rooms. I tried air fresheners, room deodorizers, etc - nothing worked. It stunk. I ended up with a sore throat and I am not sure if it was from the smoke smell or the fresheners! Either way - it was because of the smoke. When we opened the door to the room - it hit you in the face. I hate it. I wanted to leave and wondered why I had agreed to this...I won't again. The kids and I will stay home. Other than the room, it was OK. Nothing great to see though, was a smaller town, I tried exploring, however the prince in his teen style - wanted nothing to do with that. Maybe I will leave him home with Grampy & Grammy next time...
We had a thunderstorm this afternoon. Quite a bit of rain.
Today I just did laundry and was lazy. I lost my voice. The kids like it - except when they yell to ask a question from another room and can't hear the answer!
Work will be busy this week, have to do the year ending inventory counts, etc. Plus playing catch up for being gone 2 days.
The prince is starting on his woodworking project for the fair. I can't wait to see it finished. Should be great.

Happy Birthday!

Tomorrow is my sister and one nephew's birthday and another nephew turned 3 on Wed of this week. Both nephews are having b-day parties this weekend.
I hope they all enjoy their day and have fun!

Ding Dong "Doo"? (Scooby Doo)

Well, we just got home from spending a few days with family in the Chicago area. The kids all had fun and we adults had a good time too. The prince faired well, got a "new to him" set of golf clubs, got to play golf with his dad and uncles (Shawn & Neil), Shawn gave him his "old" digital camera and a lot of Clive Cussler books to read! It was amazing to see him standing with the men and being as tall or taller than all but his dad... The girls (the princess & her cousins) all had so much fun playing and doing their "girls club things" (crafts & games). Everyone swam a lot at the hotel pool. We got Kay's boys on Sunday afternoon, so they stayed with us. We went on a bed time snack run for ice cream, which the kids all enjoyed! (esp Pat!) I took all of the girls shopping, was a fun time. Then I got to go to Ikea, had a great time looking at the room setups, trying to decide what would work for the prince's room as we re-do it. Got some neat ideas that should work well. It will be one of our nephews birthday this coming week, so while we were out & about on Sat, Shawn & I found a LARGE Scooby Doo stuffed dog. (over 4 ft tall?) Our nephew loves Scooby, so we bought him and hid him. (like that was easy!?) Just before our nephew was to be in bed Sunday night, the other cousins ran up the street - with our son holding Scooby over his shoulder. They put him on the porch - in front of the door and ran the door bell and RAN to hide! Neil answered the door and just stood there looking at Scooby and Deb yells - "Who is it Neil?" - he answers - "Scooby Doo"...we all had to keep from busting out laughing. Our nephew stood there in awe saying "It's Scooby Doo!". What a riot! It was great!!! None of us (or our nephew) will forget that one for years! The best part is: how are they going to keep him from begging to sleep with that stuffed toy! (we told him this Scooby was a watch dog and should stay by the window or door to guard) It was a great week, we saw a lot and had fun together with family, which was the best part.
Gotta go for a Scooby Snack...talk to you later!