Summer Vacation

We've hit the road for a month or so before we actually move.  First it was a week with my mother, which was a whirlwind of playing on the swingset and swimming in plastic kiddie pools and visiting Hershey Park (my first visit, and that place is MONSTROUS--we saw only half of it in 7 hours) and visiting the most amazing theme park for little kids (seriously, if you are anywhere near southern NJ, you must go--well-maintainted, amazing rides for little kids, no lines, and no bigger kids to trample your little ones--we've been like 4 times now and we love, love, LOVE it there--pure kid magic) and seeing MU in 3D (which I also loved) and getting our nails painted (Miss M's first manicure, and she was nuts about it, until the polish started to chip, and then she became devastated), and. . .well, you get the idea.  Kid stuff.  We've been so very busy grabbing America and squeezing every last bit of joy we can get out of it before we head off.

On Sunday, we drove to New England, which was an epic journey that took almost twice as long as normal.  Every time there was a traffic option, we took the wrong one, and ended up in traffic for hours.  There is no excuse for this, because the GPS on our car has traffic built in, and it diligently kept trying to reroute us, but we kept ignoring it, and. . .yeah, bad idea.  If the GPS tells you to take the Lincoln Tunnel, you totally should, because you will sit in traffic for hours in the George Washington.  But anyway, we got here eventually, and it is spectacular.  I forgot how much I love New England in the summer.  The sun shines.  The birds chirp.  The cat catches and tortures chipmunks right in front of the kids. . .ah, good times.  The kids have been swimming in the lake and playing on the beach and taking 3 hour naps because they are so exhausted, and it is AWESOME.

Tomorrow I'm having lunch with my dad and the girls, then possibly dinner with my friend and her three kids.  We are here for a couple of weeks, but I know the time will be gone before I know it, and I want to catch up with people as much as I can.

Oh, and there was a big box of chocolate love on my nightstand when I arrived.  My MIL won a charity auction item donated by my favorite local chocolatier.  The chocolate is insanely expensive normally, and in the box is bar after bar of beautifully wrapped chocolate, chocolate truffles and bags of other treats.  I feel like Charlie in the Wonka factory.  Yum.

But where would we be without a potty training mention?  Because even amidst the chaos, I'm still trying valiantly.  Miss M, for her part, is still fighting valiantly.  When asked to use the potty, she says things like "no thanks.  I already went yesterday."  It cracks me up.  What can I say?  At least it's polite.    She has twice started to poop in her pants, remembered she's not supposed to, and come running to finish the job on the potty, which in my view is the worst of all options.  But someday soon, I'm hoping it will all come together.

Oh!  And I've made some progress on the should-we-hire-an-employee front.  Well, sort of.  I vacillate wildly between "yes, we totally should!" and "let's just get there and see.  Maybe we really don't need anyone"  In between, I've sent a bunch of emails and talked with some folks, and am contemplating doing interviews in Spanish now via Skype.  I see the wisdom in waiting and getting there and seeing. . .and then I think about arriving and unpacking and trying to grocery shop and do the million little errands, and how much easier all of that would go if we had someone lined up.  I have some leads on a few more people to talk to (from other folks at my company who are there).  So, we'll see.  I guess I'm leaning toward it, even though I have my reservations, because I can see how it could improve the quality of my life, and although I'm uncomfortable with the economies of scale, I can also see that we'd be offering a fair wage (on the local economy) to someone who needs the job.  Thank you to the kind person who recently left me a comment on this issue--really appreciate the thoughts.