Alarm should be in the "off" position on vacation.

**I put up a new slideshow from today down below!**

Well. I’ve learned another lesson. When you get to your hotel room, you must find the alarm clocks. And make sure the alarm is turned OFF. Yes, I learned the hard way. All too early this morning. After a long night last night-in bed at midnight. I had to catch up with my peeps on FB. : ) heehee It’s just fun to say it.

It’s always hard on the first night in a hotel. We have to acquaint ourselves, get ice, feed everyone, find jammies, make up the sofa bed if that’s where the kids are sleeping, set up the pack-n-play for Ethan (and get the sheet on), find a tv channel that kids can watch (hard at night), then take turns in the bathroom, set up Ches’ computer (as he’s still teaching online) and now my new to-do: check the alarm. Hahahahahaha. Seems funny doesn’t it? Until the alarm wakes up the baby, and you’re screaming at the one nearest the alarm, “Hit it! Hit the snooze! Unplug it! Make it stop!!” After which the baby is up, and therefore everyone is up.

So now we’ve traveled through Arkansas, stopped in for lunch at a questionable restaurant in West Memphis for lunch, went over the Mississippi River, and into Memphis, and straight to the Children’s Museum of Memphis (CMOM-Cute, huh? “C, Mom!”).

It only cost $45 for the five of us! Ches swore it was a “good one” and would be worth it. It was okay. Equal to Denver, a little bigger. Still doesn’t rival Indianapolis. Anyway, I took lots of pictures: surprise, surprise! I’ll post some later. There was a police car and motorcycle, fire truck, big hamster-cage looking thing, a dentist office with a cool tooth puzzle (you could pull all the teeth out-just a little creepy), architect’s office, and of course the water stream you could block off or fish in, an airplane to climb in/on, the general post office, store/restaurant, etc. There was also a house to climb in/through where you could see the insulation, plumbing, wiring, etc. and then you could play with pipes and tools. While we were there, a little girl(Laiken) got lost, and since we were in the right place at the right time, we helped them look for her. I told the guy at the front desk, so he could watch the exit doors. They paged her, put out a a.p.b. to the employees, etc. We looked everywhere!! It seemed she’d just vanished. There were only two exits to the house, and we were right there. The kids had been playing with her, and went back in to see what’d happened. Finally, they found her! Talk about relief! I had to back to the front desk to see her and talk with her grandmother. She’d been sooo worried! Get this. Laiken was griping her mom and grandma out for putting her name on the loud speaker (she’s only 7)! She was saying how embarrassing it was. They were worried she’d been kidnapped, disappeared, and she was mad! I think we’d have had a good ol’-fashioned talkin’-to. You know, if she was my daughter. I quickly exited the scene-girl found, game over.

So next we made our side trip to Pottery Barn Outlet in Memphis (which is just great!). It’s really changed over the last few years. It used to be a true junky outlet, but now it’s nicer, and there is a lot more stock. Mary Claire went in with me while Ches and Ethan slept, and Clay continued to play the Wii-his eyes are getting red! So we found tons of cute girly things! She got a new duvet cover (I got an extra to use for fabric since they were only $10 each!!!), drapes, pillow sham, a pink gingham bust with pins to put jewelry on or use to pin up pictures (so cute!), a jewelry box for her birthday (and not until then!), some washcloths for me, some towels for her bathroom (and Ethan’s)… lots of fun! : ) We will be doing some minor redecorating when we get back! : )

Now we are on the Interstate 40 headed East to Nashville. I’ve gotten everyone (except Sleepyhead) snacks, and we should be in Jackson for dinner in the next 45 minutes to an hour. We’ll have dinner there, then drive into Nashville tonight.

We told the kids we’d probably get to swim this evening (does that count as baths??), and then do our “settle in” routine again, as it’s a new hotel (and check the alarm!).

Ps-New Discovery About Myself:
Last night, after the kids were asleep, I began my “get ready for tomorrow” routine (yes, there are routines for everything). I got all the kids clothes out for today (yes, their outfits are coordinated, if not matching, and yes, I’d written them down. OCD again.). So, I actually felt like setting up the iron and ironing the boys’s shirts and Mary Claire’s pants. Funny enough, I kept going. I ironed my pants for today, and my shirt for another day, and Mary Claire’s shirt for another day. It’s like I was looking for stuff to iron. Weird. I actually had to push this little button after it timed out at 15 minutes, so it would stay on! I’ve discovered maybe I like to iron? Iron out the little wrinkles in life? I like smoothness I guess. Why do I discover these things out on the road? Probably since there’s not a floor to mop, a bathroom to clean, dishes to put away, and crafty things calling my name! It was just weird, is all I’m sayin’.