Why must you tempt me?

Rich forwarded an email to me today whilst we were working. (By the way, I don't know why I sometimes use the word whilst. My fingers just type it out.) The original email was to him from the Chatham Bars Inn offering 25% off of his next stay. {sob} If you are a regular reader here, you know that Rich and I have only been away from the girls for two nights total. Our first night away was last February when we visited the Chatham Bars Inn and our second was in October when we attended a charity gala in New York.

At some point this fall, I began daydreaming of returning to Chatham for another mini mini vacation. Unfortunately, our trip to New York was a bit stressful for me. We had to contend with traffic and nasty weather and I was just not relaxed at all because I didn't know what to expect with the gala. (This reminds me that I need to check with Rich to see if he dropped my dress off at the dry cleaner.)

So I devised this fantastic plan for a getaway (one night) over the New Year's weekend. Grammy and Papa would watch the girls. Rich and I would eat buttery lobster rolls whilst breathing in the cold salty Cape air.

And then I felt incredibly guilty for asking Grammy to watch the girls yet again. There are only two other family members who know how to cath Anna besides me and Rich: Grammy and my sister-in-law, Molly. Molly has a new baby (in addition to a 2 year old) and has gone above and beyond helping us out this year so there is no way I would ask her to watch the girls. I also wouldn't feel right splitting the girls up for a night. They have taken one-on-one away trips to Grammy's house for the weekend but I fear that it would be stressful for Allie and Em to be at our house (or someone else's) without Anna and without adult(s) who care for them on a regular basis.

So we didn't go to Chatham but planned some fun outings with the girls instead. I've been telling them for awhile now that when we return to Disney, they won't know about it until we arrive in Orlando, Florida. They have reached that stage of overexcitement surrounding anticipation and will ask 10 billion questions (IS IT TIME TO GO?) so we tell them nothing. Friday night before the holiday weekend, we told the girls that if they slept in their beds by themselves all night, we would go to a surprise the next day.

(Did they sleep in their bed by themselves? No. Allie did and does every night. Poor parenting to try to bribe though.)

Saturday morning, Allie kept asking if we were going to Disney. "No, Als. We are going somewhere just today." She still thought that we were going to Disney. For the day! Can you imagine? December 31st is one of the busiest days in the parks. Never mind flying from Boston to Orlando and then back again in one day. It's funny how the mind of a four year old works.

Sometimes parents need a break. Sometimes I need to just be Sarah. Sometimes Rich and I need to be the Sarah and Rich we were 7 years ago. I love my kids with all my heart. I love seeing their bright, shining faces greet me each and every time I walk through the door. I love their cuddles and kisses. I miss them when I'm gone from home.

The girls had such a great time that weekend so no complaints here. Oh, so as not to keep you in suspense, we started our weekend o' fun with Disney on Ice.

Pictures to follow...