Birthday Surprise

Jason was in Haiti over Jena's birthday, and even though we'd already had her party, she's old enough to know (and care) when her actual birthday is, so I wanted to do something extra special for her to take her mind over Daddy being gone and no party on her birthday.

And so this is how we woke up on her birthday morning:

Might be hard to tell from the picture, but that would be a hotel room.

The week before her birthday I got on Hotwire & got a room about an hour away from the house for dirt cheap, making sure it had a pool.

The night before I packed our bags, and hid them in the back of the car. The day of we had plans to go to my cousin's house, then when we left, instead of heading home, I started driving to the hotel.

She had no idea.

I have to say, best. idea. ever.

We got there around 7pm, checked into the room, changed into our swimsuits, & hit the pool.

Swam until around 9pm.

Got back to the room, and started flipping thru channels. We don't have cable at home, so it's always a thrill (for me!) to see what we have to choose from. I'm always a little worried about finding something for the munchkin to watch, but they had Disney Junior, so we were good to go.

Got into our pajamas, and snuggled into bed. And... I passed out. Probably around 9:30pm. I tried to stay awake, but was exhausted. Laid there and thought: the door is locked, there's not much she can get into, there's no one for me to take care of, no pets to tend to, no chores to do... I guess it would be okay to fall asleep.

And I did. The last thing I remember is her watching Disney Junior.

I woke up around 2am with her asleep beside me & Disney Junior still on the TV. In the morning, she told me she watched "lots of lots" of shows after I fell asleep.

We slept until we woke up, enjoyed a free hot breakfast buffet at the hotel restaurant, suited up, and hit the pool again. Got out just in time to change clothes, pack up, and leave before check out time.

So for the price of a birthday present, she got a special night in a hotel, got to go swimming twice, got to stay up late, and... I got one of my most restful nights in months.

I'm seriously thinking a hotel room to myself once or twice a year might be an even better idea. Mothers' Day gift? Every holiday? LOL.

As always, thanks for checking in!