Never Again

We left yesterday for the big road trip to Arkansas to see Leah and family for cmas! Our plan was to drive a little over half way, stay the night at a hotel, and then finish up the trip the next day. Then do the same on the way back. Well, that second half has changed. We stayed last night at the Comfort Inn in Bethany, MO and NEVER again (until the kids are at least teenagers) will we stay in a hotel w all the kids. It was a disaster. To keep 6 kids ages 9-1 quiet after theyve been in the car all day is not exactly an easy task. Then on top of that, Nathan didn't want to bring Selahs pack n play bc my sister has one to use while we are there, which makes sense, but for last night, it would have been worth having!! We tipped a chair over and created a place on the floor against the bed and the wall where she couldn't get out of, however, she did not like being down there so she'd cry and seeing how there were people on both sides of us, we wanted her to keep quiet. It took a long time to get her sleeping and then she was up several times during the night. And then between T & A coughing, I didn't sleep much at all. The best thing of the night was when I woke up and smelled someone's coffee....yes! It's the morning!!!

To make things worse, we were planning on having a fun night playing in the pool so the kids could burn off some energy. I mean, why else would the kids be excited to stay in a hotel, right?  Well, when we first got to the hotel, I walked in while everyone else stayed in the car. They were doing construction on the parking lot and there were only 2 other cars. I walked in and it was real dark inside. No one at the front desk....hmmmm... I looked around, nothing and nobody. So I started heading back to the front door to go out and saw a sign on the desk that said "I'm in the laundry room, 2nd door on the right". Ok..... So I walked down the hall, opened the door, and there was a young man folding laundry. "Um, hi...I need a room?" Sure he says. Then he goes "2 of you?" Yeah well, 2 adults, then our kids... (I knew what was coming). "And how many kids?" "....6?....but they r all little" he just stares at me. After a few seconds, he quickly shook his head and said "I'm just going to put down 2 so u don't have to get a second room" sounds good :)

So back to the pool...We got in, semi settled, and the kids couldn't wait to go swimming. We all got changed into our suits and headed down to the pool. We went past the front desk, and the guy smiled at us. We walked into the pool area and.....what?? It's under some sort of construction!!! There was a mud/paste all over the floor, there were cans and materials all over, the pool was dirty and there was no heat!! We turned on the lights in there and we so disappointed. The hotel guy didn't even say anything to us! The older 4 jumped in the freezing cold, dirty water quickly and swam for about 5 mins, then we told them it was time to get out. So it was about 4:00 with nothing to do and 6 kids ready to do something!

This morning couldn't come fast enough! We will be driving straight thru back home. No more hotel stays for us!!!