Making Lemonade

(Kenny took this shot… and fifteen others along with it…)

I mentioned in my last post that we found fleas on Dudley, and had to call an exterminator.   The sentence alone clearly does not capture exactly what transpired.   Before the exterminator could do his toxic dirty work, we had to “prep the house” – which is how Terminix puts it.   This means washing all the rugs, bed linens and blankets that may have come in contact with the infested (poor Dudley!) pet.   It also includes vacuuming the entire house, floors and furniture.   Yeah.   And I don’t have anything better to do with my spare time.  

Fortunately my parents came over for lunch  and graciously  stayed through dinner to  help out with baby wrangling and Kenny-entertaining.   I think they kind-of had fun, too…

(Grampy getting some Cooper-love!)

Between the sheets, duvets, duvet covers, mattress pads, pillow shams and throws, I did TWELVE loads of laundry.   This did not include any clothing or burp rags (which we go through at an alarming rate), towels or other miscellaneous items in the hamper.   Then each load had to be sealed and left in the “laundry room,” which for us is a closet the size of a shower.   Cry me a river.   THEN we had to vacate the house for four hours (minimum) after the service was completed.   And they started at 5 pm.  

Ok, returning home to a smelly and possibly toxic house at 9 pm with the beds completely stripped and a toddler and an infant did not sound fun.   So Casey and I improvised and packed our bags and took a 20 hour vacation downtown!

We made it a surprise for Kenny, and when we pulled into the Lowes hotel (fancy digs and they LOVE dogs) and told Kenny that we were going to sleep there, he whooped and hollered in unabandoned joy.   He kept saying, “Momma!   Dadda!   We’re SLEEPING AT A HOTEL!!!!!”   And it is a really nice hotel, so I was pretty jazzed myself.

Cooper didn’t do so hot on the sleeping end of things, but it was lots of fun to wake up and walk the town and eat breakfast down by the docks.   And it was a whole bunch of fun to not make the bed in the morning, take a steamy shower and leave the towels on the floor, and let Kenny jump on the bed to his heart’s content.      And a hoot to walk through a lobby full of convention-attending businessmen with Cooper in the front pack, Kenny in his stroller and Dudley trotting  along side.   I can’t believe I didn’t get a picture of Dudley in that fancy lobby…

So now we are home, the house seems flea-free and everyone under the drinking age is sleeping.   Not  a bad ending for a disastrous weekend.  

(Cooper getting some Grampy-love!)