6 years 11 months 4 days

Day 2529. This morning I had to get up an hour earlier. Thankfully the thunderstorm yesterday had led to the temperatures dropping so it was not as hot in our room last night. Sammy was the first one up today, and Randy and the kids went downstairs for breakfast before I got up. My alarm went off at 8:15 am, then I also went downstairs to have breakfast.

At 9 am I started teaching in the other room; once again the kids were pretty loud. By 10 am I was done and went upstairs to pack our suitcases. I could hear that our friend had arrived and was with the kids downstairs while I and Randy finished packing. Randy then loaded up the car while I got to spend a few minutes with my friend and took this great picture of her and the kids. Then it was time to say good-bye to her for good.

We finished loading the car then got in ourselves. It was already 11:30 am by the time we drove off to start our nearly 7-hour drive south. After 90 minute we had our first bathroom break, then another one at 3 pm. Other than that we never stopped. We had plenty of leftover food to eat in the car. The kids were on their tablets the whole time. As time went on, Randy was getting tired. It was 7 pm by the time we arrived at our hotel in North Carolina, on our way to Georgia. I always pick hotels with pools so the kids were very much looking foward to going swimming, especially Sammy, and especially since it had been days since we had last gone swimming. 

Tammy and I went to the reception to check in and get the key. I made a joke walking up but her face remained set in stone. She didn't even really look at me. I gave her my name, and she looked up our reservation and gave me the key. I asked until what time the pool was open when she told me it was closed. I couldn't believe it! It was the third time on this trip this had happened! What a disapppointment! The lady had been so unfriendly from beginning to end that I was glad when we walked out of there.

We went to our room where I warmed up the leftover pizza we had brought with us. Tammy had skipped lunch so she was especially hungry. We all ate pizza and got full. The kids and I then walked to the pool to find out why it was closed but it actually looked great and ready to plunge in. There wasn't even a closed sign on the gate, it was just padlocked. We took a picture at the gate. Then the kids played outside our room for a few minutes. Tammy got her bubbles out while Emmy played with his ball. Then we went inside to shower, while Randy left to go across the street and buy some icecream. After their shower, we all had icecream, then it was bedtime. It was 9 pm anyway. 

I was gonna teach some time tonight and ended up starting at 9:10 pm. The kids had just gone to bed but were still awake. Thankfully they soon fell asleep after Tammy moved to the other bed, leaving the boys by themselves. I was done teaching at 10 pm, had some icecream and worked on my computer. Surprisingly Randy stayed up until midnight even though he was so very tired. Now it's nearly 1:30, and I should also go to bed soon.