We stayed at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel that evening. It was a lovely place! We had booked a special deal that included vouchers for dinner at a pizza place around the corner. The boys were thrilled with our 18" pizza—enormous! William managed to eat his entirely without using utensils OR hands. He is perfecting the art of eating face first into his plate, and for now we're allowing it. :) (Jesse took a pic with his phone; I'll add here when I get it from him.)
They also were thrilled with our little hotel room. Josiah saw the mirrored closet doors and declared, with thrilled awe, that our room was equipped with a secret passage. He and William scampered in and out of it while Jesse and I got things sorted for bedtime.By about 9 p.m. we were turning out the lights (late for both boys, but seriously late for William especially). Wound up, excited, and with all of us in the one room together, sleep did not come easily for them—and thus not for Mommy or Daddy either! Josiah dropped off around 10:45 p.m., William by 11 p.m. They weren't misbehaving or being especially chatty, they just were wakeful. Well, there was some naughtiness. At one point in the nearly pitch darkness I heard the closet door close again and found William standing inside of it, having noiselessly dropped out of bed and padded across the room. William also really likes to sing in bed to himself when he can't sleep (to Josiah's annoyance that night), and he wasn't pleased at being shushed. "I not being naughty!" he protested.
For our boys, a late night only means one thing: a painfully early morning. By 5:50 a.m. they were both awake. Ugh. They managed to stay mostly quiet in bed for another hour while Jesse and I continued to (kinda sorta) sleep, and then we bought even a little more time by turning on the television. Jesse's and my nights in the lead-up to the departure had been short, and we were exhausted. Ah well.
The boys were entirely delighted when we ordered room service with additional vouchers included in our hotel deal. Cartoons + big breakfast in bed??! An unheard of treat! Plus napkins that double as ghost covers? What fun!
Unfortunately, the fun and games were short lived as their much-too-brief night of sleep quickly caught up with them. William and I spent an hour+ alone in the hotel room while Josiah and Jesse went for a swim in the hotel's heated indoor pool. (William had used up all of his warnings and lost the privilege of going after hitting Josiah over the head with all of his 3-year-old might. It's a shame that also meant Mommy lost the privilege of swimming and getting a relaxing soak in the hot tub!) The over-tired traumas continued as William got his fingers closed in a door and then Josiah tried to lean back against the bed but missed it somehow and fell hard on his backside. Both events resulted in lengthy episodes of tears and grief as we tried to pack up and check out.
We were on the road eventually, and thankfully both boys were out cold within about 30 minutes. (I'm pleased, by the way, that they like the little neck pillows I stitched up a couple of weeks ago for the trip. They like to put them around their necks even when we're just out driving for a few minutes—gratifying for the seamstress. :)
We crossed into Tennessee (state #5) late afternoon and got to Jamie and Erin's house, which is outside of Nashville, by 7 p.m. We're still here now having a wonderful Christmastime with them, but that's a post of its own to come!
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