Home Sweet Home

We have been home since Sunday night but it took me a while to get my act together again.
We had a really wonderful and relaxing week in Florida with our in laws. In fact, we were so busy having fun that we barely took any pictures! I have a few on my husband's phone so I will try and upload them later this week.
It was nice not to have anywhere pressing to be- school, camp, appointments or otherwise. We did try to do two activities a day, but did not really get stressed out about timing. Some days we got out by 9 30 or 10, others not till 11 and that was fine. We saw some parks, a zoo, the beach and had lots of pool time. Admittedly, taking three small children  near any body of water can be scary at times, but with my in laws there too we had enough pairs of hands to make sure everyone was safe in the water.
I really felt that the kids enjoyed and that we were creating positive memories of spending time together as a family.
Traveling with kids is always a challenge although they were pretty well behaved for the most part. On the flight home, we were sitting next to a man who was annoyed at the kids for just being there. He was irritated before anyone had even done anything. The people in the row in front of us were not much better. At a certain point, M had a little meltdown because he was tired and I was getting dirty looks from people sitting near me. The man sitting in our row stomped off to complain to the flight attendant. I did feel badly that we were bothering others but also felt that kids will be kids and I cannot control them or make them stop screaming. I was doing the best I could in that circumstance.  Furthermore, there was only about a half hour left to the flight, so it's not like they were going to be stuck with us for much longer. Eventually M settled down but as soon as the flight landed, the man took off running for the exit.
Truthfully, I don't really care. A few months back there were suggestions about having child free flights and while some people thought it was outrageous, I think it is a great idea. Those who want a silent flight should be able to have it. But until such flights exist they are stuck with me and my children. We paid for our tickets the same way they did and so we are entitled to be on the plane, noise crying and all.
We arrived home Sunday night at 9 30 pm to a nasty surprise. Our fridge/freezer had broken down while we were away and our whole apartment reeked of spoiled food. We spent our first hour home throwing out garbage bags full of spoiled chicken and meat (I keep my freezer well stocked and it was a mistake in this instance) and other gross food. I then cleaned out the fridge and freezer with Clorox and washed the floor well, while continuously spraying lots and lots of air freshener. It did take a few days for the smell to fully go away. My friend recommended baking soda and it actually made a big difference!
 Thank goodness, our super brought up a temporary replacement fridge on Monday morning and they were able to fix the fridge by Tuesday already. These are the perks of living in a well managed building.
This week has been spent  getting things in order here and preparing for our next trip- we are leaving to Israel next Wednesday already. If anyone reading this is considering robbing our apartment while we are away, be aware that  we have friends who will be staying there. It is actually reassuring to me that someone will be here in our absence. It's just good to have someone keep an eye out in case your fridge decides to die or anything else happens that needs immediate attention.
This week is also World Breastfeeding Week, and I will try to post some related links to that tomorrow. For now though, I really need to get some sleep!