whew...am i tired!! :) it's a happy kind of tired, tho...not the usual dead-on-my-feet-these-kids-need-to-give-me-two-minutes-of-peace tired! :D

i went to chicago yesterday to visit some of my online buddies. we met through the preemie mom forum, and chat often with messenger. andrea came up from cincinnati area to meet me, and then we piled all five (yes, five!!) kiddos in the car and head out. the downfall is that it took us FIVE hours to get there, not including the half hour pit stop for lunch! LOL it was a blast, tho....we got up there about 5:30 and the kids all played for about two hours. we then went to pizza hut and grubbed. after that, we played hell to find a hotel (gotta love concerts and the taste of chicago!). we gave up after about three or four stops, and headed east into indiana. i got the notion in my head that we might as well try to drive on to indy, but gave up when we had two hours left to go. my eyes were starting to cross! so we each took a bed at a holiday inn express, and slept for a few hours. the downside is that the kiddos, who had been sleeping for about two hours, woke up and decided it was playtime! LOL

all in all it was a good trip. i am so happy that i got to meet my girlfriends face-to-face. it kind of makes the friendship real, you know? not that my online buddies aren't real friends, but it's wonderful to SEE them...give them REAL hugs....hear them laugh....really see what their kids do.....i loved it!