Sunday, July 28, 2013

Comfort Inn Daphne AL Review

We got a late start yesterday, which just happened to be our 12 th Anniversary. Ryan was recovering from double mids and I thought it'd be better to leave a little late than deal with a monster. So I let him sleep longer than he had wanted. That put us checking in at our hotel just after 2:00 AM. I had booked the room online so I just went in and got the room key while Bret and Ryan got our stuff out of the truck. When I got outside it was raining. Bret took the little kids and the stuff ahead of us. Ryan went to park and while he was parking a group of two guys and a girl were dropped off at the door. I was under the impression that they had just come from a nearby night club. The girl wasn't wearing any shoes! Must have been Bama Fans. I went on up to the room while Ryan parked. When Ryan got up the the room he was soaked (and a little irritated) because he had to park in the back of the hotel and they keep all the other doors locked.

I booked a suite and it was anything but. Two queen beds and a pull out loveseat. The loveseat looked like it had been mauled by a baby cheetah. The cushions had some rips in it and looked like it had seen better days. Really people, what are you doing in these hotel rooms?  ChaChi got right in a bed which is foreign to him because at home nobody gets in bed without a shower. Well right in the bed, after I striped the DNA contaminated comforter from the bed. I pulled out the loveseat and found that I would be the one making the "bed." My anxiety was in overdrive as I put my hand on the bar to pull out the bed. There was no mattress cover so I doubled up the two flat sheets that were provided. I have no idea how to properly put on a flat sheet.  I just wrapped that joker under the end of the mattress and told Bret it would be in his best interest if he didn't turnover a lot. Then I had to put the "pillow" in the case. What are these pitiful squares they call pillows?  OMGosh! I seriously almost lost it on this chore. It's like how do you put a pillow in the case without it touching your body. Bret was cracking me up with remarks like, "How does the biggest person here get the smallest bed." I was like it's just for a few hours and this room was almost the cheapest I could find. He said, "Oh, cheap is good as long as your comfort level isn't sacrificed. Haha That is so true.  Except, while he was outside the room on the phone I was inside freaking out making that darn bed.

Ryan and I showered and got in the bed. After making jokes and laughing about Bret sleeping on that little bed which Ansley referred to as a crib we turned the lights out.  All the lights were out except Bret's computer. It was bright enough to make light on the ceiling so I asked him to do some shadow hand puppets for me. He quickly obliged me with a crocodile then a bird and then what Ryan thought was a bunny. Bret kept on making shape after shape and then I got tickled thinking how funny it would be if I fell asleep and he continued to make shadow puppets. We were all cracking up! Then I tried to get comfortable but kept rolling to the middle of the mattress as did Ryan. So we decided if we turned back to back maybe we wouldn't roll to the middle as much. The room was quiet except for every time Bret moved it sounded like someone was trying to untangle a metal slinky.

This morning I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep so I got up and went to the bathroom. I turned the light on and the fan in the bathroom came on. I thought a helicopter may be trying to land in there it was so loud! Here is a pic of the door. Apparently, there was a hole here and someone thought this would be a good way to repair it. It is kind of hilarious; I'm not sure they wouldn't have been better off just leaving the hole.

Here is Bret on his cot. He slept with his feet on the coffee table because he didn't fit in the bed.
And that is how we spent our anniversary. Now on the to beach!

Monday, July 22, 2013

Things to do in Memphis...


When you don't have a pool. This is the south and let's face it, the summers are miserably hot. I'm pretty sure if you go outside in the summer and you don't have a pool you turn into beef jerky. It's so hot the homeless make signs that say, "Will work for shade." So the following is what have we done since we don't have a pool:

* Water Balloons

* The Brooks Museum is free on Wednesday. It has an art studio and kids can create projects to take home from 10:00 AM until noon. The Brooks is located right by the Memphis Zoo. In the summer, you can put your kids in their swimsuits and swim in the fountains. This is an especially fun thing for us because it just feels so wrong. It's a white trash activity at it's best. I wonder if they chlorinate the ponds? Oh, I shouldn't even let my mind wonder about those things.

* The Memphis Zoo

* Lichterman Nature Center has a couple of air-conditioned  buildings. A good place to go if you just want to get out of the house for a short time. They have a lot of walking trails but it is just too hot in the summer.

* Play Red Light/ Green Light using the water hose. You spray the person you catch moving after you've called red light.

* If you're not OCD you could go to the library. We choose the bookstore instead. There is just something about holding a book that has been checked out over and over again by strangers. You have no idea where those things have been.

*Run through the sprinklers. I can't wait until we get up a fence. There is something unsettling about a grown woman running through the sprinklers. I mean...I can imagine. For the neighbors, that is.

*Put a sprinkler under the trampoline and jump. This one is just for the kids. If you read my kegel post you know exactly what I mean.

* Pray one of your friends that have a pool will invite you over.

* Paint birdhouses.

* Drive in movie.  There is a Malco Drive in on Summer Ave.


* Slip and Slide. Yep, we really need to get on that fence.


* Watazumi

* Go to the Apple Store. Your kids can play on the iPads while you shop around. Next door is the Teavana store. Cruise through and sample the teas.




*Make a human size bird's nest. Don't worry the water was really close by at all times. My kids are creative...if nothing else.


Well, there is less than three short weeks before the kids head back to school.  We have a few more things on our list that we want to do. A stupid stomach bug has kept us in this week. So if you're running out of things to do I hope our list will give you some ideas.