House Swap

When Dan surprised me by taking me to Vegas for the weekend (when was that? October?) Joel and Beth tended Maggie for us for a day and a half. So, we told them that we'd return the favor. They didn't really care where they went--mostly just being excited to be childless for an evening--so we hatched the idea of a house swap. We'd move into their place and watch their kidlets while they played in downtown Salt Lake and then slept over at our place.

Only problem: somehow a 70's duplex doesn't seem like the right place for a romantic weekend getaway. So, we transformed it into Jardim Betinha Inn and Suites. [That's little Beth gardens in portuguese.] Prepare to be amazed by the transformation:

Our master bedroom became:
Our lame bathroom was then:
Complete with hotel soaps and towels shaped like angels:

Sadly, we were unable to provide all the ammenities we would have hoped:

But we could provide this:
and this:

and these:
And while they were enjoying time alone, we were flying by the seats of our shorts as the parents of four. The really sad thing was that Maggie was harder to keep track of than the other 3! My mother has told me that before, but I didn't believe her. Now I do. For dinner entertainment we had the play land at Carl's Jr. These kids were the only ones in there speaking English. And they had a muy bien time!

Maggie loves a good beverage
Sweet Clara
Lincoln and Asher were just like monkeys in there.

We had a really great time and finally managed to get everybody in bed and happy later that night. What a great adventure. We'll have to do it again.