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Last weekend we took a last minute trip to Edmonton. It was a great deal of fun, but if one is foolish enough to go away a week before Christmas then one turns into a whirling dervish when she returns. Especially if that said person had been laid up with a killer cold the week before.

And whirling dervishes are not good at blogging.

However, I was feeling the blogging guilt. This is intensified by the fact that my husband posts every day and has at least a week's worth of posts all queued up and ready to go at any time. Me? Not so much.

I have a bunch of photos to show you of all the decorating, but that would involve walking up the stairs to go get the camera and download them. And the whirling dervish is TIRED.

So, instead I shall tell you everything you did not want to know about our weekend and were afraid to ask.

We did have a lovely time. We spent a day with my sister and her brood and my sons almost jumped out of their skin for the sheer joy at spending time with their cousins. I made the mistake of telling them a day or two in advance where we were going and lived to regret that decision every 2.8 seconds as I was asked yet again how many sleeps till we went to their house.

Much hilarity was had by all. I have a question for those of you with four or more children. How on earth do you get through supper? Earplugs? A rule about whispering? A sedative? MY WORD. THE NOISE. You'd think it would be relatively quiet what with them shoveling food in their mouths but NOOOO, that just makes them louder. I've been to quieter monster truck rallies.

The following day we met up with our dear friends C and G at West Edmonton Mall, which was shockingly quiet for a week before Christmas. I must confess, I had no desire whatsoever to spend anytime in Canada's largest mall, but then we got a room at the fantasyland hotel and didn't leave the mall for 24 hours.

My kids went to galaxy-land, saw the lemurs and the sea lions, had Starbucks AND McDonalds and yet their favorite part? THe bunk-beds. While riding the rides they kept asking their dad when they were going back to the hotel room to play on their beds.

Uh Huh.

If we weren't certain the novelty would have worn off by the time we got home, we would have been stopping at Ikea on the way out of the city for their very own bunks. And then sold all the toys cluttering up my bonus room.

I must tell you, whoever thought of popping a hotel onto a mall was rather brilliant. The next morning my kids woke up at Dark o clock and we snuck out of the room and wandered the mall at 6:30 in the morning. It was my favorite part of the trip. Two little hands in mine, exploring a big mall in search of breakfast. When we finally found a McDonald's that was open Spud exclaimed, "Oh look mommy, it is open!" Isn't that exciting?" We are so lucky!"

Lucky indeed Buddy. Very very lucky.