Reno vacation

We're renovating our kitchen. New floors, new cabinets, more cabinets, more storage space, more counter space, new sink - I am incredibly excited. It took me almost two years to come up with the will power to live through the hassles of a renovation, but it's going to be worth it. After months of research, visiting kitchen and home improvement stores, haggling over designs and the budget, trying to schedule and re-schedule the contractors, arguing and communicating our extreme upset with the delivery people, we are going to have a new kitchen soon.
Most folks take a mini-vacation while a kitchen is being renovated. That wasn't a realistic option for us. But we needed to find a live-able solution to the lack of a kitchen, which is a necessity when you have young children. Fortunately, we were able to convince the grandparents to have the monkeys for the worst of the renovations. Our wonderful nanny also agreed to help out the grandparents in Windsor. 
So, the monkeys are having a vacation in Windsor. And mommy and daddy are enjoying a vacation from the kids, albeit in a cramped living room, surrounded by boxes and boxes of kitchen items, eating lots of toast, and enjoying dinners out. We've had the opportunity to sleep in one morning, go shopping at Ikea one evening, attend to minor household repairs on another night, and finally get caught up on Glee.
It's been a pleasant respite from parenthood, but we're ready to be reunited with the rugrats. Daddy more so than Mommy. It's been tough on Daddy not being able to even chat over the phone with his darling tots. The first session of Skype ended badly with Aisling sobbing for Mama all evening. Even Devlin who was teary-eyed when we left was crying. Ceilidh didn't seem to be bothered by our absence though. I think that bothered Daddy the most - that he wasn't first and foremost on her mind. Grandma suggested, or rather directed, that there were to be no more communication with the kids since it upset them even more. Grandma did report on a daily basis, though, that the troops were thriving. They were eating well, even consuming almost two pints of strawberries in one sitting. There was lots of hours spent at the park and on their bikes. The children were learning Korean from Grandma too. In fact, the kids were doing so well, I was tempted to leave them in Windsor longer. An idea quickly shot down by Daddy who missed being greeted at the door by his adoring fans.
Our kitchen is coming together quickly. New floors have been put in. The cabinets arrived and they're being installed now. By the end of next week, we'll have all the cabinets in. Hopefully, we'll be able to move the stove and fridges back in too. The countertop will be the last to arrive. In the meantime, we're heading to Windsor to relieve the grandparents and Uncle Billy.
Did I miss my rugrats? While I enjoyed uninterrupted sleep, and the opportunity to read a book or two in peace and quiet, I know I did miss the following:
- being greeted at the door by a little girl dressed in a princess gown and tiara
- having to read "Barbie: a Fairy Secret" every night
- having a new installment of a comic book to read, one created by our budding comic writer, Devlin
- having a little body snuggle up to me in bed, and mostly,
- being showered with kisses