Meemo gave me great advice before we set out on this adventure - "The most important thing to take is patience and a good sense of humor." She sure does know what she is talking about!! I journaled on Matt's laptop while we were gone. I will just cut and paste some of it - all of it would be far too long for anyone with a life to sit and read!!
Monday, April 30, 2007We left at our decided time - the crack of dawn. The kids both woke up when we tried to put them in the car. They both stayed awake until 2pm - AHH!!! We stopped to change them into their clothes, then stopped for breakfast, and again at a rest area to potty and play. Later in the morning we saw a billboard for a McD with a new playland, so we decided to check it out…only 17 miles down the road. We stopped there – it was Hickville USA. Matt said it was like being in Cheers, everyone greeted everyone else as they came in. The playland was nice though. We then took off with the hopes of making it to the hotel while they slept - HA - they both slept for a little over an hour and we had 3 hours to go! We finally made it to the hotel, checked in, Matt unloaded the car, and we walked over to Taco Bell for some dinner. After dinner we took a splash in the pool – kind of gross, but it was water nonetheless. Delaney was a fish! She was jumping off the steps and wanting to swim around…impressive considering it had been since last fall that she’d seen a pool. Carson was timid at first, but loosened up and enjoyed LOTS of games of Ring Around the Rosey.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007We arrived at Grandpa Dick's in less than 2 hours – that was a nice short trip compared to yesterday. Matt unloaded the car and then we had some lunch. We walked to a really nice park and let the kids play for a while. After dinner, we enjoyed a quiet evening of Good Eats and Wheel of Fortune. Then, after baths with Daddy, we were all off to bed. The kids slept like a charm – I was very impressed.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007We went to the Philadelphia Zoo. We had so much fun. The zoo is much larger than ours and has lots of neat exhibits. Some of the favorites were the snakes and amphibians, the Children’s Zoo where we got to pet goats, and, of course, the ice cream shop. Matt got to eat one of Nathan’s famous hot dogs (from the hot dog eating contest) – he was so excited.
Thursday, May 03, 2007This morning we awoke to “Carson?.....Carson?” “What Naney, what?” Adorable, but not before 7am. We went to Uncle Jeff and Aunt Patrice’s house. We made it there and took a tour of the house and the grounds. Carson scared me to death by the pond, so we tried to steer clear of it. We ate lunch on their porch and then we took a tour of the barn that houses old firetrucks. Carson made the siren go and he was in awe, and scared to death, of the noise. Delaney did it too, but it didn’t seem to phase her as much. We left there with a totally worn out boy and a happy girl with a dandelion in both hands.
We went to the mall in the evening and ate at Ruby’s Diner. It had a train going around the top and Harleys on display…fun! The food was very dinery delicious. Then, Grandpa and Anna Marie took the kids to ride on the car, bus, truck, horse, etc…. Matt and I took up residence on a bench and observed. It was a nice 15 minute break for us.
Friday, May 04, 2007After breakfast we took off to the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ. Wow – it was awesome and I’m an adult. We got to see lots of water creatures up close, including walking through a shark tunnel. We watched them feed penguins and saw 2 divers in the water with stingrays, huge sea turtles, sharks, and other littler fish.
For dinner we went to a Japanese Seafood buffet - kind of gross considering our morning :-) However, they had a row of sushi that was probably 25 feet long - Matt loved it!!! Delaney became an EXCELLENT chopstick user (way better than her mommy!!). She used them for her entire meal. The kids got balloons on the way out of the restaurant and they had a blast with them the whole way back to the house.
The story ends with a long drive home packed full of patience and a good sense of humor!! We are here now and I am playing laundry catch up. The kids are enjoying having all of their toys and being able to run free.
Love you all!!
Gretchen
Today is worthy of an update all by itself! We (as zoo members) got to preview the new waters building this afternoon/evening. It was very exciting for everyone involved. Carson said "scared, go away" many times! Although he warmed up to everything after we stood there for a minute or two. Delaney got to touch a shark - yes, a real one! She really didn't hesitate at all, which shocked me. I got to see the jelly fish. Not as beautifully displayed as the ones at the aquarium we went to on vacation, but still jelly fish. Matt got to touch the shark also and see the penguins. They added a new "window" in the floor that you can walk on and watch the penguins swim under you....very cool!! I highly recommend it to anyone in the area.
Saturday morning and last week we found this purple skirt made out of netting with flowers inside of it. She bought it for Delaney and she has worn it for a while every day. She wore it to my parents house on Sunday evening and then to Walmart on Monday. Even Carson has had a turn with it...although Matt has forbid me to include those pictures :-) I also bought her a Disney princess nightgown and she has had to pull out the plastic high heels from the dress up box to wear with it in the mornings.....she's so cute. She also picked out her new "big girl" bedding at Target this week, but it is a little pricey....maybe a birthday present. If you go to Target.com, you can look at it if you search for simply shabby chic fairytale quilt. At least I know she has good taste!!!!
