Our Vacation

We left Sunday and drove straight to Sesame Place in Philadelphia. Let me just say, that this is a great amusement park for kids 7 and under. We went before--when Mary was 4, Keith was 2, and Izzy was just a bump in my belly--and liked it so much we decided to go again. It's very clean with lots of age-appropriate rides. It's a tad expensive--I think it's now up to $44.00 for ages TWO and up--but that buys you two-day passes, so it's a good deal if you use it. We got there around 4:00 Sunday and stayed until just about 7:30 (they close at 8:00).

We headed out towards the hotel. And had our first issue with Yahoo maps. After driving back and forth down the same road for almost an hour looking for our hotel, we finally figured out that the map was telling us to go the wrong direction down the road. What was really frustrating is that after we found it, we realized that one of the times we'd turned around--thinking we had missed it--we turned around just one office park next to the bloody hotel. If only we'd gone just a tad further!

Monday morning we woke up to a rainy, overcast sky (with the weatherman calling for scattered thunderstorms). Remembering that these were the exact conditions we were at Sesame Place three years before--and that there were hardly any lines for any of the rides--we decided to chance it. Mary was getting very grumpy about having to wait around for breakfast (this place didn't have continental breakfast, and we didn't rush around since we were on VACATION--HELLO!), and then she started complaining that her head hurt. We had packed several snacks for the trip, so I suggested she eat a pear or an apple. She gobbled down the pear, and we finally made it to the hotel restaurant (kids eat free!) for breakfast around 9:30. Well, she didn't want to eat (strange for her), and then she started complaining her tummy hurt.

After breakfast (of which Mary ate NONE), we decided to find a pharmacy to get Mary some Tylenol (she rused to take the kind I had on me, and we were hoping she'd go for a different kind)--and maybe some Dramamine. How come there is a freaking pharmacy or even a freakin' Wal-Mart on every street corner in America, but when you NEED one, you can't find one for MILES! We drove around forever. Meanwhile, Mary's moaning in the back seat. Finally we found a Rite-Aid. While John was in the store, Mary couldn't wait anymore. I helped her out of the van, and she did a Jackson Pollack all over Rite-Aid's mulch. There goes the pear!

Mary felt better. We convinced her to take a Dramamine (Oh God, you just don't want to hear about the drama of getting that child to take medicine). Thinking it was just waiting to eat too long making her queasy (plus the horrible, horrible heat, plus the motion sickness of the car), we piled back into the car and started heading to Sesame Place again. On the drive over, Mary's tummy starts acting up again. I threw a grocery bag to her. She was filling it up as we were paying the ridiculous parking fee to get in. Well, there went the meds.

Mary was fine the instant we walked in the park. We suggested she wait a half hour or so before going on rides, but she wasn't having it. She and John got on the Super Grover roller coaster the minute we walked in. And she was fine the rest of the day. (Thank goodness).

We didn't leave the park until almost 7:30 again and then headed for our next destination: Absecon, New Jersey. John found a decent price on a hotel there--and it's only about an hour from Ocean City. Once again, Yahoo maps let us down as upon getting there, it took us forever to find our hotel as Yahoo maps got their directions (East vs. West) backwards again.

Tuesday morning we headed out to the beach (thank goodness this hotel had continental breakfast, so Mary could be fed the second she woke up). Of course, it ended up being one of the hottest days EVER! We stopped at a beach store and bought a couple of chairs and an umbrella. The we walked the boardwalk. Ugh! So hot! The kids weren't interested in the really neat stores and foods on the boardwalk--they wanted to get in the ocean, darn it! Well, John and I stopped our silly, touristy thing, and we all got in the ocean.

Mary and Keith loved it. Mary kept wandering farther and farther out, jumping into the waves as they came in. Keith preferred to keep a tight grip on a grown-up's hand--where he would swing out with the big, big waves--giggling the whole time. Izzy was fine at first, when we were in the shallow water. But she didn't like the big waves that would come in and almost knocked her onto her butt. John and I took turns holding her. She kept saying, "Pick me up! Pick me up! Don't drop me! Don't drop me!" What a great time we had.

Wednesday morning we headed back home. A short vacation, but a most enjoyable one. We're thinking of maybe looking into renting a house for a few days next year so that we can spend more days out there and maybe see a little more of the city and the boardwalk.

(Oh! On the way home, we had to stop in Philadelphia to get gas, and give motion-sickness Mary a slight break. As John is filling up, and Mary and I are standing around, I thought I felt something tickling my leg. Thinking it must be a fly or something, I look down--no! it was a praying mantis! After I got over the startle, I let him walk back and forth on my hands to show Mary. I was showing it to Keith through the window of the mini-van when the mantis apparently decided he didn't want to be a freak show and flew away. That was pretty cool, though. Startling at first, but cool!)

Maybe one of these days--hey, maybe after September 28!--I'll find the time and the energy to download the photos onto flickr.