The Trip

John was forced to take vacation last week by his employer. And since our daycare provider was also on vacation, it seemed a good week for ME to take time off, too.

(Wow. Did I NEED that week off!)

We decided to do yet another "cheap" vacation. Of course, ALL our vacations are just about as cheap as one can get, but economy dictates this one be even cheaper than normal. So, we decided on a trip to Cedar Point. And since we were kinda in the area--a trip to see family/friends in Indiana was tacked on. Two vacations smushed into one!

We drove off to Sandusky Monday night. We got to our hotel, discovered that it had an OUTDOOR pool (the nerve!), and since the weather was somewhat chilly and NOT conducive to outdoor swimming, we disappointed the kiddies by staying INSIDE the hotel and just ordering a pizza and watching TV. Cheap! And no one got hypothermia!

Tuesday morning was overcast and cool. Perfect! We got up and got breakfast then let loose our kids on Cedar Point. It only rained a couple of times--and at about five minutes in duration. No crowds. No hot, searing sun (We wore jeans and I wore a jacket ALL DAY). No dehydrated mama embarrassing her husband and kids by puking in line (although I did take the precaution of taking a Dramamine and steering clear of ALL spin-y rides). Seriously, it was great. We did, however end up with one trip to the First Aid station. While eating our Dotted ice cream, Izzy climbed up on the bench. I was just about to ask her to sit on her BUTT instead of the squatted, tipsy, on-the-balls-of-her-feet position she'd taken when the inevitable happened: she lost her balance and took a nose-dive off the bench onto the pavement below. She dumped her ice cream and scraped up her elbow big-time--and then started screaming like a banshee. (Was she more upset by all the blood or the loss of her ice cream...?) We calmly took her to First Aid as Mom refused to carry her purse around the park and did NOT have a band-aid on her. A cleaned-up, band-aided scrape and THREE lolly pops from the nurse later ("No FAIR! Why does SHE get a lolly pop and WE don't?" "Well, maybe you should have fallen and scraped YOUR elbow!"), we were on our way to our next ride.

All three kids did well at the park. Mary has become more and more adventurous and rode most of the rides she was tall enough to ride. She even got on the Corkscrew (the ride of TERROR! just a year ago). Keith enjoyed the Blue Streak and the Coal Mine ride but refused to ride anything he considered "bigger" than those two rides. Izzy was in her element in all the rides she was allowed on. And tried on numerous occasions to sneak into line with whichever parent was escorting the two bigger kids onto the bigger rides. Lots of mini temper tantrums when told, "Sorry, honey, you're not big enough!"

Instead of playing games, we just plunked down money for souvenirs for the kids. Keith got a flickering light saber. Mary got a water globe that had floating (and looked to me like DEAD) fish in it. Izzy got a cool glittery bouncy ball. Within ten minutes Mary's souvenir had bit the pavement--leaving behind an oily, blue gloop--and thus began another treasure hunt through the souvenir shop for another one like it. Yes, it was found. (Whew!)

All in all: a wonderful day!

Wednesday morning we promised the kids a sleep in. I let the kids and John sleep in and casually grabbed as many donuts and bagels I could carry out of the breakfast bar and then just as gradually showered and started packing up. The kids gradually woke up and grazed while watching PBS and getting ready. A brief glance at my cell phone (the hotel room's alarm clock was unplugged to make room for John's fan), caused a mini-heart attack. 10:50?! Augh! Ten minutes to check out!

...Well, we made it. Barely. Good thing most of our stuff was already packed. Oops. At least three of the five of us managed a shower (poor John!).

On the road again--to Michigan! We drove in to Kalamazoo and met John's sister Lynn and her friend Michelle for dinner. Then we went back to their place for a quick game of catch (sponsored by Mary's stuffed bunny "Snow Queen" and in which only ONE drink became a victim).

Thursday morning we had breakfast with our wonderful hostesses, saw Grandma in Three Rivers, and then headed off to Idaville to see my father. Dinner with Dad, Ruth and Kris and then some Rock Band. Then Dad gave us a mini-show of some of the fireworks he had purchased for the fourth. John and I oohed and aahed--the kids...well, they spent the evening chasing down the MILLIONS of fireflies in Dad's backyard and just weren't as interested in the show. Ah well! Then we had a really late game of catch--this time courtesy of Keith's stuffed fish Mr. Nibbles (a.k.a Blub-Blub).

We also acquired a family tent (yes!), a volunteer tomato plant from Dad's garden (to replace the seedlings I'd killed), and some of my childhood toys that Mary claims she WILL play with (We'll see) (The rest I'm thinking will be posted on E-bay--or put in the trash!). And I found my mess kit (YES!).

Friday we drove down to Fort Wayne and spent most of the day with John's sister Lori and then got a surprise visit from Lynn and Michelle. All of played the popular family game Soccey Ball...? (sitting in a circle volleying and pummeling each other with an over-sized--and thankfully soft--soccerball). Most fun. And exhausting!

Friday night the H's hosted a party, and most of the gang (and a few surprise visitors!) showed. We were snubbed by MR who decided his girlfriend's birthday should take precedence (the nerve!), but most everyone else we wanted to see were there. I think at one point I counted ten kids. It was a madhouse! And we finally got to meet Marcus's woman. She seemed normal to me...except for that dating Marcus thing! heh! We stayed up really, really late while the guys all reminisced about their old high school days together. So...tired.....

Saturday I dragged myself out of bed and dragged the kids up and started packing. I just got out of the shower when John woke up, realized the time, and EEK! We were going to be late meeting Lynn and Michelle for breakfast. AUGH! Yes, we were late (but hey, we did say 9:30-ISH), but the food was good (huge portions!) and the company better. And we met Michelle's son who could give goofy/chatty Izzy a run for her money!

We left breakfast to make the looooong drive home. Sooooo long. We got in around 7:30, ordered a pizza, and crashed in bed.

Sunday I let the kids sleep in as long as they wanted (Izzy didn't get up until 10:30!). We took it easy most of the morning. In the afternoon we went to see Ice Age 3 (meh), cleaned out the mini-van (ewww!), and John mowed the lawn. We ended the night with hot dogs and Avatar and managed to get the kids in bed by 9:00 (ugh).

It really was a great week. I wish we had had time to make a few more stops (completely bypassed visiting my hometown and completely cut out the trip to Indy--WHEN would we have fit it in?!). I wish we had had more time to visit a few more friends/family. Still: great vacation.

And now that we have a tent, maybe we'll make a few simple camping trips this summer. Starting out with a camp-out in our own back yard....