After waking up from a well rested night, we took the kids to the hotel pool and binged on the continental breakfast before heading out to the car. We drove straight to Julene's house. I was happy to be at a place that we could just veg out for a few days.
When we entered, we spent a bit of time getting to know all of the pets. She has 3 cats and a dog. So, the kids felt like they were in heaven. It wasn't soon after though that Julene loaded us up in the car to head out to a very easy hiking trail that led up to the some beautiful waterfalls.
It was fun to let the kids just play in the water and be carefree. I think that they needed it more than I did. I wasn't able to hike to the top of the waterfall, but Mandi took on the challenge. I was happy that she got to do something that was a little more high adventure.
That night, Tom grilled up some steaks while Julene taught me the proper way to do brussel sprouts. It seems like every time that I visit Julene, there is something on the dinner menu that I have never tried before. It's kind of fun.
That night was spent talking and catching up. The wonderful thing is that Julene gave us a 2 rooms. So, I didn't have to sleep with snoring or any kids kicking me. It was wonderful.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Trip Day 5: Pennsylvania and the Crayola Factory
Matt and I got up fairly early in order to get him to the airport on time and the kids and I off to our next destination. The morning didn't start off as smooth as I had hoped. After a few days of lack of sleep, Ali was in one of her moods and decided to not cooperate in the least amount. This meant that leaving was filled with tantrums and lots of tears. Oh well...that seems to be part of parenthood.
Matt drove to the airport because, once again, I didn't want to have to deal with traffic and weird, last minute lane changes. We dropped him off without too much difficulty. Within 10 minutes, Ali started feeling sorry for all of the fuss that she caused in the morning and wanted us to return back to the in-laws house in order to apologize. Go figure.
Getting to the Crayola Factory was an awful driving experience. It seemed like every road was a toll road, and one of them, we missed our exit to find out that we couldn't turn around for another 40 minutes. By the end of it, I was frustrated and annoyed with the entire state in general.
We did eventually make it to the Crayola Factory though. By the time that we got there, I was starving and debating on whether it was smart to get the cranky kids out of the car or better to find a place to eat. Luckily, they ended up having a cafeteria center inside of the Crayola Factory. I wouldn't have made it otherwise.
The Crayola Factory was fun for everyone. Ali was still being difficult throughout, but managed to join into the games and activities after a good hour of pouting in the corner. Erin enjoyed the entire experience and was a doll throughout as we colored with melted wax, made our own puzzles, and enjoyed all of the supplies that the center had to offer.
We stayed for several hours until we got so hungry that we figured we would hit the over priced cafeteria for a snack and leave. We ended up driving about another hour to get out of the city in order to find a hotel. We found a Comfort inn that looked like it would do; so, I sent Mandi in to ask if they had 2 joining rooms that were non smoking.
She came out and said that they did, and she got us all set up. So, we headed out to Burger King to get some dinner before heading back to the room. When we opened the room though, there were not two joining rooms. It was one room with a queen sized bed and a double fold out bed from the couch.
Mandi went back to the lady and stated that this was not the room that we ordered. The lady basically said that there were no refunds. That's when I came out...because I am much more confrontational than Mandi. I told the lady that I wanted to speak with her manager. When she said that the manager was not available, I told her to call him. Then I got on the phone with my brother to see what we could do on our own side to get our money back.
My brother said to call up the credit card and stop payment. Luckily, she came back after talking with the manager and upgraded us to the presidential suite. We went in the room to find out that it was exactly what we had originally asked for - two joining rooms. The only difference was that it had a huge, heart shaped tub in the master room. It also smelled of smoke. I was too tired to care though. So, I got the kids to bed and stayed up talking to Mandi for a short while before falling asleep myself.
Luckily, the air conditioner had a nice, loud hum to it; so, I wasn't constantly woken up with Mandi's snoring. Everyone was much happier the next morning.
Matt drove to the airport because, once again, I didn't want to have to deal with traffic and weird, last minute lane changes. We dropped him off without too much difficulty. Within 10 minutes, Ali started feeling sorry for all of the fuss that she caused in the morning and wanted us to return back to the in-laws house in order to apologize. Go figure.
Getting to the Crayola Factory was an awful driving experience. It seemed like every road was a toll road, and one of them, we missed our exit to find out that we couldn't turn around for another 40 minutes. By the end of it, I was frustrated and annoyed with the entire state in general.
We did eventually make it to the Crayola Factory though. By the time that we got there, I was starving and debating on whether it was smart to get the cranky kids out of the car or better to find a place to eat. Luckily, they ended up having a cafeteria center inside of the Crayola Factory. I wouldn't have made it otherwise.
The Crayola Factory was fun for everyone. Ali was still being difficult throughout, but managed to join into the games and activities after a good hour of pouting in the corner. Erin enjoyed the entire experience and was a doll throughout as we colored with melted wax, made our own puzzles, and enjoyed all of the supplies that the center had to offer.
We stayed for several hours until we got so hungry that we figured we would hit the over priced cafeteria for a snack and leave. We ended up driving about another hour to get out of the city in order to find a hotel. We found a Comfort inn that looked like it would do; so, I sent Mandi in to ask if they had 2 joining rooms that were non smoking.
She came out and said that they did, and she got us all set up. So, we headed out to Burger King to get some dinner before heading back to the room. When we opened the room though, there were not two joining rooms. It was one room with a queen sized bed and a double fold out bed from the couch.
Mandi went back to the lady and stated that this was not the room that we ordered. The lady basically said that there were no refunds. That's when I came out...because I am much more confrontational than Mandi. I told the lady that I wanted to speak with her manager. When she said that the manager was not available, I told her to call him. Then I got on the phone with my brother to see what we could do on our own side to get our money back.
My brother said to call up the credit card and stop payment. Luckily, she came back after talking with the manager and upgraded us to the presidential suite. We went in the room to find out that it was exactly what we had originally asked for - two joining rooms. The only difference was that it had a huge, heart shaped tub in the master room. It also smelled of smoke. I was too tired to care though. So, I got the kids to bed and stayed up talking to Mandi for a short while before falling asleep myself.
Luckily, the air conditioner had a nice, loud hum to it; so, I wasn't constantly woken up with Mandi's snoring. Everyone was much happier the next morning.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Trip Day 4: D.C.
This was the day that Matt and I split up for activities. He took the kids and went to an aerospace museum; while I took Mandi and headed out to D.C. Matt dropped us off at the nearest metro station, and we took that the rest of the way into D.C. It was a good experience for me to go on the metro station without Matt. It gave me a bit more confidence in that area.
When Mandi and I arrived at D.C., we didn't have anything in particular that we had to see. I had been there several times before; so, I just let her take the lead. The only thing that I really wanted to see again was the holocaust museum. To this day, that museum still makes me think and appreciate all that has changed in the world. So, we got tickets there first before heading out to some of the other places.
Mandi wanted to get a picture next to the Washington Monument, but it was under construction. So, we just got pictures outside. I could go through and describe all of the different museums that we saw, but frankly, most people have seen them and know what we saw; so, I will just add pictures with this post, and you will get the idea.
We came home at about 8:00 that night, ate cake for Teyanna's birthday, and talked with family for a little while before falling asleep.
When Mandi and I arrived at D.C., we didn't have anything in particular that we had to see. I had been there several times before; so, I just let her take the lead. The only thing that I really wanted to see again was the holocaust museum. To this day, that museum still makes me think and appreciate all that has changed in the world. So, we got tickets there first before heading out to some of the other places.
Mandi wanted to get a picture next to the Washington Monument, but it was under construction. So, we just got pictures outside. I could go through and describe all of the different museums that we saw, but frankly, most people have seen them and know what we saw; so, I will just add pictures with this post, and you will get the idea.
We came home at about 8:00 that night, ate cake for Teyanna's birthday, and talked with family for a little while before falling asleep.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Trip day 3:National Zoo
The national zoo was on the agenda for the day. Matt and I got up at a recent time, but we figured that there really was no point in getting there super early because of D.C. traffic. So, we took our sweet time getting the kids up and dressed.
I left one more message on the phone for Anthony to call me back. I wasn't sure if he was going to meet us there, or if he was going to stay home with his wife and sick kids.
I had Matt drive us to the zoo because I know how crazy the traffic can be towards the main city. I didn't regret that decision one bit. Matt tends to do the psycho kind of driving better than I do. Let's just say that there were many lane switches last minute, and I am sure that I heard a few honked horns.
The zoo ended up being okay, but not as fun as I had hoped. We were lucky enough to come right when a heat wave struck. So, by 10:00 in the morning, we were sweating within 10 minutes.
"MOM! It's hot! I'm too hot to walk. Can't you carry me?"
"Look at the panda."
"It's hot."
Erin starts to cry because I won't pick her up, and she has to ride in the stroller when she is too tired to walk.
We did get to see a lot of neat animals and the pandas getting fed. I just wish that it had been several degrees cooler.
Towards the end, Erin fell asleep in the stroller. That helped things a lot because I was able to spend one on one time with Ali - something she desperately needs when she is cranky. Very few people have enough patience to handle her at that point. So, Matt pushed the stroller while I cheered up Ali, talked, and held her hand.
Right before we left, we got some ice cream at one of the ice cream dot stands. That cheered up the kids for about 10 minutes...until it was gone. We ended up leaving much earlier than I really wanted too, but it was time. Everyone was cranky and hot. We were looking forward to air conditioning and lack of complaining from the kids. Really, I think that the kids will enjoy the zoo much more in about 3 years. Ali was more obsessed about her own personal comfort than the animals, and Erin was often too short to see most of the animals and required constant assistance. Oh well, I tried.
Anthony was able to get in touch with us while at the zoo. He gave us a different number to call him on when we decided where we wanted to meet for dinner that night. By the time that we got home, I told Mandi to figure out the place that she wanted to celebrate her birthday and laid down for a nap.
Apparently, Anthony gave us a number that didn't really work; so, getting in touch with him was frustrating for Matt. They managed to get in touch through his regular phone to eat at a nearby bar type restaurant.
It was fun to see my old college friend again, but he didn't have too much time to talk. He brought his kids with, and they needed to get home and to bed by 7:00. So, he spent about 45 minutes explaining the updates in his life; we walked around a pet store for a few minutes after, and then it was time to say good bye.
Since Mandi, Matt and I didn't really feel like calling it a night at 7:00, and my mother-in-law had the kids, we went out to the movie "Now You See Me" instead. It was really good and a nice ending to the night. Plus, I felt like we got to properly celebrate Mandi's big 30th birthday.
I left one more message on the phone for Anthony to call me back. I wasn't sure if he was going to meet us there, or if he was going to stay home with his wife and sick kids.
I had Matt drive us to the zoo because I know how crazy the traffic can be towards the main city. I didn't regret that decision one bit. Matt tends to do the psycho kind of driving better than I do. Let's just say that there were many lane switches last minute, and I am sure that I heard a few honked horns.
The zoo ended up being okay, but not as fun as I had hoped. We were lucky enough to come right when a heat wave struck. So, by 10:00 in the morning, we were sweating within 10 minutes.
"MOM! It's hot! I'm too hot to walk. Can't you carry me?"
"Look at the panda."
"It's hot."
Erin starts to cry because I won't pick her up, and she has to ride in the stroller when she is too tired to walk.
We did get to see a lot of neat animals and the pandas getting fed. I just wish that it had been several degrees cooler.
Towards the end, Erin fell asleep in the stroller. That helped things a lot because I was able to spend one on one time with Ali - something she desperately needs when she is cranky. Very few people have enough patience to handle her at that point. So, Matt pushed the stroller while I cheered up Ali, talked, and held her hand.
Right before we left, we got some ice cream at one of the ice cream dot stands. That cheered up the kids for about 10 minutes...until it was gone. We ended up leaving much earlier than I really wanted too, but it was time. Everyone was cranky and hot. We were looking forward to air conditioning and lack of complaining from the kids. Really, I think that the kids will enjoy the zoo much more in about 3 years. Ali was more obsessed about her own personal comfort than the animals, and Erin was often too short to see most of the animals and required constant assistance. Oh well, I tried.
Anthony was able to get in touch with us while at the zoo. He gave us a different number to call him on when we decided where we wanted to meet for dinner that night. By the time that we got home, I told Mandi to figure out the place that she wanted to celebrate her birthday and laid down for a nap.
Apparently, Anthony gave us a number that didn't really work; so, getting in touch with him was frustrating for Matt. They managed to get in touch through his regular phone to eat at a nearby bar type restaurant.
It was fun to see my old college friend again, but he didn't have too much time to talk. He brought his kids with, and they needed to get home and to bed by 7:00. So, he spent about 45 minutes explaining the updates in his life; we walked around a pet store for a few minutes after, and then it was time to say good bye.
Since Mandi, Matt and I didn't really feel like calling it a night at 7:00, and my mother-in-law had the kids, we went out to the movie "Now You See Me" instead. It was really good and a nice ending to the night. Plus, I felt like we got to properly celebrate Mandi's big 30th birthday.
Curious George, Kites, and Paper Airplanes
I thought that I would take a break today from telling you about the trip to updating you on one of the recent activities that I have done with the kids.
Yesterday, Matt and I went on our bimonthly date. We went indoor mini-golfing, out for soups and sandwiches, and ended the date buying cheesecake at Sam's club. When we were at Sam's, I found a pack of 10 Curious George books with stickers and activities for $7. The price was too good to be true considering all of the books were early readers level 1 - which is Ali's reading level.
So, Ali cruised right through one book last night and decided that she wanted to read another this morning. Her motivation? She wanted one of the stickers.
"Mom, can I have a sticker once I read this book?"
"Yes."
"I want sticker!" piped in Erin.
After spending about 10 minutes trying to get comfortable with 2 kids and an adult on the bean bag, I gave up and moved everyone to my bed. As annoying as it is to have three people plopped in my bed, it seems to be the only way that I can get everyone comfortable and feeling like they are getting proper mom cuddles while reading...very important.
Ali read the book with ease. It's amazing to me how many words that she is just picking up now without my help. She is starting to enjoy the process much more and doesn't get nearly as annoyed when it is time to sound out a word.
At the end of the book, it showed the kids how to make paper airplanes. Ali immediately got super excited.
"Can we make a paper airplane right now?" asked Ali.
"Paper airplane! Paper airplane!" shouted Erin.
I dragged myself out of the comfy, warm bed to go downstairs and get paper. I knew that they wouldn't stop talking about it until they each had a paper airplane in hand. I ignored the instructions in the book and showed them the way that I learned how to make paper airplanes as a kid.
At the end, they each picked a sticker and put it on their airplane for decoration. The next 10 minutes were spent with airplanes flying all over the house. All in all, it was a good activity, and the kids had fun.
Yesterday, Matt and I went on our bimonthly date. We went indoor mini-golfing, out for soups and sandwiches, and ended the date buying cheesecake at Sam's club. When we were at Sam's, I found a pack of 10 Curious George books with stickers and activities for $7. The price was too good to be true considering all of the books were early readers level 1 - which is Ali's reading level.
So, Ali cruised right through one book last night and decided that she wanted to read another this morning. Her motivation? She wanted one of the stickers.
"Mom, can I have a sticker once I read this book?"
"Yes."
"I want sticker!" piped in Erin.
After spending about 10 minutes trying to get comfortable with 2 kids and an adult on the bean bag, I gave up and moved everyone to my bed. As annoying as it is to have three people plopped in my bed, it seems to be the only way that I can get everyone comfortable and feeling like they are getting proper mom cuddles while reading...very important.
Ali read the book with ease. It's amazing to me how many words that she is just picking up now without my help. She is starting to enjoy the process much more and doesn't get nearly as annoyed when it is time to sound out a word.
At the end of the book, it showed the kids how to make paper airplanes. Ali immediately got super excited.
"Can we make a paper airplane right now?" asked Ali.
"Paper airplane! Paper airplane!" shouted Erin.
I dragged myself out of the comfy, warm bed to go downstairs and get paper. I knew that they wouldn't stop talking about it until they each had a paper airplane in hand. I ignored the instructions in the book and showed them the way that I learned how to make paper airplanes as a kid.
At the end, they each picked a sticker and put it on their airplane for decoration. The next 10 minutes were spent with airplanes flying all over the house. All in all, it was a good activity, and the kids had fun.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Trip Day 2: Entering into Virginia
The next morning, we woke up to bright eyed, screaming kids. We all went down to the Best Western's continental breakfast before packing up and heading out. Our next stop would be Williamsburg, VA.
Williamsburg didn't live up to the hype that I thought it would. If you are just dropping through, this is not a place that I would recommend. Almost everything interesting requires advanced tickets, and requires that you sit or walk while a tour guide talks you through it - definitely not a place for kids as young as mine.
We did manage to have a little bit of fun though. We looked through several shops and even picked up some home made candy in one of the stores. I enjoyed looking at the silver shop just because I think that the process of making silver jewelry is interesting. There were many pretty things, but nothing that I fell so in love with that I couldn't just walk out.
Matt was fascinated with the lingerie shop across the street. The lingerie consisted of full gowns that cover more that most people where outside these days. I thought it was kind of funny to see what was considered risque back then.
Ali spent most of her time complaining about the heat, and Erin decided that she wanted me to carry her the entire time. It made walking for a long period almost impossible. We did manage to get to where the work horses were so that Ali could say "hi."
Erin cried as soon as we got there because we told her that she couldn't walk to the side of them. The owner told us that it was dangerous and could frighten the horses. She cried for most of the walk back to the car.
Once back in the car, we were all grateful to get the air conditioner started. We all decided that the best option at that point was to get ice cream. So, we stopped at a Steak and Shake on the way and got everyone different flavored shakes. Even Erin got her very own banana flavored one. She was quite happy about that.
As we got closer to our final destination, we hit some traffic, but it wasn't so horrible that I was cursing by the end of it; so, I am thankful for small favors. It wasn't long before we reached my mother-in-law's house.
Once there, we sat and talked for a while in the living room and helped my sister in law find some good singing music for an upcoming audition at school. The kids enjoyed the time out of the car, and I enjoyed my time with their pet dog, Anakin.
The rest of the night was spent chatting and taking things easy.
Williamsburg didn't live up to the hype that I thought it would. If you are just dropping through, this is not a place that I would recommend. Almost everything interesting requires advanced tickets, and requires that you sit or walk while a tour guide talks you through it - definitely not a place for kids as young as mine.
We did manage to have a little bit of fun though. We looked through several shops and even picked up some home made candy in one of the stores. I enjoyed looking at the silver shop just because I think that the process of making silver jewelry is interesting. There were many pretty things, but nothing that I fell so in love with that I couldn't just walk out.
Matt was fascinated with the lingerie shop across the street. The lingerie consisted of full gowns that cover more that most people where outside these days. I thought it was kind of funny to see what was considered risque back then.
Ali spent most of her time complaining about the heat, and Erin decided that she wanted me to carry her the entire time. It made walking for a long period almost impossible. We did manage to get to where the work horses were so that Ali could say "hi."
Erin cried as soon as we got there because we told her that she couldn't walk to the side of them. The owner told us that it was dangerous and could frighten the horses. She cried for most of the walk back to the car.
Once back in the car, we were all grateful to get the air conditioner started. We all decided that the best option at that point was to get ice cream. So, we stopped at a Steak and Shake on the way and got everyone different flavored shakes. Even Erin got her very own banana flavored one. She was quite happy about that.
As we got closer to our final destination, we hit some traffic, but it wasn't so horrible that I was cursing by the end of it; so, I am thankful for small favors. It wasn't long before we reached my mother-in-law's house.
Once there, we sat and talked for a while in the living room and helped my sister in law find some good singing music for an upcoming audition at school. The kids enjoyed the time out of the car, and I enjoyed my time with their pet dog, Anakin.
The rest of the night was spent chatting and taking things easy.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Trip Day One: South and North Carolina
I know...I was gone for a while. Did you all miss me? The past two weeks were spent in a car travelling up and down the East coast. Yes, we had many wild adventures. Yes, there were tears, tantrums and spouts of bitter frustration, but, in the end, it was one of the best times of my life. So, I will tell you about the trip one day at a time.
Mandi, my college best friend and roommate, joined us in Georgia on Tuesday, May 28th. We left for our first leg of the trip the very next morning. The kids were excited and stocked up with an entire cooler full of snacks, plenty of DVDs and a dad sitting in the back to help with the boredom. I was the designated driver, and Mandi was in charge of making sure that I didn't fall a sleep at the wheel. I'm pretty sure that I had the easiest of the three jobs.
Surprisingly, the car ride to Greenville, South Carolina was really uneventful; so, we will skip that part of the story and hop straight to the first stop - The Children's Garden. This was such a nice little place to take a short stop. The garden was first created to encourage children to get out of the house for a while an experience the joys that come with nature. I thought that the volunteers did an excellent job on making it kid friendly and a fun place to visit.
The poles were covered with murals from different artists, and there were plenty of statues to play on throughout. There were also a plethora of musical instruments for the kids to pound on along with hundreds of beautiful flowers. We spent about a hour there before getting back in the car, but it was well worth the stop.
The next place we stopped was about 4 hours away in Durham, North Carolina at the Museum of Life and Sciences. I was excited and nervous about this stop initially because of the price. It wasn't cheap, and they charged almost as much for the kids as they did the adults. In the end, it was all worth it though.
As you enter, there is a big play center with tables full of blocks. I think that my kids could have spent an hour there alone...especially Erin. Matt, as much as he will deny it, enjoyed playing with the blocks too.
The next area was especially cool because it had a live simulation of how a tornado forms. The kids went as far as getting up onto the giant block and playing with the tornado. It was fun to watch them giggle and laugh as they broke it apart and watched it reform again.
There were several other areas of the museum that were cool, one of our favorites was a spinning map. It was about 3 feet in diameter. If you spun it one direction, it would zoom in, the other direction out. The you could tilt it to get to the location that you wanted. We found all of our houses on it and even some foreign places just for fun. All of the adults thought it was super cool.
Everyone had a great time until there was only about 45 minutes left before the museum closed and we hadn't even gone outside yet to see the animals. The biggest problem that we kept running across was getting Ali to transition from one area to the next.
"Ali, we have to go."
(Long pause, then no response.)
"Ali, we have to go. We are running out of time and will miss the animals."
"I'm busy."
After much coaxing, we got her to go downstairs and almost out the door, but it was too late, she had found another play area that interested here.
By the time that we got her outside, Matt was frustrated, and Ali was crying. This seems to be pretty typical when we don't have the time to do things at Ali's pace.
We had no idea how big the outside was and spent most of the time walking without seeing many of the animals. By the time that it was over, I came to the conclusion that just staying inside and ignoring the outside would have been better.
We stayed at the museum for 3 hours, and it wasn't nearly long enough for the kids to get to play with everything that they wanted to play with. Oh well, maybe next time.
We found a hotel that night at a Best Western. I felt kind of bad because Matt found one for much cheaper, but I didn't feel safe in the neighborhood; so, we ended up spending much more. If I hadn't had the kids, I would have probably been fine with it. Matt didn't seem to care though. He was happy to get a suite where we all had beds.
I would have slept really well too if I hadn't been sharing a room with two people that snore...loud.
Mandi, my college best friend and roommate, joined us in Georgia on Tuesday, May 28th. We left for our first leg of the trip the very next morning. The kids were excited and stocked up with an entire cooler full of snacks, plenty of DVDs and a dad sitting in the back to help with the boredom. I was the designated driver, and Mandi was in charge of making sure that I didn't fall a sleep at the wheel. I'm pretty sure that I had the easiest of the three jobs.
Surprisingly, the car ride to Greenville, South Carolina was really uneventful; so, we will skip that part of the story and hop straight to the first stop - The Children's Garden. This was such a nice little place to take a short stop. The garden was first created to encourage children to get out of the house for a while an experience the joys that come with nature. I thought that the volunteers did an excellent job on making it kid friendly and a fun place to visit.
The poles were covered with murals from different artists, and there were plenty of statues to play on throughout. There were also a plethora of musical instruments for the kids to pound on along with hundreds of beautiful flowers. We spent about a hour there before getting back in the car, but it was well worth the stop.
The next place we stopped was about 4 hours away in Durham, North Carolina at the Museum of Life and Sciences. I was excited and nervous about this stop initially because of the price. It wasn't cheap, and they charged almost as much for the kids as they did the adults. In the end, it was all worth it though.
As you enter, there is a big play center with tables full of blocks. I think that my kids could have spent an hour there alone...especially Erin. Matt, as much as he will deny it, enjoyed playing with the blocks too.
The next area was especially cool because it had a live simulation of how a tornado forms. The kids went as far as getting up onto the giant block and playing with the tornado. It was fun to watch them giggle and laugh as they broke it apart and watched it reform again.
There were several other areas of the museum that were cool, one of our favorites was a spinning map. It was about 3 feet in diameter. If you spun it one direction, it would zoom in, the other direction out. The you could tilt it to get to the location that you wanted. We found all of our houses on it and even some foreign places just for fun. All of the adults thought it was super cool.
Everyone had a great time until there was only about 45 minutes left before the museum closed and we hadn't even gone outside yet to see the animals. The biggest problem that we kept running across was getting Ali to transition from one area to the next.
"Ali, we have to go."
(Long pause, then no response.)
"Ali, we have to go. We are running out of time and will miss the animals."
"I'm busy."
After much coaxing, we got her to go downstairs and almost out the door, but it was too late, she had found another play area that interested here.
By the time that we got her outside, Matt was frustrated, and Ali was crying. This seems to be pretty typical when we don't have the time to do things at Ali's pace.
We had no idea how big the outside was and spent most of the time walking without seeing many of the animals. By the time that it was over, I came to the conclusion that just staying inside and ignoring the outside would have been better.
We stayed at the museum for 3 hours, and it wasn't nearly long enough for the kids to get to play with everything that they wanted to play with. Oh well, maybe next time.
We found a hotel that night at a Best Western. I felt kind of bad because Matt found one for much cheaper, but I didn't feel safe in the neighborhood; so, we ended up spending much more. If I hadn't had the kids, I would have probably been fine with it. Matt didn't seem to care though. He was happy to get a suite where we all had beds.
I would have slept really well too if I hadn't been sharing a room with two people that snore...loud.
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