Family Vacation Trip - Day 4

Today was a "stay near the house" day. We ate a lazy breakfast and then the Caterpillars helped Granddaddy, Jr work on birdhouses.

By 10:30 a.m. we were loaded in the car for the very short drive to the movie theatre. Hubby and I had promised the Caterpillars we could see Wall-E, and Minnie Mouse was glad to see any Disney movie!

I actually really enjoyed it. I thought it had a very sweet storyline, and a very good environmental message, without being "preachy" or "scary-doomsdayish".

From the parking lot of the movie theatre we went on a geocaching adventure. Granddaddy, Jr and Minnie Mouse have enjoyed geocaching for about 3 years, but our family has never done it before.

It's a really cool thing to do together. The idea is that you take a handheld GPS device, and after selecting a geocache from the Internet (we use http://www.geocaching.com/) you go searching. It's like a huge treasure hunt!

When you find the geocache (it can be anything from a large ammunition box to a film canister) you write your name on the log, and if there are things inside you can trade them out for things you bring with you.

B10 found the first one.

CW found the second one.

And I found the third one.

We got within 20 feet of the fourth one and just COULD NOT find it! (Less rain and leaves might have helped...)

The boys loved hiking through various woods and watching the GPS tell us how close we were. We searched for four, and found three - so I think that's a pretty good average for our first day ever.

The scenery was beautiful.

On the way home we stopped for dinner at a dairy farm/restaurant. CW fell asleep at the table before his food arrived. (Poor baby - we missed lunch, because of the geocaching, so he was hungry when he finally woke up!)

When we finally made it back to the house, B10 made his delightful guacamole for everyone. He was especially excited that Minnie Mouse had a juicer for the lemon!

We got all the Caterpillars into bed, and fell into bed ourselves. Tomorrow is the Water Park day (AKA: What CW Has Been Asking For Since We Tortured Him).

~Lone Butterfly )i(

Family Vacation Trip - Day 3

Day 3 - AKA: The Day CW Was Tortured

This is where we went:

I was so nervous about CW's reaction that we didn't actually tell him we were going to a Zoo until we were almost there.

He only whined a little, but was quite impressed once we got inside and there were frogs everywhere. He asked for his picture with every frog item he could find.

B10 was thrilled - right inside the gate there were two volunteers with snakes to touch. Already the day was going his way!

The animals and habitats were beautiful. One of my favorites was the swan who had eggs almost ready to hatch.

We took a pause to play on the playground (complete with metal dino skeleton and dig site).

Another favorite was the bald eagles, a breeding pair that really put on a show for the crowd. It was almost as if they knew the July 4th Holiday was approaching!

We ate lunch inside a nice food court. The Caterpillars had worked up a serious hunger.

These are the giant tortises before the "mating" began. Or as B10 put it - "Look, they're getting married". To which CW replied, "Why is he crushing the bride?"

This is Stubby and Holly the girl manetees. Stubby lost her tail. :(

CW was impressed with the stingray, which was pretty neat.

B10 spent a L-O-N-G time in the Reptile House. I had brought a little craft for CW to do, so he basically ran through the exhibit and sat on a bench at the end making his Hissing Cockroach. (Thank you "Miss Mary" at my work!)

It rained on and off, but we were able to see everything we wanted to see, including the Kangaroos and Koala Bears. (Isn't the Koala ADORABLE?!?)

Bring one small shower we went inside a special Aviary and fed the Larakeets. One took a nip of B10's finger, but he didn't drop the special food!

Before we left, CW had two requests - his picture with Pepe the Penguin and Dippin Dots Ice Cream. Here is Pepe, and you'll have to take my word he got half a cup of Chocolate on the way out of the park.

After a full day, we came back to the house and decided to have BBQ. I had a delicious beef brisket sandwich and Hubby tried the sampler platter. I really thought by the time we got home we would be able to bathe the Caterpillars and throw them in bed.

I was very wrong. Hubby and the Caterpillars ended up going outside and running around for over an hour! Then, B10 ended up falling asleep before CW!

I was so tired, I fell into bed before 11:30 p.m. Tomorrow we are going geocaching! And to see Wall-E! And to a State Park! (But everything is within this county, so no more long car rides!)

~Lone Butterfly )i(

Family Vacation Trip - Day 2

We had a rough night in the hotel (at least one car alarm at 2 a.m. plus 2 adults in a small double bed is a little uncomfortable) and I ended up waking up early to take a bath (I was pretty sore from the day before in the car). When I was done, I woke B10 up to put him in the warm water to soak before sticking him back in the car for another drive. He said he tummy felt better, but I was still pushing fluids on him. The breakfast in the "hotel" was very sad. Mini muffins, fruit loops, milk, fruit, and white bread.

~

I ended up getting coffee for Hubby and two mini muffins, and bread with butter for the caterpillars. B10 ate a few pieces of apple and CW ate half a banana, but it just wasn't enough.

~

We all got dressed and were on the road by 7:30 a.m. We were a little disappointed, because if we had driven to the next exit we could have stayed at a beautiful Holiday Inn Express. But at 11:45 p.m. - Hubby was ready to sleep, so we made the best choice we could. I'm so glad we decided to get into Kentucky, mentally it felt good to know we had made it that far the day before, and the trip seemed shorter. Our goal was to make it to Ohio before lunch.

~

By 9:45 a.m. we were on the Northern side of Lexington, and made the choice to stop at McDonald's for a second breakfast (or a first breakfast, since the early morning meal was more of a snack). We were pretty quick before heading back on the road.

(B10 obviously has his appetite back - as you can see by the bit of sausage hanging out of his mouth...)

Due to unexpected roadwork outside of Cincinnati, we didn't make it to Granddaddy, Jr and Minnie Mouse's house until after noon. Poor Minnie Mouse was practically starving, so we pretty much got out, let the Caterpillars run around for about 15 minutes, then all hopped back in the cars for pizza and salad (Hubby had a hot sandwich that he really enjoyed).

On the way home, B10 and Minnie Mouse went in one car to the grocery store to pick out perfect avocados for B10 to make guacamole with. CW came back to the house with Hubby and Granddaddy, Jr.

Granddaddy, Jr. took CW outside and allowed him to help fill bird feeders. CW did a great job filling the containers and then walking the containers out to the various feeders.

Minnie Mouse and B10 arrived back at the house, and had made a side trip to the library to check out books. CW and I got to go on our own special trip to the library, where he found a couple of books (including our favorite Llama, Llama Mad at Mama) and a few DVDs to watch.

We had a simple cookout for supper at the house, and then took a walk down to the neighborhood park.

By the time we got back, CW was almost asleep. I gave him a bath and he laid down on my lap and was out within 10 minutes. B10 ate a special dessert with the grownups before he also went to bed.

It was a great second day, we made pretty good time in the car and B10 didn't get sick again!

~Lone Butterfly )i(