Monday, May 30, 2011

Our vacation adventures


My hubby and I have been together for 8, sometimes very long, years. In that time we have never been able to take a family vacation. Well, this weekend that finally changed. Not only did we get a family vacation, we had a double family vacation with our best friends. In total, there were 10 of us, 6 kids, and 4 adults. Is it just me or were we taking a big risk by being that out numbered by the kids?
 
 
 
Jordyn and Holly on the way to Columbus
 

I don't like having my picture taken but I sorta played nice



Hunter and Jordyn on the way to Columbus
 
This was a completely last minute get-a-way. Friday afternoon the hubby got the idea to go camping, that evening! So we rushed around getting things ready, everybody was excited. Until we started calling around to get a campsite. Every place was flooded, the fire pits were totally underwater. And all the cabins were already booked. Now imagine 6 kids all grumbling and complaining at once! So hubby had his next idea...The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Can you hear the 6 cheers of "YAY!!!"? 
Holly on the luggage cart

 The reservations were made and the bags were packed. By 9am the next morning we were all ready to go. The cab (yes I said cab) was coming at 10am to take us the 55 miles (you don't even want to know how much that cost!) we needed to get to our weekend paradise. Here enters the next problem. We discovered the hotel check-in time was 3pm. Have you ever heard of such a thing? More grumbles and complaints from the children, although the adults joined in this time. So the cab was rescheduled and by 1:30 we were hitting the road. 4 huge sighs, and 6 giant shouts of glee!

 We arrived at the Quality Inn Hotel just in time for our 3pm check-in. Our rooms were beautiful and blissfully air conditioned! We dropped our bags and headed downstairs to the hotel restaurant, the Thai Lagoon. Let me tell you, it was wonderful! It had an awesome atmosphere, beautifully decorated, attentive staff, and the best tasting food I can remember having in a very long time! It was the perfect way to begin our trip.

Dinner at the Thai Lagoon

Yummy Strawberry Mango Margarita
It was too late in the day to visit the Zoo and Aquarium so we headed over to Magic Mountain. This place was Heaven for the kids. It has a HUGE climby thing in the middle of it with only one way in and out of it, laser tag, miniature golf, water bumper boats, and more arcade games than you can imagine! All the kids loved it. Except Holly. But that was partly our fault. While waiting for the cab, I realized we had forgotten the diaper bag upstairs. So hubby goes back up to get it. Then when we get in the cab, I realize we don't have her bottle. With Holly, that's a major crime! Hubby doesn't feel like going back up to get it and says we'll find her something there. I think he's out of his freaking mind but let him learn the hard way. Everything is fine at first but after about an hour, she's had enough. At this point it's probably about 6pm, she's been up since 9am, and only napped about 20 minutes in the cab ride. She's fed up with all of us! Brilliant Hubby hands her a cup of soda. Kept her quiet for a minute until she starts spitting it all over herself. I can't handle that, so I take it, and she proceeds to scream some more. She's tired, she's mad, and she's pitifully crying ba ba ba...So my BF and I leave the men with the other 5 children and we venture off into the unknown in search of a bottle and some milk. Thankfully, we soon found Target. God Bless Target!!! My baby was happy again and no longer cussing us in baby talk!
Holly and her new bottle
Hubby and Hunter


 The next major set back came when we were ready to leave. We called the cab at around 10pm, two hours later we were still waiting for them! (We won't ever use Yellow Cab again) Can you imagine the torture of waiting around with 6 tired grumpy kids? It was not pretty!!! Eventually, our friends got directions and took their bunch back to the hotel, then one of them came back for the rest of us. Not exactly easy when you don't know where you are. In the end it was ok though.
Holly and our critters

 The next morning we were off for our Zoo adventure. Luckily we found a different cab company and they picked us up within 15 minutes of us calling them. Everybody we talked to had told us that you really need two days to see the whole zoo and aquarium. We're hard headed, we did it in one day! At one point Hunter, who is already a slow walker, was eating Dipping Dots (which if you don't know is like the best ice-cream ever), and I told him to walk a little faster. He looks at me, and while holding his fingers about an inch apart, says "Mommy, I walking as faster as I can!" I just had to laugh! And don't worry, I packed 2 bottles for this trip! So luckily all the kids were happy and we all had a blast. Although by 6pm I was begging to be done, my feel hurt so bad. But we stuck it out until closing time at 7pm.
Hunter and his safari hat
The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
Jordyn and Hunter
The polar bears were the best part!


 Thankfully there were no more mishaps, we all crawled into our beds totally happy and worn out. Now, we're home again, we're still tired, my house is trashed, and I've never been so happy to be home. All in all, it was a great vacation! Though I did tell the hubby that it was kind of funny, you think of vacations as having at least a little romantic time, but with the kids there was definitely no hanky panky for us!
Hunter and Jordyn all tuckered out
Holly out cold

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3 comments:

  1. I went to a zoo in minneapolis once and I passed by a baby vending machine. It had bottles, nipples, wipes, formula, diapers, pacifiers, everything. I felt like I was in the presence of something profoundly genius.

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  2. Wow, I would so love to have seen that!!!! Pure genious!!!

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  3. My wife and I fought sometimes more then we needed too, but when it came to family outings, I realized why I LoVe Her so much. This was the best vacation I have ever had in my life with our frienda, my wife and my family.

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