Our End Of Summer Fling

Three days and two nights of total fun!

(Sorry this is a long post - trying to get it down before I forget it all) 

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Sunday after church we headed to Cleveland for a couple days of family time!  It was terrific!  We made a first stop to our hotel - Marin was so happy to be staying in the "sunshine" hotel (Days Inn).  If you asked my kids what we were going to do on this trip, Marin would say we are having a "poo" (pool) and going to the "nuseum" (Museum).  Manhattan would say that we were going to see the Natural History Museum and the Cleveland Zoo.  They both made us promise that we would swim every night and go to the lake as well!

After we checked into the hotel we headed up to Lake Erie.  We were sad we had left our swimsuits and camera at the hotel.  After wading in the lake we headed over to IHOP for some yummy breakfast for dinner.  We had a super nice waitress that we got to know VERY well!  The night ended with a dip in a very chilly pool in the dark - I hate when pools are advertised as heated when all the mean is that the sun warms the pool somewhat during the day but it is freezing in the evening!  I guess that does not look well on the hotel website!   Overall the "sunshine" was fine - they did have a yummy breakfast which is always a plus!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Monday morning we got rolling and went to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.  It was not opened until 10 am so we had some time to wander around Wade Park and play on Steggie the Stegosaurus out front!  The cute flower pictures are taken in front of the Botanical Gardens.  We were hoping to go to the Natural History Museum and then visit the Art Museum but it was closed on Mondays.    When the museum opened we went right inside and the girls loved it!  The animal exhibits were a big deal but the best was the dinosaurs of course!  They had some human skeletons as well!  Right now there is a special exhibit called Wild Music: Songs and Sounds of Life that both girls really enjoyed.  There were instruments to play, a jamming room, and a variety of musical examples from things in nature.  I was a fan of the exhibit but the room was ridiculously cold!

 After the music room we headed through the gift shop - they had the coolest masks which were frankly the only temptation in the room but the girls did not care that much.  Manhattan did say, "Mom, if you were going to get us something, but I know we aren't, but if we were, could you make it be a book."   Crack me up - only Manhattan would beg that I would make her get a book if "I was going to buy something".  I can't tell you how grateful I am that we can wander through the gift shop with no real begging for a toy etc.  After the gift shop we headed outside to the live animals - they had wild turkeys, foxes, lots of owls, a bobcat named bob, and even some really cool bald eagles.

At this point we were starting to get hungry so we wandered out to our car for snacks and drinks (I had not packed lunch and we were not willing to pay for a museum meal).  After lunch we wanted to let Maxwell crawl around a bit so Morgan had the girls try a three-legged race and then took them for a walk so I could stretch out on the grass.  I could have slept there all day - What a great husband I have! We had been at the museum for three hours already so we figured we were almost done - we went to the lower level about local plants and animals and then wandered back to the best children's area I have ever seen.  I would call it a hidden gem for sure!  We were shocked to see that it was empty.  The girls were in heaven.  The first thing that Marin discovered was an area to uncover the T-Rex skull.  They also had a piano that played bird songs - really beautiful!  There was tons of stuff to do and even a table with low toys that kept Maxwell entertained for a long time!

As promised we headed to Avon Lake to swim and play in the lake.  The wind was pretty strong which made some terrific ways!  It was super fun!  Yesterday I realized that I forgot towels so we had to stop by Target and get towels so we got to use our new towels!  I know I am crazy to let Morgan take my picture in my swimsuit - nothing makes you more brave than having fun with your kids!!  We were whipped after a long day so we picked up some Taco Bell and headed back to the "sunshine" hotel for some pool time.  We made it to the pool before the sun went down but it was still cold.  Poor Marin seems to be like me - she is cold all the time!  She shivers through it and never wants to get out but I have to make her when her lips are blue!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

We took a long drive to get to the Cleveland Metropark Zoo - the girls were going crazy but Maxwell fell asleep just as we got in the car!  This Zoo is AMAZING!  We loved it!  We started our visit in the Australia Adventure area - we fed the lorikeets, visited the kangaroos & wallabies and the girls rode a CAMEL!  I am sad I did not ride with them - it was amazing - how often do you get the chance to ride a camel!  It was so cool!  A complete rip-off at $4 a child for a ride in a small circle but it was so COOL!  Morgan took some great pictures of the girls - look at their faces.  They said it was really bumpy but they loved it!  Next time we come to the zoo I am riding the camel!

Ever person that we say working at the zoo was a zoo keeper to Marin - the "zoo keepers are so nice to let us ride their camels, the zoo keepers got all the animals ready for our visit, the zoo keepers keep the cages really clean,  the zoo keepers are so nice!"  It was pretty funny by the end of the day!

The next area we visited was the traveling Dinosaurs exhibit.  All the dinosaurs were robotic but very neat - they were placed within the greenery and natural setting so that made it more realistic.  We explained that they were not real and Marin seemed to understand that but as soon as we got close to them she was a little freaked out.  Some of my favorite pictures are in this batch - the girls together, the one with the T-Rex and this one of Morgan trying to feed Marin to the dinosaurs.  It was kind of funny, a couple times we heard other parents referring to the cartoon Dinosaur Train as they wander among the dinosaurs.  It is a new cartoon that came out last fall about dinosaurs - Marin & Hattie both enjoy!    

We hiked and hiked around the zoo - it is very stretched out!  We kind of wished we had a pedometers - it would have been fun to see how far we walked!  We got some pricey pizza and water for lunch and then hiked and hiked again.  We got to see all the zoo but it is huge!!  Some favorite spots were the giraffes, rhinos, sharks, the three-toed sloth that was actually moving (it seems like they are always asleep at our zoo) and the anteater.  We finally finished up the day at 4 pm - we had been at the zoo 6 HOURS and there hardly a complaint from the kids.  We should have had Hattie wear better shoes - she wore flip flops but otherwise we did fine!  Marin was amazing - we did not bring a stroller or anything so she walked the whole way - chatting about everything she saw.  She never even asked to be carried - it was amazing.  Maxwell tolerated riding in the backpack the whole time - he fussed towards the end because he was exhausted and finally fell asleep.  He was practically falling out of the backpack hanging over the edge fast asleep!

We piled in the car at  4:00 pm and we were all exhausted!  It was a fun day but boy we were tired!  Maxwell again fell asleep quickly!  We tried hard to keep Marin awake during the drive home so she would crash at bedtime.  We stopped for some ice cream along the way and arrived home in time for dinner, baths, and bedtime.  It was a great adventure for the end of summer fling!!

I am hoping to drag some playgroups friends out there - it was so fun!