Indiana/Kentucky Road Trip: Day 3

 We awoke bright and early on day 3 because that is how our kids like to do things.  It ended up working out okay, since we had plenty of time to pack up our belongings and head to the car.  The plan was to spend the morning riding rides in Holiday World and then when the water park opened mid-morning, we would head that way and get some swimming in. Afterward, the kids would nap during our shortish drive to Louisville, KY.

This is the only picture I have from our second day at Holiday World.  We mostly spent it revisiting the favorite rides from day 1.  This picture, though, cracks me up because the sign on the ride said, "Guests 5'7" and under will ride most comfortably".  Jason is a whole foot taller than that but there were no complaints from him.  The kids enjoyed a couple slides in the waterpark, a trip to the wave pool, and then after lunch it got really hot and crowded really quickly.




We took that opportunity to head out.  Assuming we'd have a relatively quiet ride to KY since both kids were exhausted from the previous couple of days we set out.  Neither kid slept!  And one kid, in particular, cried and crabbed much of the way.  We were a little frazzled by the time we pulled up to our Louisville hotel.  But, man, we were in for a surprise!  We got upgraded to an executive suite that had multiple rooms and overlooked the river.  Henry was in heaven watching all the water (and road) traffic from our hotel window.

Jason and Amelia set out on foot to find some dinner and Henry and I decided to make the trek over to the pool.  We took a few pit stops to get better looks at the boats going by.

And that night (in his own room no less!), he slept like a champ.  His room was so quiet and windowless and he was beat!  He may have even slept in a little bit.  If it was up to me, I would have cancelled the rest of the trip and just stayed in that room chillaxing.

Indiana/Kentucky Road Trip: Day 2

After lots of rest, everyone awoke in a great mood for day 2.  There were lots of hugs and giggles to start the day.  The kids were excited to experience this thing called Holiday World!

We got there with PLENTY of time before the park opened.  We filled up our free drinks and took advantage of the free sunscreen at the park.  Then, we were off to find our first ride! 

It's hard to remember the order we took in the park--not that it matters.  My kids would argue that's it was ALL fun.  There were lots of smiles all day, and it wasn't just the kids....

Following in his sister's footsteps, Henry braved his first roller coaster!  He was only 2! But, as a tall 2 year old, he met the height requirements just barely.  Although he had a look of horror on his face, he rode the coaster multiple times.  He also visited the Log Flume many many times during our two day visit.

Check out the old pro in the back!

I'm pretty sure this would qualify as Amelia's favorite ride.  It wasn't very crowded in the mid afternoon, so she rode it for about 20 minutes straight and that still wasn't enough!

Henry definitely seemed to prefer the bumper boats.  It is a miracle that he never ended up in the water!

We ended up making it to late afternoon before returning to the hotel to rest.  We had plans to possibly return that evening, but we never actually made it back out of the bed.  Instead we decided to rest up for day 2 of Holiday World.

Indiana/Kentucky Road Trip: Day 1

Last summer, we attempted a road trip with both kids to nearby Chicago.  It did not go well.  Henry spent much of the car ride screaming and crying and refusing to nap.  After arriving in Chicago, he promptly climbed out of the Pack 'n Play for the first time ever.  That night, he awoke in the middle of the night at the hotel and we couldn't get him back to sleep.  We eventually let him "cry it out" much to the dislike of our hotel neighbors, I'm sure.

That whole experience led us to rethink our road trip days.  We decided to fly on our next couple of trips.  Then, earlier this summer, my mom and I attempted a short road trip to Kansas City to visit some family. It was like a dream come true!  Both kids did fantastically well.  Our confidence in road trips was renewed!  We began to test the road trip waters and planned a trip to Indiana and Kentucky.

Many people thought that a road trip to Indiana and Kentucky was kind of a strange choice.  I admit, deciding on where we would go had much more to do with the proximity to our house than to the excitingness of the location.  We didn't think we were ready to try a 13 hour drive with the kids so instead we decided to take a trip with only 2-4 hour driving increments.  Perfect.

Our friends initially told us about Holiday World, located in Santa Claus, Indiana.  It sounded fun, was close, and was most definitely affordable.  After talking with others, I heard so many good things about Holiday World that it became the man contender for our short road trip. After all, we had already done Chicago, Kansas City, and Memphis.  We searched for other places nearby to visit and decided to make a nice big loop.  Our route would be St. Louis to Santa Claus, IN to Louisville, KY to Indianapolis, IN to St. Louis.

Day 1 was a breeze!  The kids were pumped, snacks and activities were packed and we even pulled out on time!  The first leg was only 3 hours long.  We were too early to check in to our hotel, so we found our way to Lincoln's Boyhood Home and looked around at all of the exhibits.

It was a great way to stretch our legs and get some educational information while we were at it.  It got a little toasty as the day went on, so we decided to check out Santa's Candy Castle.  If that doesn't sound like a place we needed to visit, I don't know what does!

The whole town of Santa Claus is dripping with the Christmas spirit. It is kind of refreshing in July (and a little strange).  Santa's Candy Castle is known for it's "famous" Frozen Hot Chocolate.  We agreed it is delicious!  The biggest score here, though, may have finding a box of Bernie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.  This is the special Harry Potter Jelly Belly package that includes realistic tasting flavors like earthworm, dirt, earwax, vomit, and boogers.  Quite the find for our little Harry Potter fan and her willing-to-try-anything little brother.

After waiting for Santa to come down the chimney and pretending to be Rudolph, it was time to check into the hotel and rest for a bit.

Henry surprised us on night one by sleeping pretty good. It wasn't perfect, but it beat Chicago's night one by a mile and a half! He was undoubtedly resting up for a full day at Holiday World!

40 Years Ago

I'm so thankful to them for starting this whole mess!

Just like Daddy

When Jason is in the basement, Henry wants to be there too.  When Jason is using tools to build, Henry gets out his tools and builds too. And when Jason puts in his earplugs to keep his ears safe from the loud sounds, that is exactly what Henry does too!

Good Deed #1

Part of our Summer Fun List this year was to fill 3 buckets.  Filling buckets is a term used to make other people feel good.  I gave Amelia several choices on what we could do.  She immediately decided she wanted to tape some quarters to the toy machines in our local grocery store.  It was such an inexpensive and simple thing to do.  She squealed with delight while she attached them and was equally as thrilled upon our next trip to the grocery store to see that the quarters had been removed (and presumably used to purchase a treat).  I think this will be a semi-regular activity for us!

Summer Sickness

After a very un-Henrylike morning where he was stuck to my side constantly begging me to pick him up and "nuggle" with him, I should have known something was up.  But there was no fever or other symptoms so I assumed Henry was just tired and we headed out to the Magic House as planned to meet some friends for a day of fun.  We LOVE the Magic House, you know.

Well, in the two minutes it took us to walk from our car to the side entrance of the Magic House, Henry lost his breakfast EVERYWHERE.  It was disgusting and it suddenly all made sense.  The poor kid was obviously miserable.  Thankfully he waited to upchuck after we exited from the car and before we entered the Magic House.  As sympathetic mothers passed wet wipes my way, I tried to get Henry cleaned up enough to be able to put him back in the car for the long ride home.  I was able to cover his car seat in plastic bags and Amelia offered to hold a separate bag nearby should he need it on the way home (big sis of the year!).  Poor kid, though, none of that was needed.  He was sound asleep in the backseat before we even made it back to the highway and by the time we got home, he had a nice, high fever.

Luckily, the vomiting didn't return (but I was ready) and it seemed that his fever remained along with some sores in his throat.  Upon examination, the doctor suspected the cousin to Hand, Foot, & Mouth that he had contracted in May.

Being sick in the summer just sucks!  And so does puking in front of a huge group of people, incidentally.  Luckily after a full recovery we made it back to the Magic House (where Henry proclaimed, "That's where I threw up!") before summer ended.

Home Haircut

Henry looks particularly miserable in these pictures.  Turns out it wasn't all haircut related. At the same time he was getting this cut in our kitchen, a nasty virus was invading his poor little body and within 24 hours knocked him out cold.

A Busy Summer for Kit

Amelia's beloved doll, Kit, has had a very full summer already!  Unfortunately, she broke her arm early in the summer and has had to spend a great deal of time recovering.  Luckily, she has an amazing mother who crafted her a custom cast (from a toilet paper roll) and has been busy soliciting autographs on the cast from everyone she encounters (friends, family, restaurant waitresses, librarians, neighbors, etc.). Kit seems to be feeling better already!

Kit's mom also decided it was important to pick up a few books at the library to ease Kit's mind about going to the hospital and having a broken arm.  Luckily, a very kind and patient librarian was able to help Amelia out with her search and now Kit is well versed on everything that is involved when you break an arm.

She's doing better now, but things were touch and go for awhile.  Luckily, Kit's mom pulled through again by setting up a nice comfy bed for her to rest on in front of the TV.  She had a little bit of an upset tummy, hence the (oatmeal) container near her bed.  I think a day of rest is just what the doctor ordered!

Kit's mom has been busy, too, working on this surprise for Kit!  A new bed!  Amelia and Jason have been working very hard to put this together and the bed closely resembles Amelia's bed.  As if that wasn't enough, Amelia worked with GG (Kit's great grandma) to make the mattress, a special frame, and a tiny bulletin board to decorate Kit's shelf.  The only thing missing is a couple coats of paint, pink of course! I think she will love it!