A Night Away

So the other day, I did one of the nicest things I've ever done for myself: a booked a hotel room. With a jacuzzi tub. And a fireplace.

It was local - I didn't travel far.
I got a good deal because I booked it last minute.

And I'm telling you, I'm pretty sure I need to do this at least once a year with only one change: two nights instead of one!

On the way to the hotel, I stopped at the store and bought dinner and snacks - I knew once I was in the room, I wouldn't want to leave, so I came in with more than I needed.

I brought knitting, chocolate, scented stuff (but not too scented) for the tub, my tablet, and a book to read.

Can I just tell you how wonderful it was? Because it was.

It was over the top, it was a huge splurge, and I loved every single moment of it.

I took the loveliest bath I've had in a really long time.
I started and finished an entire book (The Great Christmas Knit Off - a light read that was just perfect for the occasion!)
I ate too much chocolate.
I streamed a tv show I enjoy.
I had a few glasses of Sparkling Grape Juice.
I sat in front of the fireplace.
I slept in really late.

I had a bit of time by myself. And then my husband came and joined me. It was the perfect mix of alone time and together time.

It was definitely an over-the-top extravagance and I loved every single moment of it. I don't regret doing it at all.

It's hard to leave sometimes when you're the mom. But, we all know the whole if you're cup is empty how can you help others line of thinking.

I'm not sure if one night away refilled my cup per se, but it was enough to get me through for a while.

Vacation Photos

So I know we went on vacation 2 months ago, but I've been meaning to share some pictures from our trip to New Hampshire, and, well, tonight seems like a good time! So buckle up ... there's a lot of pictures here!

 So, first up was The Beach. Yes, with capital letters because we live smack in the middle of the country. We don't see oceans and beaches and waves for as far as the eye can see! So, getting to head East and get on a beach is an awesome time for us!

The kids did some boogie boarding and LOVED it! I think the 12yo enjoyed it more than the 8yo, but she was also willing to go farther out into the water and I think that helps!

I stood up for a few minutes, took some pictures and then sat my butt down and relaxed. And knitted. Because I am me. Keep in mind, the 8yo and I had left Chicago at 9pm Friday night. Got into Boston at 1 (or 2? can't remember) am Sunday morning, got up and hopped on another train at 9am Sunday morning and met up with the others just after lunch time. We practically headed straight to the beach so to say I was a bit tired might be an understatement!

So basically, the beach was just lovely! 

I think if we lived near a beach, I would spend a lot of time there. It is always so relaxing.

Quite a few years ago we traveled to The Beach as part of vacation (on the East coast, but not to the same spot) and I slept outside one night. It was lovely. And sunrises over the beach? Lovely.

This vacation was just a day trip to the beach, so there was no sunrises to watch, but the few hours were there, were so wonderful! 

 Two of the days I was out there we did some hiking. One was pretty uphill and up a mountain. The mountain was HUGE.

Okay, okay, it wasn't really huge. But I've lived my whole life in the midwest. You know what is considered mountains out here? Things that would make people in New Hampshire laugh. Because they aren't very big.

So, yes, we climbed a huge mountain - that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Just don't ask my in-laws to collaborate that because they will tell you the hike we took up the not so huge mountain was rated as easy in their Hikes to Take Your Children or Your Daughter In Law Who Don't Really Know What a Tall Mountain Looks Like But Thinks Little Ones Are Huge book, or something like that.

It was fun. No, really, it was fun. It was also painful. And when we got home from this hike up the world's tallest mountain, I immediately just fell asleep.

But, for real, it was worth it.

The view. I mean the view from the top (that wasn't technically the top of the mountain, but do I look like a mountain climber? No. So this was good enough!) was gorgeous! And it was just gorgeous for miles around.

It was seriously beautiful. We live in a very urban area, and we have forest preserves and places to hike (without mountains), but they aren't very big areas. Well, some are. Comparatively. But I'm always amazed when we go out to New Hampshire, how much space there is. Of trees and forests and mountains and streams and rivers. You turn 360 degrees and just see nature. Everywhere. It is fabulous. 

The next day, we decided to take an even easier hike. There is this great area where you can go and dig for fossils and granite. Now, my 12 year old loves rocks and minerals so this was specifically picked for her. My 8yo just loves digging and fossils, so he was equally excited.

Except our little hike turned into a 40 mile-not-sure-where-we-were-going-and-thinking-we-might-need-to-be-air-rescued-and-saved.

Alright. Much like my HUGE mountain, I might be stretching the truth a bit. We probably walked for about 4 miles. And we figured out part-way we were on the wrong path, but we were on a path none the less, so we weren't really lost. And we didn't need air rescue. Or ground rescue. Or any rescue.


And it was fun to not know quite where we were. And it was exciting that there was a 0.000000000001% chance we were lost!

Okay, it wasn't. I lied. I kept thinking my husband is going to kill me if I die out here in a forest with two-thirds of the kids just the day after being so accomplished and hiking the world's tallest mountain ever! Thankfully, we made it back to the beginning.

And amazingly, we were able to find the right path. And walk another milish and get to the dig site.

Which was actually fun and exciting. And the kids had a great time. They each took a few bits home with them (it was allowed - I promise we were very respectful of the forest). And it was so fun.

I would absolutely do all of this again. But I might not do two hikes on two consecutive days! Because I had to sleep for like 3 days straight to recover from all that hiking. Not that I was actually able to sleep for 3 days straight, but boy, did I get a lot of good sleep for the next few nights! ;-)

Anyway, just some fun from our trip. The kids and I had a great time.

All Aboard!

In front of our train car

Two weeks ago, I was able to get away and take a mini-vacation.

My (now) 12yo wanted to spend her birthday in New Hampshire. So three weeks ago, we put her on a plane and sent her out to New Hampshire.

Don't worry, my in-laws live there and picked her up when she deplaned. She got to spend a week with graham and pop all by herself. Three years ago, at a similar age, our oldest daughter went out and did a similar thing for two weeks. So, technically, we were just keeping up the tradition!

right side of the room

She had a great week with them all to herself. I suppose, she got to pretend to be an only child while in the care of grandparents who thoroughly spoiled her (as it should be!) which was fabulous for her.

I wasn't opposed to her being out there for two weeks alone, except the second week was when her birthday hit. And I didn't want to be away from her for her birthday. I'm not ready to cut the cord that much yet!

So late Friday night, the 8yo and I headed into the city and boarded an Amtrak train headed for Boston. {The husband had to work and the 14yo had school so they had to stay behind.}

We do this because a) I dislike flying. A lot. No, scratch that, I hate flying with every fiber of my being and b) we enjoy taking the train. This is not our first train trip and I hope it won't be out last!

Leaving from a big station like Chicago, means we get to check any luggage we want, but we also brought one small suitcase on the train. Not all stations are big enough to have the staff/space to do checked luggage.

We splurged this trip and got a roomette. We've ridden in coach before. It's not bad, but it's not as good as getting a room. Plus, when we get a room, our meals are included in the price (they are not in coach seating - you pay when you eat like a restaurant). The roomette is the smaller of the rooms available on the train we were on. But with just the two of us, the smaller room was the perfect size!

bunk bed down!

Our train left right on time at 9:30. Mister Man and I hung out for a little bit. We came well equipped with a book each, tablets, a ds, a few toys for him, and some knitting for me. When we were ready for bed, we had the attendant pull down the bunk bed so we could get some sleep.

It's kind of peaceful sleeping on the train. I suppose it must be similar to why babies like to be rocked to sleep? Some parts of the track are bumpy, but it wasn't bad at all! We both slept for quite a while (though I stayed up knitting and watching some videos and just enjoyed the peace and rhythmic rocking).

In the morning we went off to the dining car to get some breakfast. The dining cars are community seating - each table has 4 seats. They will fill the 4 seats up - so if you are traveling as a pair, you can get another pair (or single rider) at your table. Most people who ride the train are pretty friendly and will chat with you, and it's kind of fun to get to meet someone new! We arrived right before breakfast ended, so we sat alone. But we also learned at breakfast the train was running late due to a slow-moving freight in front of us. {As a side note: the train also has a cafe car on it, which has soda, snacks, simple foods like hamburgers, hot dogs, so you can get food on the train without needing to sit down for a full meal!}

We went back to the room and played some games, watched some Dino Dan (a show my son is in LOVE with), and spent time just looking out the window. It's really pretty to watch America go by the train window! We also kept pulling up google maps on my phone so we could see exactly where we were. Mister Man had fun seeing where we were and how far from home we had made it!

our lunch!

This is how most of our day was spent - hanging out, lunch, hanging out. Just before dinner time, we got into the Albany, NY station. This stop is kind of a special stop for the Chicago/Boston run. Because the Chicago/Boston run is also the Chicago/New York City run. From Chicago to Albany, it's one train. At the Albany station, they actually split the train into two trains. One to New York City, one to Boston. We didn't get to watch the trains split, but we did watch our train get the new engine hooked up to it. It was kind of fun!

Then it was back for dinner (which was a bit late). We got back to the room, did one episode of Dinosaur Dan and the 8 year old was tired. I told him to go to sleep. We were supposed to arrive in Boston at about 9:10, but I knew we were running late. I figured better to let him sleep and wake him up than to keep him awake and make him overtired tomorrow. I sat and got a bunch of knitting and reading done! I managed to finish my first vacation read (which isn't too impressive because I brought light, easy, quick reads!).

view outside Amtrak window

Finally, at about 1:15am, our train pulled into Boston (and yes, for those keeping track that 27 hours on a train factoring in the time change). I won't lie, I was pretty exhausted by this time and not happy about getting in so late. I wasn't quite mad either - there can always be delays when traveling: planes take off late, get rerouted, traffic jams on highways, etc - it was just so late at night and I was tired!

That said, overall, I loved our train trip. It's relaxing (okay, maybe not 100% when it's late). On the way home, it's kind of like a mini-vacation - you can't cook or clean or do laundry yet. You just get to hang out and read, play games, knit, watch videos, chat with the kids.

On the way home, it was Mister Man, Miss M and me. We had a lot of fun asking questions from a set of Brain Quest questions, in addition to all the other stuff we brought with! It was some good bonding time.

I highly recommend a train trip or two. I know, I know it takes longer than flying. And sometimes it can even take a bit longer, but it's so worth it!

View outside Amtrak window

PS - this post was not sponsored by Amtrak or anyone. That said, if they ever want to send me somewhere, I'll gladly go. I hope to someday take the train out of Chicago and go to New York City when it splits! ;-)    

WWII Memorial

So, on our recent Washington DC trip, the WWII memorial was a special stop for me.

In the fall of 2003, I started talking to my grandfather about going to Washington to see the memorial (which was not yet open). I really wanted to make this happen for him. My grandpa fought in WWII. And I knew he wanted to go see it. I also knew making the trip happen wasn't going to be easy. My grandparents weren't in the best health. My grandpa also said he wasn't keen on flying. My husband suggested taking a train and grandpa seemed to like that idea. {I had not yet traveled by train at this point so I wasn't so sure, but went along with it, despite my uneasiness with flying}.

We didn't make concrete plans. We figured we could save up enough money to go in 2005 and we'd figure it out as the time came closer. I just waited in anticipation for 2005 to come and my husband and I committed to making it happen however we could.

Then my grandparents' health took a turn for the worse. My grandpa (and grandma) passed away in 2004. After my grandma passed, I asked my grandpa if he still wanted to go. He smiled and told me he did. I think he did want to go, but I also think he already knew it wasn't in the cards but who wants to talk about that? Or maybe he didn't and I am romanticizing the story.

Either way, he passed away about a month after my grandma. It was hard, so terribly hard to lose both of them so close together. Though, there is comfort in my belief that they are in heaven together.

Anyway, all of that happened and I told my husband we couldn't go to DC too soon. I still wanted to go. If I had to make the trip for both grandpa and I, then I was going to, but I also needed time. I couldn't go too soon, it would be too hard.

Life happens though. We had another baby. We bought a house. Most of our travel was to visit relatives. Cancer. Life. A trip to DC wasn't in the cards.

Until last August. Last August I went on my First Descents trip to DC. We were only actually in DC for one day. We stopped by a lot of things, but the WWII memorial wasn't on the list, and frankly I was glad. It wouldn't have felt right to go to it then. Because I'm so emotional and big into things feeling right (which I can't tell you how right feels other than I just feel it).

So, when Eric surprised us with this trip and told us DC was part of it, I knew, I just knew that we would go to the WWII memorial. We would visit it. I would go for myself and for my grandpa.

The day we went, it was a beautiful warmer-than-it-should have been day. We went there first, knowing it was the must-see of the day. I couldn't have had a more perfect set-up. We weren't alone, but there weren't a lot of people there either.

I was awed when we first walked up. I cried. I'm not ashamed to admit this. I held my husband's hand and looked around. Then (because the kids needed a bathroom) I had some time to just be alone there. I said a silent prayer to my grandpa and hoped he might be smiling.

Then a band came and started to play. They started with the Star Spangled Banner. This was the second song I ever learned (not including nursery rhyme songs). My grandfather taught me.

{Side note: the first song I learned was Take Me Out To The Ballgame because my grandpa was a Cubs fan all the way and taught it to me!}

I just, well, maybe I'm romanticizing again, but it just felt perfect to be there, the sun shining, the anthem playing in the background. I teared up again. I walked around. I paused. I listened to the music. I took a lot of pictures. I wished my grandpa could have been there with me. I felt my grandpa was there with me.

This is definitely a memory I will hold in my heart forever. 

  

 

Washington DC

Our only family pic - at the Botanic Garden

After spending a few days in Florida, we headed to Washington DC!

Going to DC with my family was a big deal - I've been wanting to take them since before we were a family of five! It was actually my dream to take my grandfather so he could see the WWII memorial, however, he passed away before that could happen.

When I went to DC for kayaking last summer, I was glad that the WWII memorial was not on our stops. I knew it would be emotional for me to be there and that trip was already emotional, so finally getting to see it myself, in person, was the highlight of the trip for me. More on that in a bit ...

WWII Memorial

We took an Amtrak train from Florida to Washington. It took just under 24 hours, and despite one family who wasn't being considerate of others around us, it was good. Once again, I love traveling by train! It is my favorite way to travel. I wish Amtrak was paying me to tell you this, but alas, they are not, I just love it that much! LOL!

We arrived in Washington late in the afternoon. We got settled in our hotel room and decided to head out and see what we could. We actually had dinner plans, but we thought we'd walk over to the White House as we weren't too far from it!

I'm glad we did because the next day, as we passed by, they had Pennsylvania Avenue completely blocked off. I'm guessing because of the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was very fun to take the kids to the house where the President lives! They thought it was awesome. Miss 11 wants to be president someday. I let her know that President and Mrs Obama have their mother living with them and she said she would do the same for me, but I'd have to help her out with the children. I think that's a fair deal!

After that we just walked around. We stopped in the American Art Museum and then headed to our dinner. I was meeting up with Kinder - she was my camp mom during my First Descents trip in August and it was fun to see her again and introduce the family! We had a great meal, and then she kindly treated us to some frozen yogurt. I mention this because I've heard a few times "we should have frozen yogurt like we did in DC!" from some of the children in this house!

Vietnam Memorial

The next day we slept in a little bit - well, as much as you can when 5 people are sharing one hotel room anyway ;-) And then it was monuments day. We sort of passed the White House (but it was blocked), got close to the Washington Monument (which is still closed from the earthquake), WWII, Lincoln, Vietnam, Korean, DC's WWI, and Jefferson. In there, we admired the Cherry Blossoms and ate lunch at the street festival. There was a LOT of walking. I took a lot of pictures of all of this, and so want to break this part of the trip up into their own posts! So keep an eye out for that =)

After that, because we weren't done yet! We headed to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. This was on my son's must-see list because he LOVES the Night At the Museum movies, including Battle at the Smithsonian.

He loved the dinosaurs. He loved the rocks, gems, and minerals - so did my 11yo (who has always had a love for geology). We also made DNA necklaces, with our DNA. And he loved the bugs - which I wasn't so excited about LOL! However, he missed things that were in the movie thinking he would see them. Poor guy. Regardless, he had a great time!

Next, we headed to the American History Museum. My oldest discovered she is kind of interested in learning more about the Wars. I think especially how battles were lost or won. I love when my kids stumble upon something they want to know more about (so you better bet, we walked out of there with a book she picked on WWII).

Flag art for the Star Spangled Banner Exhibition

I especially loved the exhibition on the American Flag and the Star Spangled Banner. They had the actual flag that Francis Scott Key saw when he wrote (what was then) the poem that we now sing. It was gorgeous. I'd show you about a million pictures of it, except no pictures are allowed to be taken in that exhibit. But you have to trust me - if you can go see it, you must. {edited to add: the Smithsonian has pictures on-line if you want to look https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalmuseumofamericanhistory/sets/72157623910310943/}

They also talked about the woman, Mary Pickersgill, who made that flag. What an honor (and hard work) to have to sew, by hand, the American Flag! If I could travel back in time, I'd want to go back and meet her!

After that walked in a path to pass the Capitol Building. I made the family pose for a million more pictures, but the sun was setting, the moon was out. It was gorgeous and so I just had to do it! After that was dinner at the hotel and to bed to let our tired feet rest!

Mosaic at Library of Congress

Friday we squeezed in the last bit we could. We were again meeting up with cousin J - who is attending college in DC. I split up and went into the Capitol building. The lines were very long though and I didn't want to be away from everyone else for too long, so I wandered over to the Library of Congress.

Reading Room

And, let me tell you, I'm glad I did. I loved it there. I could have spent hours, exploring, looking around, so much stuff there. The building is gorgeous! The stained glass, the painting, the mosaics - so many gorgeous things to look at. I didn't get to go in the Reading Room, but I got to look down on it. In my next life, I think I want to work there. Or live there, if that's allowed.

Then I met up with everyone else at the Air and Space Museum. There are some amazing things in that museum! My 11 year was especially taken with the Amelia Earhart display. The 8 yo was into the space stuff. I think we all were ... it's pretty amazing to think about people being in space!

Afterwards, we headed to the botanical garden, where I took another million pictures. I love photographing flowers for real. I'm not sure the kids were thrilled to go to the garden, but it was between where we were and where we were going, so it's where we stopped (did you follow that?)

Train Selfie!

After that, it was time to head to the train station to head back home. It was sad to leave - and I could have stayed for several more days and still not seen everything. But, home is a good place to be too. And well, I missed my bed ;-)

It was fabulous being there. Next time I go, I want to see the monuments at night - I think that would be very inspiring (and fun to try to photograph!)

Eric and I <3 br="">

My husband certainly was amazing to pull this off for us. I mean, just amazing! I think we all came home feeling nice and relaxed. It was just what we needed!

Universal Studios

The family and the world!

So, almost 2 weeks ago, we hopped on a plane to go to Orlando, Florida.

Yes, the surprise trip my husband sprung on us less than 48 hours before we had to leave!

Now, we've been to Florida before. We've also done Disney, but we've never done Universal Studios before.

So we headed to the airport, excitement in the air! Also, maybe some anxiety. Okay, in my case a lot of anxiety. I don't like planes. I don't like flying. I'm not a good person to sit next to on a plane. Especially if the plane hits turbulence. Or makes a noise. Or starts to turn. Or goes up. Or goes down. Well, I think you get the picture.

The boy was so excited to be on the plane!

My younger two children weren't entirely sure what to make of it either. They have flown before, they were just so young they can't remember it. So for them, it was essentially like flying for the first time. Mister Man was way more excited than nervous. Miss M takes after me and was feeling more anxious (but also excited).

However, they flew like champs. They are both willing to get in a plane again - which is good! I also flew like a champ thanks to xanax (and if you ignore the couple of minutes during turbulence when I thought I might pass out from forgetting to breath).

Cabana Bay Beach Resort Lobby

We headed to our hotel: the Cabana Bay Beach Resort. It's a new hotel that looks old. No, it's themed to look like the 1950's and they did an incredible job with it! It was 50's without being over the top 50's. Lovely pool. Great food cafe area. We did have one hiccup - we got to our room and realized it was missing  bathroom door! But they were able to switch us very quickly (again, new hotel, so some kinks to work out)!

The upside to a new hotel is there were plugs everywhere. Tons of plugs. Also, a few USB outlets too - which is so nice. I would gladly stay in this hotel again in a heartbeat!

Then we were all tired so it was to bed so we could get up nice and early the next day because we would be able to get into Harry Potter world an hour early since we were staying on property.

Alright. Sunday morning. Headed to the park. Straight to Harry Potter.

Me with my butterbeer!

Have I mentioned I love Harry Potter? Since the second book was released? Before the movies? That I got most of the books at midnight releases and then stayed up all night to read them? And have been to more than one midnight showing of a movie.

Walking into Hogsmeade was AMAZING! I know it's not real. But they did such a good job with it. It felt just right! I was in heaven. Just in heaven! It was so fun to see. The whole family loved it! So we did some rides, and walking around. And I had butter beer! Yum! I'm sure I looked like a kid in a candy store!

Dinosaurs! Awesome!

After time there, we headed to the Jurassic Park area - which was a perfect area for Mister Man! He loved it! We spent some time looking at the dinosaurs and he did his first big kid ride!

The husband and the girls took this time to go on some bigger roller coasters - they had a blast! We had a lot more fun - that is blurring together in my mind LOL! But then some of us (myself) went to the hotel room to relax and check out the pool! Which was so great after the winter we've had, err, are still having!

Upside down Underwater Selfie!

Monday was much the same! Lots of fun, lots of walking, lots of rides. We encouraged everyone to pick the one thing they wanted to do because we saw that Tuesday was predicted to be rainy.

I also, bravely, went on the Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit Roller Coaster. It was intense. I'm too old for rides like that! But it was fun and I'm glad I tried it. Even if the husband had to sort of carry me off LOL!

On Dueling Dragons

Tuesday started clear, so we started out by going on a few rides! Then we had a nice treat: we ate breakfast at Three Broomsticks in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The food was good, but the atmosphere makes the breakfast. The whole thing was just magical (see what I did there? ;-))

We had time to do a bit more around the park, but the rain moved in.  Husband and I had a back-up plan though - there is a movie theater at City Walk. So we took the kids to see The Lego Movie. It was a cute movie and a good way to spend the rainy afternoon.

After that, it was time to head to the train station to begin the next part of trip to DC {I'll save those stories for another day}.

My things =)

All of this to say, our time in Orlando was fantabulous! I would go again in a heart-beat. Universal is such a great place to go. The hotel was great. I loved the areas of the park and there was stuff for the roller coaster riders and the not roller coasters riders. Universal definitely gets two thumbs up from all of us!