Much Needed....

That little vacation was just what my little family needed. We pulled into our hotel parking lot at 3:00, just in time to put our stuff in our room. We ended up with a really nice room for a really cheap price. Ethan's words were, "Wow! This is the fanciest room on the planet!" Not sure about that, but it was pretty nice.

After we unloaded we headed to the Science Center. The freeway we were supposed to take was scheduled to close next week, but signs were already up detouring traffic. Panic set in for a few minutes as I realized I was on my way to Chicago. We got turned around and eventually made it just fine. The kids hadn't been here for almost 2 years so it was just like experiencing it for the first time. We had to drag Landon away from the life-size dinosaur. He would have stayed there all day.

Some friends in the area called while we were at the Science Center and invited us to dinner. Yes! No Burger King for me that night. "A" made this delicious stuffed shell pasta and bread sticks. Yum. I had a good time chatting it up, and Landon had a great time playing with "little A's" toys. The older kids pretty much just wreaked havoc on their beautiful home. (Sorry about that. I hope you'll forgive us.)

After our visit we headed back to the hotel to catch some z's. Some of us caught more than others. I learned that Jackson thrashes A LOT in his sleep. The next morning the kids decided we needed to eat at IHOP for breakfast in honor of their missing father. They decided it's what he would've wanted if he were with us.

Next stop, the zoo. It has also been a long time since we've been to this particular zoo. Landon was 4 months old last time. We were all excited. It was pretty nice for being winter. We donned our coats, hats, and gloves and we were set. The highlight was watching the seals being fed lunch. We watched them for at least 20 minutes.

Landon's highlight happened to be the hand dryer in the women's bathroom. Strange. We ate lunch, and wandered around for a total of 3 1/2 hours. We were all ready to leave at this point. Only I had 1 more stop I needed to make. The Cheesecake Factory. Eating a meal at this glorious establishment was out due to my company. But, getting 2 pieces of Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple to go to eat later with Shawn was a must. As I pulled into the Mall parking lot the kids decided they needed to play on one last play structure before making the long trek home. After 1 hour I was spent. Both physically & money-wise. We headed for home. We pulled in at 8:15 pm. Shawn met me in the garage to drag half asleep bodies to their correct sleeping location, then we met in our bedroom to watch TV and eat our outrageously delicious treat:Perfect way to end a great mini-vacation.