A beach mini break

We haven't taken a weekend away to simply hang out at the beach. We usually go to museums, zoos, or events when go on any type of vacation. Until this weekend, that is. The kids "uncle" Nik flew from Denver to Ft. Lauderdale for a conference and we were able to meet him there. We stayed in a hotel with beach access and three pools. It had a one bedroom suite with a jetted tub and a kitchen. The kids spent half the day at the beach and half in the pool. One of the pools had a tiki bar, perfect for celebration Cinco de Mayo!

Our room faced the river. It was a great view of many yachts and large boats in the water. The immediate area had gorgeous mansions overlooking the river or the ocean. Gabriel was fascinted by the dead creatures he found. He was positive that if he threw the puffer fish and cucumber back in the ocean, they would come back to life. I was thankful he thought of that because I was concerned we would come home with rotting fish. We had a few "autistic" moments as we call them. The kids had free snowcones in the afternoon. Later, Gabriel wanted another one and ran back to the hotel lobby. He screamed, "I want a snowcone." When no one paid attention to him and he didn't believe me, he yelled even louder. It was amusing to watch a front desk employee scramble for words. She then said, "I can't make a snowcone. But, here, have a maraca and Happy Cinco de Mayo." We still have the maraca. The boys jumped in the jetted tub in the bedroom. They were laughing and having a good time. We noticed all too late that they were laughing because the water was FLOWING onto the floor. It took quite a while and many towels to soak up the majority of the water. Thankfully we had a washer and dryer in our unit to dry the towels and reapply to the watery mess. Alexander swam the length of the pool several times. He was very proud of himself. Gabriel made friends with two girls and they played for a long time.

Lately, Lane and Gabriel have not been getting along. They annoy each other. I'm not worried that it's a long term issue. I think it happens to anyone you live with and siblings are no exception to that rule. After their fun day at the beach, it was really nice to see the two of them enjoy a movie together. All in all, it was a great weekend away for us. We need to have another simple weekend like this again.

Kansas City mini-vacation

Andrew had a meeting in Kansas City to attend. The boys were still on spring break so we joined him. It was quite an adventure.
We arrived on Monday, April 25th. We walked around the Power & Light district of downtown. Alex was amused by the talking elevator. The kids enjoyed the fountains and I was thrilled to try a beer sampler at the restaurant. I don't drink much beer any more so it was a real treat to have some on vacation.
On Tuesday, I took the kids to the Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead. It's a twelve acre farm. The kids LOVED it. They got to see many animals and played on the playgrounds. The best part is that it's free and the lunch that we purchased was affordable - quite a wonderful surprise at a children's attraction. We even went on a hay ride!
Unfortunately, things got very interesting when Lane got daring and went down a long tunnel slide. She landed on her neck and head. I have to admit that it was an awful thing to witness. She stopped sobbing and kept playing. As we were leaving, I noticed her head was bleeding. I asked the people at the farmstead if they had a first aid kit and the woman proceeded to freak me out about head injuries.
On the way back to the hotel, I called our insurance to get information about the ER and Urgent Care. They recommended that I take her to Urgent Care. Looking for UC in a new city is zero fun - thankfully Andrew was done with his meeting and was able to get directions and help me take the kids to UC. The dr thought she was fine and sent us on our way.
We then found Fritz's Railroad restaurant. The kids thought it was really neat to get our food delivered by a train!
The fun continued through the evening when Miss Lane vomited all over me three times. There aren't many more disgusting things than waking up to a child vomiting all over you. Then jumping in the shower and figuring out what to do with the dirty linens at 1 am is a real challenge. What an ending to a mini vacation!

Waterpark

Andrew attended a conference in Des Moines at the same times the boys had off school for parent-teacher conferences. We were able to stay at the Ramada Tropics. It has an indoor water park and the kids LOVE it. After Alex sunk to the bottom of the hot tub last time, I am a super freak about water safety. They all wore floaty suits which was my back up in case I lost track of someone for even a second.
We spent hours playing in the water park and created some fun family memories.
Friday morning, I took the kids to breakfast by myself. I don't enjoy taking all three of my children to a restaurant alone. I end up eating my food too fast while trying to keep them entertained and quiet. At one point, Alex talked about the pirate ship in the water park. Unfortunately, he can't pronounce ship correctly and screamed, "SHIT" as loud as he could... how embarrassing.