Spring break has come and gone and here we are with snow on the ground in April. And more snow keeps sneaking into the forecast. I'm going to be escaping to Florida by myself here in a about 10 days for a work trip but the rest of the crew will need to deal with winter seclusion for a little bit longer.
We are recovering from the week off of school and from a road trip to Philadelphia. We wanted to visit Aunt Emily and torture ourselves with a trip to an indoor water park. Ok, maybe the kids don't view it as torture and at least this one served adult bevvies. Per usual, the car ride back lasted for 3 days but was only 6 hours long on the way down.
About the car ride - Luke had been talking about how he just couldn't wait to get in his seat in the back of the van with his movies playing and his headphones on. He really loves logistical details and I love that he enjoys to adventure and not just the destination. What time are we leaving, where are we stopping for lunch, have we built enough time in, what time will we get to Emily's, yada yada yada. The kid is a road warrior - at least on the way down. On the way back, he seems to be a lot more discontent. And I'm not even going to bring up that they (all the kids) don't know how lucky they are because I remember riding 5 hours backwards, in the back of a hot station wagon (with weak air conditioning!) on the way to Long Island in the dead of summer with nothing but word searches. Word searches.
Back to the water park...I found myself, on multiple occasions, talked into some ride with Adrienne where as I began my decent into the darkness, I cursed myself for yet again going on a ride "site unseen." I'm constantly amazed at how brave the kids are on some of these rides. Luke tried the "flow rider" which simulates surfing and wake boarding. He did surprisingly well on his first try but did get thrown backwards at about 60 mph at one point. It should have been a red flag that they make you sign a waiver saying you won't sue them before you can go on the ride. And Coco for her part, loved the water slides with the a nice foam landing strip at the bottom to continue the slide on.
Alas, I think I can wait another 5 years to visit an indoor water park. Our next mini adventure is a weekend trip to the homeland, Penn State University. We will be attending a mini reunion with Matt's teammates and all of their offspring. I believe a pizza party in a random hotel ballroom is in order. Not quite the wild weekends we are used to in State College but fun none the less. Stay tuned for the results of that trip.
