We just got back this afternoon from a week and a half vacation to Maryland for my sister's wedding.
7/9 - Left town this morning as soon as we could get rolling. Had to hit the library (return books), the bank, get gas...but we left about 10:30 and made it to the Pittsburgh area by around dinnertime. We did miss a turn somewhere in Ohio that took us some 40 miles in the wrong direction (to Delaware!), a sign of things to come. We had booked a hotel on Hotwire.com that turned out to be the Radisson, for cheap (comparatively - $68). Took the kids to the pool for a couple hours to let them burn off some energy.
7/10 - Got back on the road by about 9:00 or so and headed off to Laura's. We made it there by fairly early afternoon. Mom and Dad and Auntie Irene were already there. Somehow, I wound up watching the kids by myself at Laura's for a few hours while everyone else went off shopping or something; then later we all met up again with Thomas' parents for dinner at Joe's Crab Shack.
7/11 - The rehearsal was today. I was asked to run the iPod for wedding music, which wasn't too hard. Sweaty, though. It was as hot and muggy as hot and muggy gets, and the bugs were out, but we all got through the rehearsal just fine and off to the dinner in Frederick. Except the traffic was heavy, and cars kept jumping in front of me while I was trying to follow someone to the restaurant. Soon we were lost. And going the wrong way. Second time this trip. Thank heaven fro cell phones; I don't know how people got through stuff like this before them. We were quite late, but dinner was really nice, the kids were all entertained and fed more or less seperately (lots of kids) and played together making crafts and such. Afterwards, Auntie Irene, Beth, the kids and I headed back to the hotel and got lost. Again. Well, not so much lost as several miles in the wrong direction before getting back.
7/12 - Wedding day. Beth and Mom and Auntie Irene and the other ladies all went to a day spa, while the men went to a water park sort of place. Dad and I took the kids with Thomas and his friends and brothers and their kids to a city park that has a really nice kids pool, with slides and fountains and everything. Missy was too short to go on the slides, but Alex could, so I helped him with that. We all didn't care much for the fast, steep slide that sprayed water in your face all the way down, but the slower, longer one was quite nice. Even Dad went down it. We were back with the kids by early afternoon, but things took longer at the spa and the ladies didn't get back until the last minute. We did mange to get everyone dressed and ready in time (kids bathed and everything). Missy was a beautiful flower girl, Alex looked very smart as a ring bearer. The wedding went off perfectly, except Beth forgot all the words to her song and we had to skip it until brunch. The reception afterwards was a very nice catered dinner by the Inn; including all the kids upstairs for their own party with pizza and games and movies. It kept them out of our hair for the most part, except for Alex coming downstairs every so often to ask if it was time for cake yet. Dancing afterwards, with the obligatory YMCA thrown in.
7/13 - Brunch in the morning at the Inn, followed by the great move-out by everyone staying at the Inn. Beth sang the song during brunch. We also packed up the kids stuff and helped move everything back to Laura and Thomas' condo. We all went to the mall, then a late lunch at Red Robin, and then we left the kids with Laura & Thomas and Mom & Dad & Auntie Irene back at the condo. Oh, sweet freedom. Beth and I went to see "Hancock" which we both liked (Beth more than me) and out for ice cream.
7/14 - We drove down to D.C. this morning to do some sightseeing. Did you know that if you approach D.C from the north along the GW Memorial Highway, you pass a sign for a CIA facility called the George Bush Center for Intelligence? Too funny. Beth and I just looked at each other and laughed. Anyway, we drove to Arlington and parked, then hopped a tour bus (one of those circling, hop-on/hop-off kinds) and rode across the river about as far as the White House. The tour guide had some great gouge for us: since it was around lunchtime she suggested we go to the lower level of the Reagan building where there is a great big food court with normal prices and safe food. Better than any other Smithsonian rip-off cafeterias and street-meat vendors fer sher. We spent the next few hours walking a lot, past the Washington Monument, WWII Memorial (I loved the Kilroy tucked away in a quiet corner!) , Declaration of Independence signers memorial, a great statue of Einstein in front of the Academy of Science, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial [everyone else was at the Washington Monument when we got here, and we swapped some phone pix messages], Korean War Memorial, and FDR Memorial, picking up 7 or 8 virtual geocaches along the way. By that time we needed to hop on the next (last) bus back to Arlington, then had just enough time to do a quick tour of the cemetery before heading out. We were trying to meet everyone else for dinner at a Friday's somewhere in the area, but went the wrong way/got lost/doubled back not less than 3 times between Arlington and there. Still not sure how we eventually made it. Glad we didn't have the kids cuz we swore a lot. We had dinner (we were quite late, but it was all good) and said goodbye to Auntie Irene and Mom and Dad (all going to England next day). I was afraid the kids would squawk at us leaving them again but they didn't at all.
7/15 - Beth and I were going to browse the shops in the old town section of Frederick but we were a little early. By 10 or 11 many/most of them hadn't opened, or were closed on Tuesdays, go figure. We didn't find much that really interested us anyway. Then it got just too hot and sticky for outside stuff, so we went to lunch at a sushi place and went to see another movie, "Get Smart," which was good but would have made a better rent. A seafood place we had seen and wanted to go to for dinner (The Cracked Claw) was also closed on Tuesday, we discovered. Not having much else in mind for today, we headed towards Laura's by fairly early afternoon. Nobody was home so we hung out at the McD's and read. Laura called to see how we were a bit later, and she and Thomas had the kids at the water park we'd been to a few days before, so Beth and I headed over there and we swam together for a while. We took them out to eat the the Greene Turtle later on, where they had hermit crab races which fascinated the kids. We stayed with them overnight.
7/16 - We packed up and hit the road for Columbus by late morning. Another really nice hotel (Crowne Plaza) via Hotwire for real cheap, but they gouge you on parking, come to find out. We got there by late afternoon, in time to get the kids into the pool before meeting Mikey for dinner. Afterwards Beth put the kids to bed while Mikey and I went out to see what there was to see of Columbus and stop in a bar for a drink. First time I've ever been in a bar quite like that one.
7/17 - Mikey got some comp tickets to the Columbus Zoo so we met up and headed there today. (Jack Hanna's zoo, you know.) The zoo is attached to a huge water theme park, which would have been nice to go to on this hoooot day but the kids were probably too small for it, from the looks of things. Anyway, we did the zoo (water floatie ride, train ride, merry-go-round, and oh yeah, some animals) most of the day. Mikey came over to the hotel and we all went to the pool to cool off the kids after a hot day out, then we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. Mikey also got me a 30-cent discount on gas at the Kroger station, woo hoo.
7/18 - Checked out and heading home by 10. No wrong turns or backtracks at all, wonder of wonders. Finally made it home by afternoon. It must not have rained much while we were gone, but the plants in the hanging baskets look great.