Our Road Trip Adventure

We just returned from a 10 day road trip with the kids.  Honestly, we expected the worst and they surprised us.  The 11 hour trip to Philly went well, a few stops, lots of snacks, and tons of Dora DVD's and they were happy. 

Philadelphia was a great city for kids.  I was able to meet up with my friend Kristin and the kids had a ball at the Please Touch Museum and we got a workout chasing the little ones.  Thankfully her husband came along to watch the big kids Braeden and Kourtney. That night Ed was able to get out of his conference for a few hours to do a duck tour of the city with all of us.  It was a crazy little tour, it toured the town on wheels, then took a dive into the Delaware River.  Braeden was a bit nervous, but loved it.

The following day I took the kids to the Aquarium, it was a nice place to go (keeping the little ones on lockdown in the stroller)...I was outnumbered and knew better.  They were very happy and loved the hippos, birds, and fishies.  Braeden loved the hippos, they were so close!

The next day we headed to my friend Kristin's house for a few days.  The kids had a blast, so many toys to play with...like Toysrus.  Braeden had fun playing with Kourt.  When the kids were sleeping Kristin and I snuck off (monitors in hand) to the jacuzzi and relaxed a bit.  So much fun, we were all sad to leave our friends...even Brenna was saying "bye bye Istin" for about 5 minutes after we left.

Back in Philly, Ed was almost done with his conference and headed up to the Franklin Institute and Museum of Arts and Sciences which were two great museums for older kids (about 5 yrs and up).  The little ones still had a bit of fun too.  We came back to discover a parking ticket....we missed the time on the meter less than 5 minutes...there were 3 parking people just sitting there waiting.  The ironic thing was what made us late was Braeden lost his museum map in the wind, and he said he didn't want it anyway.  We told him we couldn't litter, so we sat through a few lights at the intersection while Ed retrieved our litter.  The ticket...well no brotherly love was felt there. Our only negative experience in Philly.

On to NYC, new hotel, lots of luggage....that is the worst thing about this was all the gear and not knowing where things were.  Anyway, we did a double decker bus tour with mean bus lady. (long story!)

We headed up to FAO Schwartz and the kids looked at all the cool stuff and danced on the big piano.  I think this must have been Liam's favorite vacation experience.  Then back in for the night. The following morning we took the bus tour down to the pier and took a Waterfront Cruise which the kids loved, we were able to see the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, and NY Skyline which were nice.  The kids danced on the dance floor until they lost their balance.

Took the bus up to Central Park and spent the afternoon there.  Brenna LOVED it, all the dogs, ducks, and birds...she was just sooo excited!!! This girl LOVES animals.
Next we were off to TRU Time Square.  We rode the ferris wheel and headed back to the hotel for a bit...did baths and pjs on the little ones and strolled through Time Square at nightime and Brenna fell asleep on the way back.

We headed home through Canada...much nicer drive, we stayed the night halfway in Niagara.  After the little ones were sleeping, Braeden and I headed down to see the falls at night, Braeden loved the rainbow lights that were there as we left....and finally my camera battery ran dead.

The next morning we headed on home.  The trip was a lot of fun, a bit of work.  Naps and bedtime were bad, they are used to going to bed on their own in their own bed.  They learned how to escape the pack and plays. It was nice to get home....one unexpected surprise though...the first night home Brenna came running out of her room.  She escaped the crib.  We planned to convert next weekend, but last night she climbed from her crib to the diaper table and got stuck.  So we may be starting the conversion tonight...wish us luck!