We had a great Labor Day Weekend! Saturday I took the kids to Mama's house to play and swim while Daddy watched the WVU Football Game. Ona has been pretty cooperative recently with letting me lay her down while I eat, about the time I'm done eating she gets fussy. That evening she was not willing to let me go. Which worked out well because the chandelier in the kitchen fell on the table right on my spot, with no warning. Nobody was hurt and Uncle David and Pappy cleaned up the whole room moving everything to make sure all broken glass was removed.
Sunday we loaded up the kids and headed out to Old Man's Cave. When we got there the parking lot was super overloaded people were parking in the grass and across the street. The idea of hiking with those crowds with 4 kids was not pleasant so we drove on by. The nature preserve also had an overflowing parking lot. At this point we just wanted to find a place to picnic. When we got to the Rock House there was room in the parking lot we even got a spot in the shade, woo hoo. We had a lovely picnic then loaded Ona in our Lillebaby all seasons and started the hike.
Not too far into the kike at the Rock House there is a fork in the trail. We always forget which side we want to go on. For the sanity of parents of all children not afraid to go near the edge of the cliff GO LEFT. Left is a nice hike through the forest on a hill but no cliffs or falls until you get to the actual Rock House.
Andrew is in the process of quitting smoking and was losing his mind on the cliff portion of our hike. Obviously we went right, so remember with kids GO LEFT. It was pretty nice for me to experience being the more laid back not stressed out parent this time. Usually he is so much looser and letting them walk off on their own a little more than I am comfortable with. This trip he was holding hands for the whole way down and most of the time in or near the Rock House. Although I really enjoyed being the more laid back parent this trip I did feel sorry for Andrew feeling stressed and not being used to being the more helicoptery parent.
After the hiking we stopped at Lake Logan and let the kids swim some and have a little ice cream. While the kids were swimming and playing Andrew and I sat at a picnic table and relaxed a bit in the shade with Ona. They were a little dirty on top of being wet when done so we put everybody in dry underwear and back in their car seats. Then we got on our way and started talking about what to do next.
Andrew is also usually more spontaneous and fly by the seat of his pants and I am hesitant, double thinking, and double checking everything. We were looking for a hotel and one of those deals came up. You know the kind, where they can't tell you what hotel it is until after you book it. Anyway it was 3.5 stars, similar to the Hyatt or Hilton for $54 plus fees, about $70 all in. This time he was hesitant and not sure, we didn't know what neighborhood in Columbus it was in etc. I said if it is similar to the Hilton it shouldn't be a bad neighborhood, let's take it.
So we did and we will do that again it turned out great. Our hotel had an indoor pool, and an outdoor pool, room service was available and we talked about it but the kids needed to burn off a little extra energy. How they had extra energy after our day I don't know. They weren't really following the rules so we didn't feel we could reward their behavior by taking them swimming. We decided to take a walk to get dinner and look for a place to buy diapers since I hadn't brought enough of Ona's.
The walk went well we had Chipotle for dinner but didn't find a store. Thankfully our hotel had a little shop that had diapers. They were a little more expensive than buying from a regular store but so worth not having to get in my car and find a store. The room had a t.v. in the bedroom and the sitting room so the kids could watch their show and we could watch ours while eating our dinner. We also had a pull out sofa which worked out well because our kids, most kids probably, take up a lot of space in bed. Andrew slept on the sofa bed with the big girls while Ona and Drew slept with me. As usual Ava ended up coming to sleep with me in the middle of the night, but in a king size bed there was plenty of room.
Monday morning we went for a swim and set out for COSI. We love COSI it is fun, entertaining and educational. Much of what they have are exhibits where the kids are learning without even knowing it! Much of it is interactive, they also have demonstrations and of course COSI on Wheels. COSI on Wheels came to our library earlier this year and the kids loved it. They taught about the human body and how it is like a machine. We have the family membership, it makes a great day trip for us and is good year round.
At this age the kids always want to end the day at the play area upstairs. This works for us because it wears them down a little at the end of the day while we get a bit of rest before we leave. You check into the play area with how many adults and how many children are in your party and have to give them your slip upon leaving, through the locked door, to make sure the kids don't escape without you. This place seems to have everything, a farm, market, house, climbing wall, water table, painting area, light table with clear colored blocks, an ambulance with doctor accessories, safety zone, and of course dolls.
Oh and don't forget the nursing room if you would like to use it with two comfy chairs with stools. I also found out on this trip they keep extra diapers, wipes and pull-ups on hand if you happen to need one. We did need one. not because anyone had used their pull-up but because Drew decided to strip down. I think he wanted to use the potty and didn't see me so he tried it himself. When I got to him he had his bottoms off, was refusing to put them back on, and would not go with the COSI workers to find me. Even though I think he just wanted to use the potty I figured when he was at the point he didn't want to wear clothes it was time to go.
You would think after a busy fun weekend the kids would be tired enough to sleep in the van on the ride home. They usually do sleep on the ride home. Not this trip. No of course not this trip. This trip they decided it was a good time to fight and argue and scream. After about an hour I was losing my mind. We stopped filled up the gas tank, and ran through a drive through for a giant ice water and a coffee. I was hoping that the short break and the ibuprofen I took would help the kids, and my headache. No such luck.
We have Diono car seats that fit three across the back row of our van. That no longer matters. We stoped again and I moved Drew's seat to the second row. We now have Drew and Ona in the second row, Mia and Ava in the third row with a seat between them. After the switch we all managed to live through the rest of the trip, that was a little miraculous.
Tuesday we woke up. That was a feat in itself. Andrew said he was more tired than he usually is on Friday after working all week. So this weekend we sleep! The good news is the kids are still pretty worn out too so we should actually get some extra sleep.
So with out going to in detail in the last three days I have been peed on 4 times pooped on twice and vomited on once. One of those pees was in my bed so it resulted in quite a bit of laundry too. Two were because Drew is potty training once missed the potty and once used the potty in the car and dumped it on the ground before I could stop him so it got all over the back of my leg.
I just carried him straight to the shower and hosed off our clothes before trying to get them off, it was pretty bad. But he followed it with a bubble bath with rubber duckies and is happy and playing now. Ona has decided to nap for a while today so I was able to write most of this with little interruption.
In conclusion #Momlife - traveling with kids never works out how you think, don't try to do summer activities on Labor Day weekend because everybody else is too, COSI is awesome get the membership, my husband is quitting smoking nuff said there, finally two paragraphs up because I don't want to repeat that.
Now how about some Giveaways I've found
Say Goodbye to Summer giveaway Hop - After entering on this page scroll down and enter on the other listed pages.
Time for School Giveaway Hop - Again there are more givaway participants listed below this giveaway widget. You do not have to enter them all you can just enter the ones offering something of interest to you.
Grandparents Day flowers - This company makes great teething jewelry and does lots of fun giveaways
4Moms Road Trip Sweepstakes - You could win a 2016 Honda Pilot, and a full suite of 4Moms gear. Also 5 winners will receive a self-installing car seat and Maxi stroller
*Full suite of 4moms products includes: self-installing car seat, moxi stroller, high chair, mamaRoo, rockaRoo, bounceRoo, breeze playard, infant tub and a spout cover.
The Baby Guy and Oliver + Kit - I love Jamie and his sister Jen you should follow them for all things baby. This giveaway is a bundle of gnome print bibs, lovies, swaddle duo and a blanket.
$50 gift certificate for Decal Guru
$100 Mealtime Box giftcard giveaway
I have not received any compensation for any product or service that I mentioned or linked to in this blog I just enjoy sharing things I like.
