Spring Break '07

Well, Spring Breaks just aren't the same as they used to be. In high school, it was Gulf Shores, AL, in collage it was Panama City, FL., when we had one baby, it was Destin, FL. Now that we have 4----are you ready for this----Grand Rapids, MI. Yes, we took the ultimate trip to Grand Rapids, MI this year for spring break. Sunday morning, Dean and I decided that we needed to do something with the kids for spring break---even though none of them even know what a spring break is--I think it was more for mommy and daddy than anything. We got online and decided to go to the Ramada Inn on 28th st. They boasted on their website about their "indoor waterpark" . And, since our kids love playing in the tubby, why wouldn't they love an indoor waterpark? So after church, we quickly packed things up and took the 20 mile treck to GR. The kids seemed more excited to see the actual hotel room than anything else. We got to the room, changed into our swimsuits and headed to the ultimate waterpark. Realizing that the Ramada's website may need some updating, this waterpark consisted of ONE rather large twirly slide. And that was it!! That would be fine if all 4 of our kids were not scared of twirly slides (who knows??). We decided to just wade around in the water with them. I stuck one toe in the water and about turned into an ice cube. Tessa had purple lips within 5 minutes and the other 3 were all sitting on the lounge chairs wrapped up in towels within 10 minutes. There we were, all sitting on lounge chairs just staring at the pool. The kids kept asking to go back to the room, so why not!! We got to the room, and I realized that if I sat in this room all night, I was going to go crazy. We decided to head over to Woodland Mall to play on the play area. After we got there, within 5 minutes we had all 4 kids sitting around us just staring at the other kids playing. So, we packed things up AGAIN and headed back to the hotel. We sat around in the room for a bit and then ordered pizza for dinner. Around 7 we decided to all get in our jammies and order a movie to watch--hoping to get the kids sleepy and doze off. Well, Tessa had other ideas. She decided to annoy everyone of us and get in our faces as we watched the movie. Have you ever tried to put a one year old down for bed while there are 5 other people sitting around for her to look at? Not going to happen. She was becoming beyond sleepy and stumbling and falling all over the place. So, what else do you do? Dean decided to take her home. So, around 10pm Dean drives home so that Tessa will sleep and hoping that the rest of us will get a good nights sleep as well. I ended up having a horrible bed partner!! I never knew Josie talked, moved, and coughed all night in her sleep. I think I got maybe 1 hour of sleep. We woke up in the morning and decided to go to the pool before Dean met us back at the hotel with Tessa. The kids set one foot in the pool again, and the same ritual--uggg!! So, Dean came back, we partook in the free continential breakfast, which accompanied a fall off the chair by Tessa, a bowl of cereal with milk spilled all over and way too much food wasted. Packed things up and we were home by 9am. Welcome to Spring Break '07. We try to give our kids fun memories--we really do!!