Ship Trip

The tradition that we started when Nate began school (going to Florida for Spring Break) was interrupted this year because we wanted to stay close to home...after all, we've only been in our new house for a month! So, we planned a few smaller trips in place of our usual big one.

First stop...Shipshewana's very own Splash Universe! In addition to our family of five, we had a special guest join us on our adventure...our niece, Maddie! Thank you for joining us, Maddie. We enjoyed your company and are so glad that we got to know you a little better :)

Just getting ready to go!

It's so hard to get a good picture of the whole group. Usually it's one of the kids who is making a goofy face or looking away. Not this time...it was me! Was I trying to be a beaver?

This is what Adri did most of the drive there!

Hello, there...LITTLE MATT!

No fear!!!

Gabe and Daddy on a big boy slide!

Gabe and Nate on the same 'big' slide.

Seriously, it was huge...for a 4 year old! He needed Matt, Nate or I to go down with him a few times, just to get used to it, but before long, he was headed down...ALONE! It's not always a good thing that my kids aren't afraid of anything!

Snack time!

Hours of fun followed by hours of sound sleep!!!

I'm not sure what the chicken was about...but every kid in there had to have a turn on it!

Gabe can always find the right time to stick his finger in his nose!

Maddie and Nate having a staring contest. Apparently, this is a 2nd grader thing because Nate always wants to do it. Thank you Maddie, for giving my eyes a rest this weekend!

I realized that I had been behind the camera the entire trip and took a picture of Adri and I when Matt took the kids on a bathroom run...I couldn't get Adri to look in the right direction...but I did get her to smile! And yes, I have on no makeup! I was on vacation and had been kind of busy the last two days...watching 4 kids (well, actually 5, if you count Matt)!

After two days of swimming, sliding, and lounging in the lazy river, it was time to head out. Leaving was easy because we bribed the kiddos with whatever they wanted for dinner and ice cream! Nate chose french toast, Maddie had the salad bar and Gabe ate an apple. Adrianna didn't eat anything...but she did throw ham, peas and shredded cheese all over the floor!

Confession: we went to the ice cream shop, first! Boy, was it yummy! Where else can 6 people get ice cream for $9?

After dinner, before heading home, we saw a marionette puppet show. It was so neat...even Adri sat still for the entire 45 minutes! When it was over, the puppeteer offered to let the kids get their pictures taken with their favorite puppets.

This one looked a little like Matt! It was my favorite!!!

This was Maddie's favorite...a soccer player!

This was Nate's favorite...the crazy old lady who did the Can Can!

This was our trip home...kind of peaceful!

Below is a list of some funny things that were said during our time away...YES, I wrote them down...I can't miss a memory!!!

* While discussing the food groups (just what every 2nd grader is interested in), Maddie and Nate asked Gabe, "What is your favorite food in the fruit group?" Gabe answered, "That's a tough one guys...probably spaghetti and meatballs!"

* Matt said softly to me on the drive there, "I think someone stinks. Is it Adri?" Just as he asked, Nate said to Gabe, "Do you smell those flowers?" I guess we figured out who was the culprit!

* Maddie spilled some Sprite in the car and said, "I'm sorry I spilled Sprite in your car." "That's okay. There have been worse things spilled in this van." She asked, "Like what? I bet no one has ever thrown up in here." "Actually, I think we've all thrown up in here," I answered. She finished, "I bet the Sprite is stickier!"

* Maddie asked me, "Hey Nate's Mom, what should I call you?" I answered, "You can call me Amanda." "How about Aunt Amanda? I like you that much!"

* Nate asked, "Why can we not pick our underwear out of our bottom but people everywhere pick their swimsuits out of their crack?

* We were talking about old TV shows and I said, "I pity the fool who messes with these jewels." It was a pretty good impression of Mr. T, if you ask me. Nate thought I said, "I poop in the pool and don't make it to the stool!" I laughed about that one...still am!

* Maddie informed us a dinner last night, "I'm having the salad bar," after she discovered that there was chicken noodle soup up there. "And some other stuff," she added. I soon discovered that the 'other stuff' was pudding, cake and more cake! "But I did eat a whole bowl of soup," she said. That's okay...we were on vacation!

* We've been thinking about getting some chickens so that we can have fresh eggs of our own so we spent some time yesterday driving around and looking at some Amish craftsmanship. Matt took plenty of pictures of chicken coops because he's under the impression that he's going to make his own instead of paying $1499 to buy one (yes, that's how much they were)! I have no doubt that he can build one...but the time it will take to build one is what I doubt!!! While discussing this and driving though a 'chicken coop lot (yes, they had them)', Gabe asked, "What are those for?" Before I could answer, Nate asked me, "Do they make them big enough for Gabe?"

We spent a relaxing day at home today. Adri stayed in her pj's all dall! Nate, Maddie and Gabe played all afternoon and watched a movie. It was nice to be back...I think the laundry missed me! We ended Maddie's time with us by making homemade ice cream. Maddie picked the ingredients...strawberries and bananas...YUM! If you haven't been able to tell, eating healthy on vacation isn't necessary! If you want ice cream before dinner, that's okay! Of course, every little thing is a reason to celebrate, and we were celebrating a great trip together!

For dinner tonight we made our own pizzas (I hid pureed carrots and zucchini in the sauce to make up for eating fast food and ice cream for the last 3 days. Maddie, I hope you got your veggies when you got home :)

Adri threw a fit when I took hers away to put in the oven...she didn't think I was going to let her eat it after all that work!

I LOVE my island! It's great for projects like this.

Tomorrow, we're off on adventure #2...the Creation Museum in Cincinnati, OH. I'm going to try to talk Matt into staying the night :) How will he believe me that it was an in prompt to idea when there are extra clothes and toothbrushes in the back of the van?