Project Life 2013 April 1-6 & April 7-13: Spring Break Trip to Missouri

Week of April 1-6

Our week of spring break we had hoped to go see Brad's Grandmother in Missouri like we did last year when we took LB down to meet her.  But she was hospitalized and went downward rather quickly back in February.  We knew she wasn't doing that well but didn't expect to hear she had passed so it was a shock.

It would've been very hard to get family down there right after she died.  We'd already experienced a winter trip down there and got stuck in a big snowstorm, that prevented many family members from making it at all after Great Grandpa passed away.  Plus ER is struggling in school with reading so we didn't think pulling her out was a good idea.  We're so glad Brad's Aunt Cheri opted to wait for a time that worked better for us, and she even decided to have the memorial right when Brad suggested.  That was very helpful.

We left on the Tuesday, driving down and stopping in Indianapolis.  Then we spent the night on the road and arrived in Missouri on Wednesday afternoon.  The rest of the day Brad helped at the house, Thursday was a full work day, Friday was the memorial and then we left for home on Saturday after one more stop at the cemetery.  We spent Saturday night on the road and then stopped in Indianapolis on the way home Sunday.  Whew!

I am already working on a Sn@p! book about all the various trips we've taken to Missouri and will put more details and pictures from on the road, like the giant stuffed Hello Kitty we saw on top of a mini van, in that.   I'm putting just some highlights into my PL spread.

We made a stop in Indianapolis on the way down and up to give the kids a break from the car for several hours.  On the way we visited the Indianapolis Children's Museum for the second time.  It was a good time because they had several new things for us to see.  The Geckos, Hot Wheels for Real, and Superheros were all short term exhibits and fun to tour.  We also saw some parts we hadn't been to before like ScienceWorks. If you are ever nearby and have kids I highly recommend a stop in, the permanent exhibits like the Dinosphere, Treasures of the Earth - which has a archeology theme, and Take Me There Egypt are all excellent and the changing ones make it a really worthwhile and well done attraction.

I fit most of our time in Missouri on this half.  I spent most of the time at the hotel keeping the kids occupied while Brad, his brother, Aunt and Uncle, and his mom Norma and Ray were all working their tails off at the house.  

I'm so glad I had my SIL Jody to keep my company.  It was also wonderful to get some time with our beautiful niece, who we don't get to see nearly enough!  We got to be there for the first time she's ever been in the pool, fun!  BTW my SIL has a fantastic figure but I also blurred her a bit in the pool.  I decided no one should have to deal with a bathing suit picture being posted if they aren't expecting it!

The big white spot is where I putting a picture of her playing in the tub but I thought a naked baby picture probably wasn't a good idea to share online - especially since it's not one of my babies.  I've blurred out her picture but trust me, she is precious!

The kids were absolutely great at the hotel, thank goodness!  LB enjoyed the mini fridge and figured out how to get it open right away.  He just loved the easy access to his milk!  I brought a ton of snacks and things for ER to do but she didn't even get through half of them.  She's very good at keeping herself occupied but it's a good thing we really only had one full day where we were there all.day.long.

 As busy as we were, we made time for two family dinners and there was also a nice memorial service on Friday for Great Grandma.  We saw where Brad's family plot is at the cemetery.  The picture on the bottom right of the three of them is by Brad's father's grave site and it was very emotional visiting Phil there.

Week of April 7-13

On Saturday we left to drive back home, spending the night on the road.  Sunday we were back in Indianapolis, this time stopping at the Indianapolis Zoo to break up our day.  I put the entire visit on the left side and the right is the rest of the week.

We went to the dolphin show, something we didn't have time for last time.  It's really fun and cute, plus it's short and sweet.  If you happen there, it's worth the time and tickets are free with your entrance fee.

The highlight of this zoo visit was that LB really noticed the animals for the first time.  We all definitely knew the second he spied the giraffe.  He couldn't take his eyes off of the it.  He was so cute as he's squat down and then pop up again to see it between the spaces in the fence.  After that, he was a lot more interested in the zoo and the animals in general, pointing very excitedly at each one. 

We also got to visit the nearby gardens, which are separate but still part of your ticket.  It was not the right season to see them in full bloom but in a few weeks from when we were there, I know they must be beautiful.  There was also a butterfly exhibit there so it was still worth the stop. 

The rest of the week was laid back as we recovered from our trip.  I pulled out the crayons and markers LB got from Grandma Norma for Easter and he explored making marks with them for the first time.  I trimmed the most colorful part of his "drawing" and put in my layout.

We had Daisies and I taught the girls how to decoupage as part of the activity.  ER also finally got a hair cut, she's been very anti-trim lately.  It looks super cute with the bangs cut in.  She had some random hairs growing down in front of her face so she just about had bangs by accident, this trip was to trim and shape them up a bit.

On Friday I went to Archiver's to scrap with my friend Jill for the last time before she moved to Boston.  The night didn't turn out the way we expected, when I arrived I was told the crop had been cancelled because less than five people had signed up.  They said they'd called us, but either me or my husband was home the whole time, caller ID didn't have a record of the calling, and neither did my cell phone.  Ditto for Jill. I had driven 45 minutes to get there and Jill had left work early to get there in time.

Instead of staying until 11 we had to leave at 9, although they did refund the crop fee.  They didn't seem to care that we were inconvenienced and told us to just reschedule, but we couldn't because Jill only had a few weekends left during which she need to finish work projects and pack.  Had we been told in a more timely manner that the night had been cancelled we could've come the following week, but I am convinced no one actually called us. 

It still really annoys me how that was handled.  I have been a very good customer and I usually spend quite a bit there when I crop so this was just an epic fail on their part, as far as I'm concerned, because they were certainly not very accommodating to me on snowy weekend when I called four hours before the crop to see if I could reschedule because I was afraid the roads were going to be too bad to safely get there.   Basically, I was told...too bad, so sad; if you don't show up you loose your crop fee and can't switch because it's too late of notice.  But even though our crop experience was cut short, Jill and I did have a fun night.  When we got kicked out at closing we headed over to Caraabba's and treated ourselves to a nice dinner.

Linking up to The Mom Creative.