Over Spring Break we went on a mini vacation, some would just call it a road trip. I call it a vacation as we got away, stayed over night for 2 nights, and had no agenda. It was a much needed time away. I was nervous to go with still the restrictions of Covid. It turned out to be a great time with no issues.
We left early on Monday morning. The van was loaded and we were out the door by 6:20am to stop and get coffee, gas, and pick up Ella from her dads.
After getting Ella we stopped and got donuts at our favorite local donut shop. We didn't think this fully through as we don't normally let Audrianna eat in her carseat, besides goldfish or French fries. Brian also got her a chocolate frosted donut. just imagine the mess of chocolate everywhere. Thankfully I had an extra change of clothes packed and close by when we got to our destination.
It was only a 2 hour drive to our first stop. We told Ella we were going to Niagara Falls, it was an April Fools joke as she was mad no one played any jokes on her. On the drive the kids got to watch a movie.
We did not go to Niagara Falls. We went to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Anything that was inside was crowded. They tried to keep things organized, one way traffic, and spread out. It didn't always go as planned. Some people are rude and just don't care. The worst part was in the aquarium, especially by the baby manatee.
Audrianna was very well behaved. Most of the time she stayed in her stroller. Otherwise she was walking around and stayed right by us and held out hand.
Most of the animals were pretty active. The kids enjoyed seeing animals up close and moving around.
Austin's favorite part was riding the train.
Sometimes they are cute and want pictures together, but they are all never looking at the camera or smiling at the same time anymore.
We couldn't leave without taking a picture. I put my phone in the cupholder of the stroller, than use the camera with timer button on my watch. We ended up spending most of the day at the zoo. The weather was perfect.
We stayed at Springhill Suites in Dublin, Ohio. At that time the hotel had only been open for 8 weeks. Now that we are a family of 5, we have realized that we either need a suite that sleeps 5 or we need 2 rooms, even though we could put Audrianna in our bed and get away with 2 beds still. The hotel was gorgeous and we loved having the extra space. When you first walked in our room was the coffee bar, with a microwave and mini fridge underneath.
The couch folded out to a bed, which is where Ella slept by her choice. The desk area was great for organizing the kids "toys" and for Brian to do his work. Austin is watching tv, which swiveled to be able to watch on the bed also.
We had two double beds. Brian and Austin slept in one bed, and Audrianna and I slept in the other.
My favorite part was the huge closet. There was enough room for our luggage, and stroller. It worked out great for the kids to play in, and an extra area to change.
The bathroom was huge. One side had the bathroom, the the large vanity area, and the tub. It would have been nice it there was a separate door for the toilet.
The bathroom had a barn door. I didn't have to worry about fingers getting squished.
After the zoo and checking into the hotel we tried to get the kids to take a little nap. Especially Audrianna, but it didn't happen. The area we were in there was a lot of places within walking distance. To get to the downtown area we had to walk over this bridge. I am not a fan of bridges. This one actually didn't bother me because you didn't feel any movement.
In their downtown area we found a cute little Irish pub to eat at. It was family friendly and had space to leave Audrianna in the stroller. They had coloring pages and crayons to keep the kids occupied for a little bit. The food ended up being really good. After dinner on the walk back to the hotel Ella spotted this frog statue and had to get a picture. (incase you didn't know I love frogs)
Then Austin had to get his picture taken too.
We called it an early night. The kids picked a movie to watch on the TV, on Netflix. This was the view out of window, we were on the 6th floor.
We had a great day 1 of our mini vacation. Stay tuned in the next few weeks to hear more about our vacation.
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That's so great you could get away for a little vacation. Even though there is always a lot of work to take littles on a road trip, I'm sure it was worth it, even just for the meals made by someone else!! That's how I feel anyway.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like such a fun mini-break. I'd love to do something like this!
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