Spring Break Shenanigans

Well, Spring Break 2009 arrived and we found ourselves sitting on our tushies with nothing to do. We'd talked about going to Orlando but in the end decided it was too expensive (and who wants to go to Disneyworld over Spring Break with 8 billion other people, anyway?). And of course, Mark's SU spring break did NOT align at the same time as our school district, so being gone for a week wouldn't have worked anyway.

And our whole family had been sick the previous week (throwing up stomach flu sick - ewwww, and the first time that Noah & Shelby had ever thrown up - yeehaw for first times!), except for Mark who escaped it all by going to Washington DC. Uh huh, how's that for timing. Whatever.

And we talked about going to Mystic, Connecticut, to see the dolphin exhibit that was on loan from Chicago, but that never materialized for some lazy reason (and because I didn't want to drive that far). So, on a boring normal morning, on a day we thought would be just any other ordinary day, we found ourselves 1 hour later packed up and heading to....ERIE PENNSYLVANIA!


And yes, you read that correctly. Erie, Pennsylvania. Not exactly the Spring Break capital of the world, but that was the whole point! Sneaky sneaky, we'd discover it before anyone else did. And yay, I LOVE last minute trips because they're always the BEST!

Actually, the real truth is, that we ended up in Erie because:

1) Connor's been begging to go to a "normal" hotel (i.e., NOT the Roxbury, which you've seen me post about before and is the most awesome hotel ever). Why Connor would want to go to a normal hotel after staying at the Roxbury is beyond me, and I'm honestly beginning to wonder if he was switched at birth or something.

2) Connor's been begging to go swimming. He loves to swim.

3) Connor has been wanting to go on a trip to Pennsylvania. I have no idea how that got into his head, but he simply wanted to go to Pennsylvania. He's been to the IKEA north of Philadelphia several times, which he loves (the playland, anyway), so maybe that explains his affinity for Pennsylvania. UURRGHGHH! Okay, if I have to type Pennsylvania one more time I'll get carpal tunnel syndrome. You all know what PA means, right?

4) I had Westin hotel points begging to be used, and I remembered a recent email about a new waterfront Sheraton opening in Erie.

Well! 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = Erie, PA!

After a long 5 hour drive (yes, we probably could have gone to Mystic CT in 5 hours, too, I realize that, thanks for mentioning it), we finally arrived. Oh, and Connor is officially at the age of asking "Are we there yet?" every 3 minutes. Fun times. Thank goodness for "Estelle's 80's Hard Rock Favorites" CD. There's nothing like a little Def Leppard to drown out screaming kids.

The room was clean and nice, and the view was great - here's the boys (with their swimsuits already on) admiring the view (that's Presque Isle on Lake Erie).


After convincing the boys that they really did NOT want to swim in Lake Erie (it was 39 degrees outside), we got them to the swimming pool. And oh, the fun that was had in a pool that overlooked the lake. It was PERFECT! (Hint: Click on this first photo to enlarge it because Noah looks so darn cute!)




This was Shelby's first time in the water (other than her bathtub, of course!) and she's a natural, just like her Mommy, I'm so proud! I love to swim, so it's fun having water babies like Shelby & Connor. Mark and Noah, not so much. Anyway, she floated happily for hours.


Spring Break pointer tip alert: NO ONE was here! We had the pool to ourselves for hours! Which came in very handy when both Shelby and Noah threw up (Shhh, don't tell the Sheraton management, and we cleaned up after ourselves). We didn't think it was the stomach bug coming back and that maybe they just injested too much chlorine, but I got sick AGAIN two days ago (how much does it suck to be me these past 2 weeks!!!), so who knows?!? Anyway, better the Sheraton pool than in our car, right?!? That's me, always looking on the bright side of things!

Mark forgot his swimming suit and was in his sweat shorts swimming, so it was good on that point, too, that we had the pool to ourselves (both that afternoon and evening and the next morning). Yeah, let's move on from that thought...cute Shelby!


Here's Shelby modeling her cutest-of-all-cute swimsuit:


After the swimming marathon, we ordered up room service, which the boys didn't think was nearly as fantastic & magical as I did (I love me some room service, now THAT'S a vacation!), and we all watched Bolt. Yippee, right. Well, the boys loved it, anyway, and that's what counts. And besides, I had my new InStyle magazine to read, so I was a happy camper.

We finished up our mini Spring Break by stopping at Buffalo's Cheesecake Factory for Easter lunch on our way home...okay, now THAT was a big disappointment. The food was just meh, and at the risk of bragging (who, me?), Mark has actually won cheesecake competitions, so we're discerning cheesecake eaters (actually, I don't like cheesecake very much, but I'm still very discerning. About lots of stuff. Just ask me.). So let's be honest - Outback Steakhouse makes better cheesecake than the Cheesecake Factory. But the boys loved the "fancy pants" restaurant and had fun anyway (of course they did, THEY didn't have to pay the bill!).

At the risk of sounding like a fuddy-dud, I was hoping the excitement of our trip would detract the boys from wanting to paint Easter eggs, but no such luck. So here's a couple of token pics of the boys and their amazing Easter egg creations:



And to celebrate the last day of Spring Break, today was "Special Cereal Day." In other words, "Give-em-sugar-cereal-and-watch-them-destroy-the-house-and-each-other-and-live-to-regret-it-every-da**-time-day." Fruit Loops for Noah and Crunch Berries for Connor. And lots of Tylenol for Mommy.

Happy Easter and Happy Spring Break to all!

Noah's 4th Birthday!....BUST (aka "A Parable Learned")

April 6 was Noah's 4th birthday! Yay and woohoo, right? I was soooo excited for this day. Let's see the progression from okay, then bad....and streaking on to worse (those of you who read my blog entry about Shelby's birthday in January are going to start wondering about my birthday planning skills - still want me to plan your 30th, Amy?!?).

Firs thing on Noah's 4th birthday, Noah makes an astonishing and very dismaying discovery (to him)...he has freckles!!! In the morning, he looks in my makeup mirror (up close and with full sunlight), and shrieks, "MOMMY! I HAVE POLKA DOTS ON MY FACE!!!!!" I nearly stab myself in the eye with my mascara, his shriek was so loud. And then my mascara was running anyway because I'm laughing so hard.

Click to see Noah's polka dots up close

On to the birthday party - once again, we didn't manage our time well enough to make the car cake that Noah wanted. So, the day before his birthday, we take him to Wegmans and let him choose his birthday cake. He chooses an orange-frosting-ed heart Easter cake. It goes smashingly with the grown-up racecar-themed tablecloth, plates, napkins, etc., that I'd already purchased (2 months earlier, believe it or not!). Oh well. HOWEVER, Connor wakes up sick and throwing up the previous night (as did I), so that was a damper on the party. But at least, at this point, Noah is happy! He likes all of his small presents and is excited at the thought of "The Big One" coming later in the day.

Happy times that won't be here again...

Our next plan is for our family to go see the new kids' movie, Monsters Vs. Aliens. But with Connor being sick, half of us have to stay home. Unfortunately, Noah chooses lucky Mommy to take him to the movie. Bad Mommy Confession Time: I HATE kids movies.

So, we go to the theater, plunk down $22 for the 3-D experience of Monsters Vs. Aliens (which Noah assured me he wanted), and another $20 or so for snacks. I manage to carry everything (Noah cannot assist me because he has his hands full with his new 5-inch triceratops friend that was a birthday gift from Connor, "Topsy") and we get situated. Because we don't see many movies (3 kids, remember?), darnit if I'm not going all out and getting popcorn, a HUGE Diet Coke, and Raisinettes for me. Plus my handbag, Noah's coat, my coat, and Noah's movie happy meal. So yeah, I'm carrying a LOT. We DO have time to take a cute picture of us wearing our groovy 3-D glasses.

Yes, we make 3-D look gooood

HOWEVER, Noah then decides he hates the glasses and refuses to wear them. I know that 3-D movies are blurry if you don't wear the glasses, but DARNIT, I am NOT moving all of us and our junk food and general crap into another movie theatre. Or if I have to, I'm making Noah see Fast & Furious (in retrospect, I should have done EXACTLY this - fast, noisy cars for Noah and yummy Vin Diesel for me, and this whoooole day would have been so much better). Anyway, I make Noah stay. And I have to pick up !@$%!$@ Topsy from the gross movie theatre floor at least a half dozen times, groping around in the dark.

Twenty minutes into the movie Noah starts standing up and complaining (loudly) that he wants to leave. I finally put down my popcorn & Diet Coke and hold Noah on my lap, hoping that he'll let me put the glasses on him and he'll enjoy the movie more. We make it another 20 minutes (Noah still sans glasses, however) before he starts yelping about leaving again. I give up, take 10 minutes to get UN-situated (though I am keeping my mostly uneaten popcorn and 75% remaining Diet Coke, even though I have to cart them throughout the whole mall with me). At least Noah has fun riding the Carousel!


Upon arriving home, we've saved Noah's BIG present for last. I've wanted to get the boys a big driving car for years now, and I finally talked Mark into getting one for Noah. He's obsessed with anything on wheels, and every time we go to Toys R Us the boys love to sit and play in every single car (even the Barbie ones). And usually we get nice, expensive gifts for Connor, and cheap out a little bit for Noah because he's so easily satisfied. But this year, I was determined to go all out for Noah. We even had to borrow the Lentz' Suburban and trailer to go pick it up (I ADORE my 40th birthday BMW X5 and it drives like a dream, but honestly, it's the most useless SUV ever invented).

So, I hide in the garage and Mark leads Noah out to the garage to lay eyes on the HUGE-BIGGER-THAN-YOU-PRESENT that we've been teasing Noah about all day. I'm hiding because I want to get that photo when he first sees it, that magical moment when he realizes he has the most FABULOUS gift in all of Ritchie family history! Here's how that turned out:

I know, right!??!?!?

He stares at it, then moves as far away as he can from it (again holding Topsy the Triceratops). He cries, "I don't like that car! I want this car!" and goes to stand by our SUV.

The standoff begins

In the interest of preserving these treasured family memories, I make Mark force Noah to sit in the car because I'm sure he'll love it once he sits in it. Well, he SCREAMS at the top of his lungs the entire time, clutching Topsy for dear life. We then put Connor in the driver's seat to drive Noah around. As Connor drives around the front yard, Noah screams even louder. I'm sure the neighbors thought we were torturing him. Noah shrieks, "It's too fast! My dinosaur is scared! WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Why did all 3 of my kid birthdays this year end up with them crying!??!

Another gift Noah actually did like was his new Peter Pirate Pop Up jack-in-the-box toy. So does Shelby. So does Connor. After the cute photo below, all 3 of them fought over it all day long.

The obnoxious Peter Pirate Pop Up
(Hint: Start humming the tune to Pop Goes the Weasel.
Ha ha! Now it'll be stuck in your head, too! I shouldn't have to suffer alone, should I?

We aren't going out to our family dinner at Bonefish Grill (Noah's choice, despite Connor's best lobbying for Chuck E Cheese), as per our original plans, because Connor was still feeling kinda crummy. So we decide to do takeout from Olive Garden and I insist we all go together to get the food, even though Olive Garden is a 20 minute drive away from us. I love family together time, especially in a car! *snort* Especially when Noah brings his Peter Pirate Pop Up and we have to listen to that wind-up-toy music the whole way there, and on the way home listen to the fighting over it and the eventual THUNK as it is thrown and hits the floor, and the subsequent screaming about why we won't pick it up. Why did I insist on family together time when I could have escaped the kids and driven to Olive Garden myself (the long way), listening and singing to Mamma Mia the whole way there, you ask? I don't @!@# know!!!

So, yeah, with us over $400 poorer, Noah is now officially 4 years old. I suppose $3 of that wasn't wasted as it went toward paying for Topsy the Triceratops. And Connor's thrilled beyond words that he has a new magnificent driving car and it's not even close to his birthday or to Christmas (though he had a fit this morning because I wouldn't let him drive it to his bus stop). And we DID get our money's worth from the movie popcorn, 'cause I'm eating it right now as I'm typing - I knew it would be a long blog post and I would need major sustenance.

And friends, when I'm planning Noah's birthday next year, I need you to remind me of what I stated earlier - Noah is easily satisfied, and please tell me, "Estelle, remember the Parable of the $3 Topsy the Triceratops and the $342 Big Scary Green Car."

(Oh, and sorry about the Pop the Weasel tune. If you still have it in your head, just tune in now to Jamie's blog because she always has great music queued up!) *All the single ladies...de da da...yeah!*