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!