2008 Vacation

We decided last week to take a venture to visit some family. So we loaded up the suburban with three adults, four children, two very large dogs (both overweight and one half crippled), and enough luggage to live comfortably for months.

Our first oversight of the trip was that we accidentally began potty training our two year old a few days before the trip. I say "accidentally" because it really was unintentional. She was proud that she will be in preschool this coming year so I mentioned that preschoolers don't wear diapers. And that was all it took. She hasn't worn a diaper since, not even at night. So here we are on a four hour drive stopping at EVERY rest area along the way. And she won't use any potty but her special potty chair. So at each stop we unload the dogs and some luggage to make her very own private "potty retreat" in the back of the car.

I have to admit if it wasn't for her insistence on wanting to stop constantly we would have missed out on the rock chucks at one of the rest areas. There were at least twenty of them and they were overly friendly. The girls wanted to feed them so I set a "no hand feeding" rule into effect. After all they are rodents! That rule went out the window when the girls looked over and noticed grandma petting them. Thanks grandma! The rock chucks proved to be a little friendlier than I thought. They didn't bite anyone, thankfully, and when we left they began to chase us to the car. We loaded up and hurried before they took over the vehicle.

We arrived at my sister-in-law's beautiful house with plenty of time for a BBQ and visiting. She lives in an area I could only dream of living. There are mountains all around with a long winding driveway leading to the house. Just being there was a retreat in itself. Not to mention that between her and my mom-in-law we were fed quite well!

The next day we all went to our first attraction of the vacation, Enchanted Forest. This place was amazing! It was pretty inexpensive which is always a plus too. We toured Story Book Lane which had Hansel and Gretel's house, Alice in Wonderland's tunnel, a maze, the Three Bear's cabin, the Seven Dwarf's mine, Little Old Woman who lived in a shoe (was a huge slide), a wicked witch, Mary Had A Little Lamb, Humpty Dumpty, and many more I am forgetting.

Next we went through the Western Town where we ate pizza and watched a spectacular water show. The water lights up and dances to music. The kids had their picture taken with Abe Lincoln, were put into gunny sacks and guided down a large slide by the town's sheriff, and showed off their skills at the shooting range.

Then we sat down to take a break and watched an updated production of Cinderella. It was put on by local college students and they did a spectacular job. It was a comedy that was interactive with the audience.

The last thing we did were the rides. Hanna enjoyed the whimsical train ride the most. They had water boats, a mini ferris wheel, and a couple other small rides for very young children. The workers at the park were very friendly and even posed for photos with the kids. Grace liked the Ice Mountain bob sleds. I thought it was much too large of a ride for her but she loved it. Olivia's favorite was the water log ride where she got soaked both times.

All together we spent five hours at the park and we still didn't see it all. This was the highlight of our trip and we intend to go back again. I must say that it might not have been so pleasant if we had went during summer break for public schooled children. As it was we were one of only a handful of families there so there were no lines or anything to overwhelm us.

The third day we headed to OMSI, which is the largest science museum I have ever been to. We got the family package so we spent a couple of hours exploring all the hands on exhibits then we watched a laser show and finally a movie in the omnimax theatre.

The exhibits were on dinosaurs so the girls got to do a dinosaur dig looking for bones to put together. They watched robotic dinosaurs that were pretty life like (or what I assume they would have been like) and did plenty of hands on dinosaur learning. We explored some life science on the human body and some basic chemistry experiments that they had set up. I think the water rockets, electricity experiments, rubber band boats, and flying paper cups were the ones our family enjoyed the most.

The laser show was on Cosmic Collision. I don't agree with the theories behind this but it opened plenty of doors for us to discuss evolution vs. creation. I have to admit the lasers were quite exciting though.

The kids loved the Omnimax movie. It was about prehistoric dinosaurs of the sea. The theatre is quite impressive although it has the tendency to make you a little sick as you climb the heights to the stair stacked seats. I was a little paranoid about the girls falling but we all survived. Watching a movie on a rounded roof is nothing like any other movie experience I have had.

Overall OMSI was a good experience although I don't see us returning for many years, if ever. It is pretty in depth on the experiments and with that many children running around competing for the exhibits it was too stressful for us. Even the kids were overwhelmed with other children. I think it was good to take them there once, but once will be enough.

We spent the remainder of our vacation with family having wonderful bbq's and conversations. Now to start thinking of where we want to go next year. :o)