Travel Log

Alright, many of you asked for more details on our Spring Break trip (and by "many of you", I mean my mom). So here is an excerpt from my letter to my brother who is on a mission. Fun stuff.


Last week, we went on our Spring Break trip. We had such a good time. We flew into Indianapolis and went to the Children’s Museum there. Do you remember that place? It is so awesome! The kids had a blast.

It was very interesting to watch Sawyer and Macey like and do all of the things that Skyler and Shaylin were doing the last time that we were there. Sawyer loved all of the water tables, the slides and anything with wheels. Macey loved walking around the tiny, padded obstacle courses and filling and emptying every container.

It was a little sad for me to see Skyler and Shaylin interested in completely different things now. They seemed so grown up. Skyler loved the new robot exhibit. He walked around slowly doing every experiment and reading every sign and explanation. He kept saying things like, “I have always wondered how this worked!” and “Do you think I could build that for my room?” He was enthralled.

Shaylin wanted to stop at every creative station and color, paint and sculpt. She got lost in her projects for hours – while her brothers were saying, “Come on, Shaylin! Let’s go!”

Afterwards, we went and showed the kids our old house. Do you remember that cute, little blue house? It looked very loved and well cared for. That made me happy. The new owners still had our plants and flowers growing and our swing set up. They have put new tan siding and a new roof on the house. Skyler was VERY upset that it wasn’t blue anymore.

We drove around Indy and showed the kids some other highlights – Jason’s dental school, Skyler’s preschool, their old park and the Indy 500 racetrack. They were much more interested in everything than I thought they would be. They kept asking for more detail and stories. Poor Sawyer just kept saying, “I know. I know. I was still up in heaven.”

The next day, we drove to St. Louis. That was always our favorite weekend get away spot. We went up the arch and touched the Mississippi River. Both of those activities fascinated the kids. They especially enjoyed watching me turn green as we got higher and higher in the arch. I am really scared of heights, and the kids think that it is hilarious. Jerks.

We spent the next day in St. Louis at a children’s museum called the Magic House. It is built in a huge, old mansion. The kids loved it. Their favorite parts were the twisty slide that goes from the fourth floor down to the first, the giant electric ball that makes your hair stand up when you touch it, and the big fishing pond with magnetic fish and fishing poles.

The next day, we went to the City Museum. That one is our favorite. It is built in a massive old warehouse, and everything in it looks like it is built out of junk. It’s amazing. It's FULL of slides, tunnels, “skateless skate parks”, and contraptions to climb. Jason enjoyed the hundreds of secret tunnels just as much as the kids did. It was very fun to watch the kids run themselves into exhaustion with giant grins on their faces the whole time.

We spent the last day at the Science Museum. Macey and Sawyer loved the little kids area there. It is like walking into a Toys R Us, except all of the boxes are open and you can play with all of the toys. Skyler and Jason had a good time building a lego robot and competing against other kid’s robots. (Skyler was disgusted that he took 2nd place behind a girl.) Shaylin liked sending email messages to other kids in the museum.

We had a great trip. I think that what I like most about those children’s museums (as opposed to Disneyland or something) is that after the kids have initially run around and checked everything out, there are so many quiet moments when they settle down in an area and begin to truly discover. You can actually watch them learning something new that completely delights them. It is magical.

This week, we are home. We have been trying to get back into the swing of things. Yuck. I have been drowning in laundry, phone calls and errands to run. Jason has been swamped at work. He reminds me of Dad when we used to go on vacations. He keeps talking about how fun it was and asking when we can get away again.

Shaylin is thrilled to be back in school with her friends and her teacher that “she just missed soooo much”! Skyler is counting down (literally) the days of school left before summer break. Sawyer keeps asking if we can go back to the “slide museum”. Only Macey seems happy to be home. She keeps walking around her room, picking up her toys and hugging them. I think that she missed home.