Vacation

We're back from "down South"! Took a nice week's vacation to French Lick, IN and had a pretty good time. I was a bit shocked to discover that Southern Indiana is the start of southern accents and sweet tea. French Lick is pretty far off the beaten path and not close to any "city" life so we all had a bit of a culture shock as well. On the way down we had the opportunity to stop in Coldwater to see my mom and Mike and drop Hunter off. Next stop was Carmel where we were able to spend some time with dad and Jan before heading off on the final leg of our journey. It was about 2.5 hours between each stop which was perfect timing for crabby babies in the car. Both kids did very well though and were able to nap some of the time. I'm also thankful for the portable DVD player which at least kept Katie occupied for a bit both ways.

Our condo was nice but hadn't been updated since about 1982. It had a HUGE jacuzzi tub which Katie called a pool and also a sauna in the main bathroom. It was a very nice place but I was a bit upset that the kids had to be watched so closely on the loft. The spaces between the slats on the railing were large enough for Nathan to get his whole body through so we ended up having to block off the steps. Other than the wasps nest in the chair on the deck, the unsafe loft conditions and the slippery tub, it was a great place. I guess not everyone thinks of child proofing unless you have toddlers.




We spent a lot of time just lounging around, which was nice. We were able to go to a place called Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN, which was fun. I think the kids are still a bit young to enjoy that type of place and they certainly made it hard for the adults to enjoy it. I was able to ride roller coasters with the teenagers while Matt watched the little ones. Katie and Nathan rode their very first amusement park ride while we were there. I was a bit scared that Katie would melt down but she absolutely loved the carousel and the little boats. We had to actually pry them away from the rides kicking and screaming. I'm sure if Nathan was able he would have ridden the larger rides too, our little dare devil! After riding rides we headed to the water park area of the park and let the kids swim a bit. There was a little kiddie area sectioned off from the large wave pool and both babies were able to cool off for a bit.






On Thursday we rented a double decker pontoon boat with a slide and everyone had a blast. Matt and I thought we may have to pack it up early with the little ones but it turns out we could have stayed out longer. It was so much fun and Katie even took a turn tubing! Another surprise for me since I figured she'd get scared once the boat sped up.






We ended up leaving on Friday and did the drive all the way home in basically one shot. One short stop in Carmel at a mall and one short stop in Coldwater and that was it. We left French Lick around 2 and got home after midnight. It was a LOOOONG day! We were glad to have the weekend at home catching up on laundry, shopping and cleaning and i'm dreading going back to work tomorrow. Love the job, hate month end.