Road Trip!

M and E have gotten to the point where they enjoy road trips and, more importantly, it's enjoyable to take them on trips. They are both good travelers, whether by car or plane, and they take things in stride, including a 5-hour delay in Chicago last Memorial Day weekend on the way home from Minneapolis. (We bought them McDonalds, a rare treat, so maybe that had something to do with it?)

This weekend we're heading to my hometown in PA for a visit with my parents, one of my brothers and his family, my aunt, and whoever else is around. And, of course, a trip to Knoebels, the best amusement park in the world.

Even though we're incredibly busy at the moment, we wanted to treat the kids after they've worked so hard in school this year and did such a wonderful job adjusting to public school...not to mention middle school! When we first told the kids we wanted to treat them since they've worked so hard, here's how the conversation went:

Them: How about Hawaii?
Us: Ummm...something closer.
Them: England?
Us: No.
Them: California?
Us: Even closer.
Them: Miami?
Us: No.
Them: Minneapolis?
Us: Somewhere we can drive, not fly.
Them: We could drive to Minneapolis. It would only take 3 or 4 days.
Us: Somewhere closer that we could do in a weekend. Maybe Douthat?
Them: Washington, D.C. 
M: we can go to the Air & Space Museum and the Spy Museum. 
E: we can shop. 

We did consider DC, but cost and the desire to see family won out. We've seen Todd's family recently and we wanted to try to see mine before R and S come home. We hope that by Christmas they will be acclimated enough to travel, but we just don't know. It's also an opportunity to make some memories with M and E before everyone's lives change.

So, tomorrow we're off. And, don't tell anyone, but our kids will not be in school on Memorial Day, which is a snow make-up day. I'm sure they won't be the only ones!