Home sweet home

Gosh, lots to catch up on since the last post...

Spent Saturday of our vacation at the Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown. We had heard that it was small, so only to plan on two or three hours max there, so naturally, our kids weren't ready to leave yet at 4:00 (we got there at 9:30 when they opened). I thought it was really nicely put together. Most of the stuff was over Darin's head, but there was enough open space for him to run around and a pre-school area that we kept him entertained, while the older two went through the exhibits more or less on their own. We had planned on doing something else in the afternoon, but since they were having so much fun, we just stayed there all day, and headed back to the hotel around dinnertime. I took the older two swimming at the hotel pool while Stacie laid Darin down for a quick nap. After swimming, we had Pizza Hut deliver for dinner, and then had a pretty easy night getting everyone settled.

Sunday morning we had planned a tour of the Indian Culture Museum near Allentown. Unfortunately, it didn't open until noon, so we weren't sure what to do to keep things moving on Sunday morning. We thought about doing mini-golf, but couldn't find anything open (Plus it was too darn hot), so we ended up swimming again. We had also found out that the museum was hosting a 'Pow-Wow' and 'Corn Cob Festival', starting at 10:30. We got there a little after 11, and the kids had a good time checking out all the handmade trinkets. Unfortunately, because of the Pow-Wow, the museum itself wasn't open, but there was a lot of living history type things set up, and a lot of Native Americans in regalia. It was really neat, but didn't really move fast enough to keep the kids interested, especially with the heat. We stuck around for lunch and to watch a couple of tribal dances, then loaded up to head to Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

We got to Phillipsburg just in time to catch the 2:00 train on the steam train operated by a local historical society. The ride was a little over an hour down the Delaware River. It was really neat, but very hot. The first part of the ride was narrated, and there were a bunch of volunteers staffing the cars who were eager to share their knowledge with the passengers. Stops from the train included a corn maze and a mine tour, but the kids were past their limit with the heat, so we opted just for the train ride. Headed back to the hotel and had leftover Pizza Hut for dinner and turned in early for our last night at the hotel.

Monday morning I took the kids for a last dip in the pool while Stacie got the bags packed and carried to the car. We hung out in the room a bit watching TV and getting the last of our things packed, and then checked out about 11. The first thing we did once we were on the road was get stuck in a huge traffic jam. It took us about an hour to go the first two miles, and after that, things went much smoother, but it threw our schedule off a bit. We ended up stopping at a Cracker Barrel for lunch because the kids hadn't eaten since breakfast. After that, we went to the Cabela's store in Hamburg. The kids were convinced that it was going to be really boring, but went in anyway and said afterwards that they thought it was neat. There was all kinds of mounted animals from small little birds, to actual elephants and hippos. There was a shooting gallery where Malin proved that she's a pretty good shot. There's also a pretty big aquarium there, which we somehow missed.

After Cabela's, we jumped back in the car for a short trip to Roadside America a little hole-in-the-wall place we had seen on the way to Allentown from home. Again, the kids were skeptical, but it turned out to be really interesting. It was a huge (over 300 buildings) miniature town hand carved by two brothers in the 50's and 60's. It just seemed to go on forever. It was difficult to see everything there was to see and keep all three kids together, but still worth the stop. We stayed for the 'night scene', then got back in the Burby, gassed up, and headed for home.

Ended our trip the same way we started it, with a meal from Sheetz. Pulled in the driveway about 5, got unpacked, and had the Holdermans and the Leisters over for a debrief before winding down ourselves.

This post is running long, so I'll start a new one with some pictures...