R.T. '09: On the Road Again

It has been 3 loooooong days since my last post, because we have run from morning till night without a spare moment. We'll be home tonight so I'll be back on schedule.

Friday was Adlani's birthday and we spent the day at Water Country. It was overcast and it sprinkled a few times so the park wasn't very crowded, especially late in the afternoon. The lines for the rides were short or nonexistent, so Ben and the big kids rode to their hearts' content while I hung out at one of the kiddie pools with whoever was too short to ride. The big excitement of the day was the snake in the pool at the bottom of one of the kiddie rides, and the mother absolutely freaking out because her daughters were waiting to come down the slide on a tube into the snake pit. A team of about 10 lifeguards held the snake at bay until the snake wrangler arrived and captured the maneater.

Friday night's dinner was at the Mongolian Peking buffet, which was a giant buffet of Chinese, Japanese, and Thai food, plus Mongolian barbecue. There was something that everyone in the family would eat (including cheese pizza) and it was $11 for the adults and $7 for the kids (free for Norah). We still owe Adlani a birthday cake, but he opened his presents at the hotel right before bed.

Saturday we spent the whole day at Colonial Williamsburg. It's a really beautiful area and there's a lot to learn about history there. The volunteers are so knowledgeable and seek out visitors to share their knowledge with. There were games and activities for the kids scattered around, and plenty of doors for me to take photos of. By late afternoon the kids needed a nap so Ben took them back to the hotel and I toured a few more buildings including the Governors Palace. For our evening activity we went to Dairy Queen and mini-golf, which I do not recommend for kids in our family's age range. I will post video footage when I have a faster connection.

Sunday was a return trip to Water Country, which was selected by a family vote. We had originally planned to leave Saturday afternoon and arrive home on Sunday, but there was so much we hadn't seen yet we decided to stay another day. The weather was beautiful plus it was a weekend day, so Water Country was packed. We mostly hung around the pools (with another snake encounter) and by the time we changed, went through the drive-thru (again), and got on the road, it was after 5 p.m. Unfortunately, every other person who went away for the weekend was heading home at the same time. The traffic was bad and by 11:30 we made it as far as Elkton, Maryland and called it a night. We were so exhausted I literally walked into the room, laid down on the bed, and went to sleep.

We're heading home later this morning so we should be in the 'Ham by dinnertime. It has been a great trip but I think everyone's ready to go home. That's the way it should be.
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