Back From Vacation

We got back from a brief vacation in Erie Pa on Wednesday evening.

It was wonderful, if not totally restful for mommy and daddy, time.

The children had a blast.

We arrived on Sunday evening and spent the evening in the hotel pool and then had a yummy, kid-friendly, meal at the Steak-n-Shake. This is a great fast-food alternative for vegetarians because you can get real grilled cheese sandwiches there. Daddy and Ella where thrilled.

On Monday, we spent the afternoon at the beach in Presque Isle.

The water was a little rough, so the kids only went in up to their knees, but had a blast building sand castles (or in Liam's case destroying them) and feeding the sea gulls. Liam did venture into the water with Mommy and loved bobbing on the waves. The water was too cold for Daddy, so he handled beach and concession stand duty.

Our plan for Tuesday was to spend the morning and early afternoon at Water World water park and the evening at Waldameer Amusement Park which is right next door, but when we got up that morning the local news stated that the temp was only supposed to reach 76. We decided that might be too cold for the water park and switch the morning activity to a trip to the Erie Zoo. Unfortunately the weather in Erie changes so fast that by 10:30, the temp at the Zoo had reached 86 and was 90% humidity. The animals in the park were not at their best in the heat, but we still had a wonderful time.

The are from the Outback and still wouldn't move in the heat!

Once again, the Orangutans where as taken with Ella as she was with them. The Erie Zoo has a family of three, Daddy - Joe, Mama - Dasa, and Baby Lealah, who is 6. Last year, Dasa really liked Ella and was kissing the glass and playing with her. This year, it was Joe. He came over to the glass and played peek-a-boo with her and then kissed the glass and made funny faces at her. He really seemed to enjoy Ella's giggles as much as she enjoyed him.

Liam was a little scared of Joe, but he loved the big snakes. I guess that's boys for you.

That evening we went to the amusement park where my fearless daughter had a blast. Liam slept for the most part in his wagon, but woke up at the end.

While Ella is a roller-coaster fiend, Liam will not even ride the merry-go-round. After watching Ella have fun though, he decided to give driving the "Big Rigs" a try with Mommy along for support. He LOVED it! He rode them over and over again trading off with Mommy and Daddy. After that, he was more apt to give other rides a try and discovered that they are not so scary after all.

All and all we had a wonderful time. On Wednesday morning as we packed up, Ella started to cry and told us that she wished we could always live in a hotel :) So does Mommy, baby girl! So does Mommy.