The last few days the kids and I have been traveling by ourselves while Ben has been at band camp. Sunday we went to Elise's to visit with her, Mark (almost 6), and Elizabeth (2). The three older kids got along pretty well and had a good time playing at their house and walking at the boardwalk at the Cuyahoga park. Elise and I had a great time catching up.
Monday morning we left Elise's and went to my parent's house. That afternoon Mom and I took the kids to Geneva on the Lake, where we played mini-golf, bumper boats, and let the kids swim in the lake for a little bit. I think they were a little surprised at how rocky the beach was, despite my warnings. They've only been to the ocean, and the lake shore is much different. But Maria enjoyed skipping rocks and both kids collected rocks - Sam even found a fish tooth.
Tuesday we all went to the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland. It was much smaller than COSI, but they had lots of displays for the kids to participate with. Grandma and Grandpa bought them each something at the gift shop - Sam's gift is a remote control flying saucer that is a little unpredictable in its movements, but he loves it. Maria got some "Mystery Marbles" and a little snake toy.
The kids also enjoyed riding their bikes around the circle in my parent's neighborhood - they got to go by themselves and I think they really liked being on their own.
Today we came home, but our usually easy trip was not easy today. The front left tire on the van went flat between Mansfield and Delaware, and I tried to wait to get off at an exit but it just lost air too quickly. So I pulled over and planned to call AAA but a car pulled in behind me, and two respectable looking men offered to change it for me. So once we found the spare (Honda hides them pretty well) they got started and a Highway Patrolman pulled in behind us. Surprisingly, the kids were most alarmed by the appearance of the "police" - "Oh no, the police are here." I think they thought we would be in trouble for being on the side of the road. Anyway, I assured them this was a good thing, explained to the patrolman what was going on, and the two of us stood there and watched the two men change my tire (the kids stayed in the car). When they finished we all left, but I could only drive 55-60 miles per hour so it was slow going after that.
We stopped to visit Ben for just a few minutes, so that we could stop at Honda on the way home. We replaced both front tires - it was time. Unfortunately, they were more expensive than we were expecting, but that's how it usually goes. We finally arrived home a little before 4:00, a mere 6 hours after we left my parents' house. But we're glad to be home, and up until the flat tire, we had a great trip. Today wasn't really that great.
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