On Saturday after the students left for the week, we headed to Lancaster to hit the outlet malls. It was gray and rainy so not ideal shopping weather, but we managed to find a few good deals and stopped at an Amish buffet on the way home. Auntie Kate and Phoebe are now fans of bread pudding, so it was well worth the drive!
On Sunday, another gray and rainy day, we made a few stops - the first at Bass Pro in honor of our fishing enthusiast. The only purchases made here were an embarrassing $12 spent on circus peanuts and cinnamon bears. The Rousopoulos girls have a sweet tooth and I think Phoebe has inherited it...
After Bass Pro, we headed to the sweet town of Hershey. We took the tour and learned more than we can remember about how chocolate is made.
Phoebe was entertained because there were singing cows and we were on moving cars.
After the moving chocolate tour, we got to shop through enough giant-sized chocolate bars and amazing cookies to make any kid happy. Phoebe even got to be a "factory worker" and make her own Hershey kisses gift box. I'm not sure she completely understood what was going on, but she loved spending time with Auntie Kate AND eating chocolate!
After Hershey, we headed back toward Grantham. This scene was all too familiar for Auntie and me from the front of the car this past weekend...
We had dinner at some place called Friendly's - a restaurant where every meal ends with ice cream - why the heck do we not have these in Indiana!? Phoebe ate her meal like a champ and then managed to finish off an entire strawberry sundae (her love of ice cream she definitely inherited from her mama!).
This could explain why she was a crazy child after her bath. Between all the fun (?) lounge furniture and endless running room - we thought for sure she would wear herself out.
I'm not sure if it was the time change or the ice cream, but Phoebe didn't fall asleep till 11:00 that night. I think we're all just thankful she slept in till 9:00 each morning - especially Auntie Kate!
Auntie is super close to lots of fun cities - two hours from New York, Philly, D.C. - I think Phoebe has lots of fun road trips with her Auntie lined up the next few years! We decided to brave the weather and headed to D.C. on Monday.
Our first stop, once we found a parking spot was the Museum of American History. Luckily, there was a child-friendly area and Phoebe got to burn some energy after the two-hour car ride.
It gave Auntie and me a chance to view Julia Child's kitchen - amazing how many things she stored in such tiny space. Let's just say I have much to learn in the culinary world - she had gadgets and gizmos I couldn't even imagine how to use!
We saw Dorothy's ruby red slippers from the Wizard of Oz and the original Kermit the Frog, but Phoebe was more interested in riding up and down the escalators. Why bring a stroller!?
After dumping more change in the meter, I met up with the girls at the Museum of Natural History where we ate a ridiculously expensive lunch and then saw lots of animals, furry creatures and sea animals. Phoebe had the most fun at this museum. They had tvs in the floor in one section and she had a blast running back and forth over them.
Our last stop was the Air and Space Museum, but they were getting ready for some big gala and Phoebe was well on her way to being past due for a nap, so we headed towards the car where she got buckled in and promptly fell asleep while we did our best to find the White House.
We thought after the long, eventful day that Phoebe would certainly crash at bed time - but oh no - YiaYia went to put her to bed at 9:00 but when she came out of the room an hour later she said she just couldn't be mad when after minutes of silence, Phoebe started singing "Jesus Loves Me." So I just got ready for bed and laid down with her - I think after about ten rounds of "The Farmer in the Dell" she finally fell asleep around 11:30. Have I mentioned how much I hate the time change!? It does horrible things to toddlers.
Of course the day we leave, the sun decided to come out. Phoebe decided she was going to hide out in Auntie's trunk and stay awhile longer.
We made it to the airport with less than 30 minutes to check in, get through security (with a toddler, two carry-ons and a stroller) and find our seats on the flight. Needless to say, it was a bit stressful but we survived, made it to Detroit and then back to Indy twenty minutes ahead of schedule - and it was still sunny!
Between all the rain, little sleep and crazy nights, Phoebe has come down with a cold. Ryan stayed home with her today - I think it was more because he missed her oh-so-much over anything else. Tonight she got to bed right before 9:00, so we're definitely making progress.
Thanks Auntie Kate and YiaYia for a fun trip and lots of great memories!
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