On the Road Again

We have had a busy weekend around here. My brother moved to Iowa City(well actually North Liberty) this past weekend so we decided to take a little mini trip over to see his new place. We got a cheap hotel room at the Downtown Sheraton thanks to priceline.com and we were able to get away for awhile, which I really needed after both boys being sick for so long and all the cold, yucky weather. The hotel had a pool and that is all Gabe could talk about for the entire day before we left and the drive over there. My plan was to keep him up until we left so he would nap in the car. Obviously that didn't work out very well, oh well the excitement of getting to go swimming must have worn him out. I forgot our camera in the Jeep when we went to the hotel so I don't have pictures of him swimming but he had a good time, even though the water was cold and he was shaking pretty hard when he got out. We went back up to the room and ordered pizza when we were done swimming. Gabe had a blast sitting on the bed eating pizza and watching his favorite movie at the moment, The Incredibles, which just happened to be on the Disney Channel that night. Hopefully he doesn't think that he can always sit on beds and eat pizza as he isn't the tidiest eater in the world. Speaking of the Incredibles it is funny to listen to Gabe talk about the movie. Many times I hear him talking to himself and he is quoting a lines. He likes Dash and many times will say "Dash, Run" and will take off running around our kitchen table. Saturday morning we woke up to some unexpected snow. We made our way through to the IHOP for breakfast and then to visit Uncle Pete. Gabe loved the steps in his new place and made several trips up and down them. Ty made sure the carpet was nice and plush. Gabe was also a very good "helper" for Grandpa Tim as he was installing new hardware on the kitchen cabinets and blinds in the office. Gabe was cleaning up after Grandpa in the picture. At one point he helped so much he dropped a drill bit down the heat register, luckily Grandpa had a magnet to get it out. After we saw Pete's place we headed to the mall on a mission to get Gabe a new pair of shoes as his old ones have bit the dust. He loved watching the ice skaters at the ice rink. Once we got his shoes he was able ride on Scoop from Bob the Builder and a dump truck and then he got to go on the carousel. He rode an elephant who he said was Horton, from Horton Hears a Who and Horton Hatches an Egg(can you tell we read a lot of Dr. Seuss at our house?) Ty experienced his first night in a hotel and he got to sleep in the bathroom. His car seat fit nicely underneath the bathroom counter, you may wonder why Ty slept in the bathroom, mostly because he is the noisiest sleeper I have ever heard, he grunts and snorts and "talks" in his sleep all the time. As least in the bathroom we had walls blocking his noises and we could just leave the door open a crack. He woke us all up bright and early in the morning. Staying at a hotel always makes you glad to be home(at least for us with the kids) It is fun to get away but it is also nice to be home. Sometimes it takes a night away without the conveniences of home to make you appreciate it again! I need to take time and appreciate it as this is our last month in this house, we are extremely excited to move and have more room but we love this house too and have many fond memories here.