Boy, It's Been a While!

Boy, am I a slacker. I haven't written in this blog in years. Literally. To be completely honest with you, I totally forgot about it. It's a shame too, because I have traveled so much with the twins. Can you believe how big they've gotten since I last wrote? We've been to our favorite destinations: Florida and Pennsylvania. We've also been upstate NY, down to NJ, Washington DC and Maryland... Lots and lots of places that I could have written about. We even went to Chicago over Thanksgiving to visit with my sister and brother-in-law. There was a fantastic children's museum there, too. Baaaad blogger. Bad, bad, bad blogger. Mea culpa.

One of my 2014 resolutions is to keep all of my blogs current, which is why I'm writing this right now. Stay tuned for more...

Day Two: South Carolina

What a disaster.

Every summer between the time I was 12 and the time I was 17, I went on vacation right near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I loved it. I had such wonderful memories of Myrtle Beach, I wanted to stop there on the way down to Florida.

BIG mistake.

When I did the distance on MapQuest between Columbia, MD and Myrtle Beach, SC, it said the distance would take about seven hours. No problem. I decided that is where we would stay, maybe check out the boardwalk, eat and have a nice little break.

WRONG.

First, the drive took about ten hours. We hit a lot of traffic. Plus, I didn't realize that Myrtle Beach is about three hours off of 95. Driving it was an absolute nightmare. The kids, however, were wonderful. I was shocked at how well-behaved they were, to be completely honest with you. When we arrived at Red Roof Inn on South Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach, I left my family in the car and ran in to get our room, which was paid for using AAdvantage miles through American Airlines.

As I was checking in, I noticed that someone was checking in with two small dogs. I asked Elwin, the front desk clerk, about the dogs, and he told me that the entire hotel is pet friendly. Considering my son has horrendous allergies that can throw him into an asthma attack, I told him that we could not stay there. he completely understood, and told me that AA would have to refund my miles. Understandable. So, I called AA and they told me that I would have to deal with it when I get home, during business hours.

I ran to the car and told my mom about the allergy situation. She agreed with me that we needed to find another hotel. So, I ran to the first hotel I saw, but there was no vacancy. I ran to the second hotel, but smoking was permitted in every room-- another allergy trigger for Charlie. I ran to the third hotel, but pets were allowed in every room. Finally, I went to the Best Western and got a room: $124.16 for the AAA rate. So much for a free room, but my Charlie is worth it.

By the time we got into the room, it was after 10pm. The twins were already knocked out in their car seats. I was able to park right in front of the room. I brought everything inside while mom stayed with the kids. One at a time, I brought them in. First Charlie: went potty, changed into jammies, then started jumping on the bed. I couldn't belive the kid got his second wind. I calmed him down and laid him in his bed, then brought Catie in.

Catie went potty,, changed into her jammies and went RIGHT to sleep. She was sound asleep before her head hit the pillow. Thankfully, Catherine likes her sleep.

Mom got changed as I was putting Charlie to sleep. I got changed, but was so wired from running from hotel to hotel that I stayed up for a few hours and worked on my new business for a little while. Then, I went to sleep.

Fortunately, the Best Western offers a nice complimentary breakfast in the morning. We ate waffles, cereal, fruit and then hit the road to our next stop.... Daytona Beach, FL.

Day One: Maryland

The first leg of our trip was from our home on Long Island to Columbia, MD. We had enough airline points to stay at the Sheraton Columbia Town Center for free, and it was FANTASTIC! I totally have to write a review for it on Epinions-- Something I haven't done in a long time. The room was huge and wonderful, and in a spectacular location. For dinner, we went to P.F. Chang's at Columbia Town Center Mall. Right before my dinner arrived, Charlie had a meltdown. Mom wrapped up the food to go and paid the check as I packed the twins up in the car.

We headed back to the hotel, changed the kids into their jammies, and off to dreamland they went. The best were so comfy and there were tons of pillows. We all slept very well. My only complaint was that I had to pay $12.95 for Wi-Fi. Oh, well. You can't win them all.

This morning, we woke up and my friend Kira and her daughter came to the hotel, since they live ten miles away. We all went to breakfast at IHOP in Laurel, said our goodbyes, and we headed for our next stop in Myrtle Beach, SC.

I really, really, really wanted to stop in Washington, DC, where I went to college. I absolutely love it there. Perhaps my three year old twins are too young to enjoy it, but I wanted to try. Unfortunately, we didn't have the opportunity. We wanted to get to Myrtle Beach at a decent hour, so we just drove by.

I wish our stay in Maryland was a little longer. We had a great time while we were there. Perhaps we should have left earlier. Oh, well. Now we know for next year.

Next Vacation: Road Trip to Disney

One word: Disney.

My mom and I are driving with the twins from our home on Long Island to Orlando, FL. My husband and grandmother will be flying down on Saturday (First Class, mind you) to meet us there. We will be staying for a week at the fabulous Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort. Then Mom and I will drive home with the twins, while Gigi and Daddy fly back in style.

I cannot wait.

BV1: The Crayola Factory

Outside the Crayola Factory

Let me preface this blog entry by saying that my mother is a retired art teacher. Furthermore, she was Art Director of the South Country School District for over a decade. Mom has always wanted to work for Binney & Smith (the Crayola company) as a product demonstrator.. She was totally stoked to go to the Crayola Factory. Honestly, I think she was more excited to go to the Crayola Factory than the kids!

The kids & their new friend, Big Red

My kids love art. They love being creative. They are only three, but since Gramma was an art teacher, they have already been exposed to pretty much every art medium there is: sculpture, painting, drawing, watercolors, fingerpaint, you name it. My kids are really creative, which is wonderful (especially since I can only draw mutant stick figures). I honestly thought that the Crayola Factory was going to be just that-- A factory where they made all Crayola items. I thought there might be a tour and some samples, maybe spend an hour or two there.  Boy, was I wrong!



Gramma and Catherine at the coloring station.

When you first see the Crayola Factory, it doesn't look like much. It looks like part of a building with crayons falling off the roof (see photo above). Inside, however, you will find three floors of colorful fun. There are all sorts of different work stations where visitors can do Crayola crafts, a demonstration area on how crayons are made, a mini-museum, vending machines (which contain art supplies, not candy), a play area and a lot more. The kids went nuts over it. My husband says that it was his favorite part of our vacation.



Charlie coloring a masterpiece.

What was really cool about the Crayola Factory was that the admission price ($9.25 with AAA) included some handy-dandy paper bags to hold all of your Crayola creations that you made while visiting the Crayola Factory. My kids made paper bag puppets, construction paper disco balls, watercolor paper ties, colored pictures, sculptures and had a blast doing everything. We could have spent the entire day there, but were there for maybe three hours. We arrived at about 2:00 and the Factory closed at 5:00. next time, we will get there early, leave for lunch, and return afterwards.

Hershey's Ice Cream at Ice Cream Junction

Afterwards, we really wanted to go to the Purple Cow Creamery for some ice cream. Unfortunately, it is closed on Mondays. We found a great place, Ice Cream Junction, about three miles away and took the kids there. The prices were great, the ice cream (especially the chocolate peanut butter shake I had) was fantastic, and there was a model train set up in the window that my kids loved. It was the perfect ending to the perfect day.

BV1: The Sweetest Place on Earth

Twins & Gramma waiting for the tram

You can''t go to Shawnee with kids and not take a day trip to Hershey Park. known as "The Sweetest Place on Earth," Hershey Park is a chocolate-themed amusement park in the town of the same name. Hershey, PA was founded by chocolate mogul Milton Hershey in 1905 as a town for his employees to live. Hershey Park was built in 1905 as a place for his employees to have a place to relax. The park evolved from a true park to an amusement park with some awesome rides over the past century. I mean, it isn't Disney, but there are a lot of rides and games and fun stuff to do.



On the train, Charlie's favorite ride

Neither my husband nor I are "ride people." We aren't into roller coasters or anything to that effect, so we knew that we were going just for the kids. Plus, we have a trip planned to Disney World this summer, and we wanted to introduce the kids to going on rides. It was just $26.95 per adult and $17.95 per child to get into the park for the day-- I would much rather have them fight and cry and not want to go on rides at Hershey Park than at Disney, where we spend over $100 per ticket. I figured it would be a good test as to whether or not the twins like rides. Fortunately, they LOVED the rides.



Fun on the swings

There were a ton of rides for little kids. Charlie went crazy for the train, which just ddid two laps on its track. Charlie is a real train afficionado, and was overjoyed to go on a train that was just his size. Seriously, he went on about 37 times. At first, he would only go on with me, Daddy or Gramma, then he wanted to go on by himself. I was thrilled, because he is the one that is Mr. Cautious. He didn't want to do anything until he saw the train.



Buzzy bees!

Catie, on the otherhand, is the adventerous one. She wanted to go on everything that she possibly could, but her favorite ride was the carousel. She was little Miss Independent, going on rides all by herself that an adult could not accompany her on. She even instilled a little courage into Charlie and got him to go onto rides with her-- sans adult. I almost took Catie on The Scrambler, but Gramma and Daddy disapproved because they thought it was too fast. (Spoilsports.)

Choo Choo Charlie

Food prices are RIDICULOUS in the park. My husband bought a soft pretzel and a bottle of water for $10. TEN DOLLARS! If you want to have lunch, there are plenty of places outside the park to get something to eat. My family and I just headed over to the nearby Friendly's for a quick bite that wouldn't cost us an arm and a leg. Hershey Park offers same day re-admission, so you don't have to worry about wasting a day. You may waste a little time going to a restaurant outside the park, but it is certainly worth it. Oh, and the "special" that is offered on the Hersheypark.com website for four admissions and four pretzels? Totally not worth it. Go to Subway and get a discount ticket. Use that to pay for your admission-- you'll save a bundle.



Catie isn't afraid of the Hershey man!

On our way out, we had to visit one of the chocolate shops  And, of course, my kids got... lollipops. No kidding. Leave it to the three-year-olds to go for lollipops over chocolate. Mom and I went right for the chocolate-covered pretzels, while my husband - ever the purist when it comes to food - went for milk chocolate. We also went into the Christmas store and got a Christmas ornament to remind us of our fantastic day at Hershey Park every year we decorate our Christmas tree.

Gramma & Catie on the train for the third time.

The kids didn't want to leave. We bribed them to stay in their car seats and not cry by allowing them to have some of their lollipop when we pulled out of the parking lot. Our whole family had an amazing time at Hershey Park. It was the first taste of theme parks for the kids... I can't wait to go to Disney this summer!

Blog Vacation #1: Shawnee, PA

The idea for this blog formed while I was driving back from Hershey Park, PA to our villa in Shawnee, PA yesterday. The kids had such a fantastic time at Hershey, but I will get to that in a later blog post. I just wanted to introduce you readers to the locaction of our first vacation that I am blogging about: Shawnee on Deleware, PA.

We chose to go on vacation in Shawnee for a couple of reasons. First, I have not traveled with both of my twins at the same time on a flight. I took my daughter back in March and she was fantastic, but I have concerns about flying with two three year olds at once. Maybe when they are five. I don't know. We'll see. Shawnee is about three hours from my house on Long Island, which is a tolerable drive with the twins.

Secondly, my mom owns a timeshare in Shawnee. It cost us $98 for the entire week in a two bedroom, 2.5 bathroom, two story house on a resort property with tons of stuff to do. Therefore, we would save a ton of money on the place where we are staying, and be able to spend more money on fun stuff in the area.

Third, Shawnee is known as a year-round place to vacation. My good friend, Penny, took her husband and their eleven-year-old daughter here a couple of months ago, and they had a blast. Penny doesn't ski, and neither do I, so I thought that this would be a great place for us. Penny and her family also stayed at the Shawnee Inn, which is right next to Wyndham Shawnee - Depuy, where we have the timeshare. I figured we coudn't go wrong

I gave my husband the task of finding things for us to do within driving distance of the resort. He discovered TONS to do: Hershey Park, a steam train ride, the Crayold Factory, Lehigh Valley Zoo, Camden Aquarium... The list goes on and on. I knew that I chose the right place for our Spring Break, especially since most other families on vacation were looking to go somewhere "warm and tropical," as was the request from many of my clients. I was looking for a peaceful yet fun vacation with my family, and I believe I found it in Shawnee.