Our Spur of the Moment Mini Vaca!

Saturday morning was the kind of morning that I love. We were all just chillin' in our jammies, breakfast was eaten and cleaned up, and the kids and I were playing a game that we had gotten them for Christmas. Sam was on the computer and mentioned that we could use his Hilton Points and go to a hotel for a couple of days. I thought that would be so fun, and long story short, we decided to go for it! We packed up what we would need, and headed for Dubuque! We stopped for supper at Carlos O'Kellys and then headed to the hotel. We got there around 6, so we had plenty of time to get settled and headed to the POOL! It was so fun. We just played and splashed and relaxed in the "hot pool". Kai is a little fish and LOVES being in the water-even the pool where it was NOT so warm! :) Then it was warm cookies for a snack, and into the shower, which was, according to my kids, AWESOME! We ended up in a handicap accessible room, so the shower had a detachable head and they loved playing with it. I love how the small things can make them so happy.
The night...well, not so restful. The kids were all understandably excited so it took them a bit to settle down, but it was ok. I had downloaded Monopoly on my Kindle (free app of the day is AWESOME! :)) so Sam and I sat in the dark on our bed and played a killer game of Monopoly. It was so fun, especially since I won! :) The beds at Hampton Inn are VERY comfy, so sleep was easy to come by. Kai, however decided that 3 AM would be a great time to be awake! Little turkey would NOT go back to sleep so that means Mommy doesn't sleep either! Finally about 4:15 he finally went back to sleep, but it kind of made for a tired Mommy! The hotel had breakfast, so the kids thought all the choices were so great. Again with the small things. :)
We watched cartoons for a while, and then got dressed and headed out. Played at the mall playplace a bit and then headed to Jumpin' Janes. It's a place in Dubuque that has all these huge inflatable slides and bouncy houses, etc. The kids LOVED it and being that we had absolutely no agenda, we could stay as long as they wanted, which turned out to be 4 hours! It actually went by pretty fast and we all had a lot of fun. It was fun to see the kids interact with Kai too. They would pop out from behind something or other and he would just laugh so hard that you couldn't help but laugh with him. They, of course, love that reaction, so they would keep doing it and he would keep laughing until we all couldn't laugh anymore. It was just such a fun time. Back to the hotel to watch a movie and have a little relaxing time, then supper at Pizza Ranch and back to SWIMMING!
We were getting dressed and I had my swimsuit bottoms on, but hadn't gotten the top on yet, so I was just wearing my oh so lovely nursing bra. I (jokingly of course) commented to Sam that maybe I should just wear that beautiful outfit to the pool. Darren piped right up and said "Mommy! That's a good idea! Then you could relax and feed Baby Kai at the same time!" LOL! While that may sound good in theory Son, I don't think the rest of the hotel guest would appreciate that on SO many levels! :)
Kai again decided that sleep was not necessary that night but after I finally got him settled, I couldn't go back to sleep! I laid awake until close to 5, but everyone slept until almost 9, so it wasn't terrible. After breakfast, we loaded everything up and headed to the Mississippi River Museum. The kids had been there this summer with Grandma and Papa Brandt but it had been a REALLY long since Sam and I had been there, and a LOT had changed! It was fun and the kids loved the fish and other animals. Papa George joined us there, so the kids loved that-especially Claire Bear who LOVES her Papa! :) They were sad that Grandma couldn't be there, but we understood that she had to work. While there, we watched Polar Express in 4D. I was a little concerned, because with all of the activity, my poor kiddos were pretty tired by this point, and I knew they wouldn't last through the whole movie, but then the lady told us it was just snippets and only lasted 15 minutes so we bought tickets and in we went! It was so neat! Water as it was "snowing", smells of hot chocolate and cookies, cool breezes when you went "outside", and rumbly seats when the train was sliding on the ice! I think the kids really enjoyed it-I know I did! :)
That seemed to be the breaking point. I think sitting in the dark theater made them tired, and it WAS after 3 and we hadn't had lunch, but they were holding up VERY well. I didn't want to push it too far, so we said goodbye to Papa, headed to McD's for supper and then home!
It was such a fun trip and I love it that it was spur of the moment. I hope we can continue to do things like that and that someday my kids can look back and say "Remember that time that we just packed it up on the spur of the moment and went to a hotel for a couple days? That was so fun!" Plus, it was pretty cheap since the hotel was free with points and we used Christmas money for the rest!
I will try to post some pics, but for right now-laundry calls and grouchy kids are quite tired! :) Happy New Years! :)