Ohio Day Two - On to Cleveland

I love traveling with my family!!  I was so happy all day.  Driving down the highway blasting music, listening to audio books and engaging in spirited discussions is so much fun!  On this trip we are listening to Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett (a great author and one of our favorites on road trips) and The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.  We also discovered that Will likes Linkin Park which is a fun band to drive to.  James likes more mellow music when he is driving but I love to crank it up and listen to something fast.  Despite all the noise Charlie slept for most the car ride (he had been up late the night before) and Will and Jon found ways to amuse themselves.

Jonny covered in robot eyes

  Today we had to cover over three hundred miles on the same road which can be rather tedious.  But we made good time so after we passed Buffalo we stopped for lunch at a little playground.  The boys enjoyed the chance to stretch their legs and spent a lot of time running around.  They didn't want to spend more than five seconds sitting for lunch so they carried their sandwiches and drinks around with them.  

Jon at the playground

Will on the swings

Running on the baseball field

  We couldn't bear to get on the highway again so we decided to drive along Lake Erie for a bit.  We followed a promising sign that directed us to a scenic route where we hoped to get beautiful views of the lake.  However, after just a three minute glimpse, all we saw were the walls and gates that guarded the lakeside mansions.  It was rather disappointing.

  We arrived at our Cleveland hotel in plenty of time for a long swim in the pool.  Will declared us a Merfamily and we happily played at being Mermen and a Mermaid.  Jon spent the whole time swimming back and forth in his tube and shooting us with his squirt gun but Will spent most of his time in the shallow end swimming under water.  He really is a fish!  And Charlie fits right in, he is such a water baby!  Charlie was only briefly content in his tube, most of the time he wanted to be held so he could be more fully in the water.  Of course, towards the end he decided he didn't need anyone and kept trying to push away from me so he could float freely. Silly boy.

Charlie and Will in the pool

Playing in the pool

  

  Our hotel room is gorgeous.  We have two very spacious rooms complete with a decent kitchen.  I love it!  Plus (in theory) we can put the boys to bed while we stay up and enjoy some kid-free time (OK, we'll be working on the blog and studying.)  

  Speaking of hotels... I just remembered two stories from this morning.  As we were going down to breakfast Charlie bolted out the elevator just as the door was closing.  Luckily James was fast and managed to stop the door before it closed completely.  Clearly we have to hold his hand everywhere and all the time!  Then as we were eating breakfast the weather came on and Will shouted "Oh!  The weather!!" in such an excited voice that everyone around us laughed.  My mom's been watching the weather with him and apparently it has become an important part of his day.  I love all the energy and excitement my boys have for such little things.

  Will and Jon did have a chance to write in their journals tonight and Will drew a nice picture of us all in the pool.  Jon swears that his picture isn't of Rapunzel (because she has purple hair!) but of a girl he saw on the other side of Lake Erie.

Journals

  For some reason the picture is uploading wrong and I can't rotate it.  But I'm too tired to fix it so I'm off to bed,  

Goodnight!