We had an early lunch here in the room and then headed out. We ended up at Incredible Dave's. For those of you non-Louisville people, it's similar to a Dave & Buster's but much more oriented towards kids. Lots of aracade "redemption" games (you win tickets for different scores and can turn them in for ... well ... junk). They also had a very cool bowling alley. Two lanes that were kinda sectioned off and were just for kids. The lanes were a bit shorter and the kids didn't have to wear special shoes. The bowling balls were very small -- completely appropriately sized for Faith and Mari. And of course, there were bumpers in the gutters. Oh and it was all glow in the dark so the girls were excited about their clothing looking all glowy. Faith really started catching on by the end of her second game and was actually starting to concentrate and improve. Mari only made it through one game. Matt and I kept saying how surprised we were that crazy silly run-around Mari wasn't able to throw the ball with enough strength to really do much. The pins were even smaller sized but more than once, Matt had to go up alongside the lane to get Mari's stopped ball back.
After bowling the girls found this toddler area with inflated stuff to run and slide and jump on. Good for 15 mins or so of fun. Once we spent all the money we had put on the cards, Matt went to the redemption area and traded in the tickets for two plastic magic wands, a glow stick and two fans (like those Spanish kind that fold out) with Jesus on them. Pretty chintzy (no offense to Jesus) but fun. Both magic wands are already broken. Oh well.
Came home, rested (including a successful transfer of a sleeping Mari from the van to her sleeping bag in the room), found my wallet (after having cancelled my 2 credit cards and my bank card, by the way) and went to downtown Jeffersonville to Schmipff's candy shop. A truly old-time candy shop with a HUGE selection. They're known for their hard candy, especially red hots. We each chose out a few things with the promise that if the girls ate a good dinner, they could sample some candy afterwards. You know the expression "kid in a candy store?" Yeah.
We then headed out to Hometown Buffet for dinner. We found some time ago that those buffet restaurants are worth every penny when you have young children. It's so nice to a. be able to get them pretty much anything they want and b. not have to wait very long at all to get them pretty much anything they want. That went pretty well. They each got a piece of candy after dinner.
Next stop was a great park alongside the river. We managed to stay and play there for a while and even FINALLY got Matt's long coveted shot of us (minus him) in front of the river. Came back to the hotel, talked to Matt's parents (and Sandy) via Skype (that thing ROCKS) and my mom via cell. They're all having a wonderful time at the beach. Sigh. I truly wish we were there but this vacation is a definite close second.
Anyway, the whole day, the twins continued to be very compatible to our vacation wants and needs. Really. We're SO SO lucky. They have really only been fussy when they're hungry or maybe too hot or too cold. Hannah has a pretty significant cold today, but even that doesn't seem to do TOO much to her spirits! They're so good about letting me nurse them pretty much wherever I have to which is obviously pretty important so that we can all be out and about. They have good awake time during the day off and on and are SO cute when we get back to the room after having been out for a while. We take them out of their infant carriers, change them and let them stretch out on our bed. They stretch and grunt and groan and are genuninely happy to be out of their seats. There are two fairly ugly pictures on the wall above our head board that both babies are FASCINATED with! They will turn their heads completely around just to look at these pictures! So funny.
So a few funny things. Last evening, Matt was having a "conversation" with one of the girls here in the hotel room (I forget which one). I was getting the babies situated on our bed and I hear Matt say to whichever girl it was, "and you need to stop 'fripping' out so much..." and I just lost it. Of course, an accidental combo of "flipping" and "freaking". Not helpful to Matt as he's trying to be stern with her and I am losing it on the bed. I seriously couldn't stop laughing for like 10 minutes and now it's a commonly used term in our family. So funny.
The other very cute but a bit annoying thing is that Mari is now in the habit of asking EVERY single time we're getting ready to go out if we're bringing the babies with us. Really. Every time. As if we'd forget them. Faith is always asking, as SOON as we begin a new activity, what we're going to do next. Trying to explain "living in the moment" is very difficult to do with a 4 year old!
Other than all that, we're truly having a great time and are so glad we were able to get away! Sadly, I found out today that my great aunt B. is on 24 hour Hospice watch now (she's been in "regular" Hospice for some time now) which means there is a Hospice person there with her in the nursing home room at all times. I just continue to pray that she goes peacefully and that she's able to let go when the time comes.
So, not to end on a total downer, but it is 10:22 and I'm sure that I only have about 2-3 hrs to go until I am up again to feed one baby or the other, so I'm going to sign off. As we've said before, this is a TOTALLY long post and I apologize. It's how I am. If you've stayed with me up until now, God bless you and thank you! :-) Steph
Pics below:
Bowling:
Inflatables:
A mixed blessing:
More simple pleasures:
Along the Ohio:
