Whaddya Mean, Spring Break is Over?

I could have used another week of sleeping in, honestly.  And we didn't even do much!  We ended up with a schedule of activity day, rest day, activity day, rest day, activity day.  It was actually a nice amount.

First activity day?  Their makeup day for snow, so everybody went to school.  Not that I got anything done, because by the time Rachel left, the school nurse was calling me to pick up JC, who wasn't feeling well.

First rest day?  It rained, and JC was still recovering.  TV and video games.

First real activity day?  The Philadelphia Zoo!  We've been going to this zoo since they were little, because it's a little zoo.  It's the oldest zoo in the country, so all the animals are up close and great for little ones.  I offered them the Bronx Zoo, New York City, you name it.  They picked Philly and the zoo.  They were probably the oldest kids there, but we had fun.  Got there in time to watch the Amazon River Giant otters get fed.

It's a great exhibit, you get to see them swim (and squabble over fish).

Other favorites, the small mammal house (vampire bats!  marmosets!  sloths!), and the reptile house.  We had a great view of the sloth, but apparently I didn't get a picture.  But here's one of the lions, who kindly offered us a show - he got up from his nap and pooped right in front of the fence.  The kids were in hysterics.

He was really stiff when he got up, and I could see he's got cataracts.  I sympathized.  They also had a cool Lego exhibit going on (although it looked like they were still setting up).

Yes, that's all Legos.  Under glass, so you can't rearrange it.  They had several of these and at least one huge Lego polar bear.

And then on Thursday, we rested.  Which really means the kids watched TV and played video games all day again.  Hey, it's vacation, I decided I didn't feel like cooking, so I played video games too.

Friday, John was back from his business trip, so we drove out to the National Canal Museum (and the Crayola Factory).  I've posted about the Canal Museum before, it's one of William's favorite road trips.  It was John's first time there, and we did have fun.

John being "Mr. Science" for William and some little girl, explaining how the gears work (it was set up so her litttle gear completely overpowered William's big one.  Very graphic when William could outmuscle JC).

William actually did do some of the craft activities at Crayola this time.  Usually he cruises through there as fast as he can.

I also discovered that the Martin Guitar Factory, in Nazareth, PA, is only 20 minutes away, and they do free factory tours on weekdays.  Psych!  Except... I didn't factor in that it was Good Friday.  Oh well.  We know where it is now, and it's a good day trip for us.  Next time.

And now we're back to the usual routine.  Probably just as well that we didn't travel anywhere, I'm having a hard enough time getting back in the swing of things!