We went on vacation!
1) Look how happy they all were on the way to New Jersey to the Coco Key Water Resort. Even the baby slept for 3 hours straight in the car, which was over half the trip.
We spit on Yankee Stadium as we drove by. Boooooo Yankees!
2) We actually drove straight to Philadelphia first, and thanks to Aimee's recommendation, stopped at Tony Luke's for a cheesesteak. This was the first REAL Philly Cheesesteak any of us had ever eaten, and it did not disappoint! I put pickles on mine, not sure if that is the protocol, but it was yummy!
3) Next up was a walk around historic Philadelphia, with a stop at the Liberty Bell and the Betsy Ross house:
4) Then off we ran to the Franklin Fountain, an ice cream/fudge/candy shop I had read about in a magazine. After all, it was Fat Tuesday:
Much to our dismay, it was CLOSED!!!
We tried to console Xander, but he was just too upset...
5) Actually, he didn't get really upset until we got to the water resort and plopped him in the water torture device chair:
But just for a minute, then he regained his composure and was a happy little clam fish.
We all enjoyed ourselves. The reason we went was because it was a Groupon deal, so it was an inexpensive family vacation. I bought restaurant.com gift certificates (with promo codes) on the cheap too so we could eat out without breaking the bank. And we brought bread and PB to make sandwiches for lunch. It was a poor man's Martin vacation, and it was awesome!
6) On Ash Wednesday, we went to church and got ashes, which led to some very interesting conversations on the car ride home:
"My ash is bigger than yours!"
"No, Mom's ash is the biggest!"
"Awww, Xander has the cutest little ash!"
We ate at Cracker Barrel on Thursday morning for breakfast, and the rocking chairs made a great place to take photos, but the shadows nearly did us in.
7) Sadly after 2 nights and 3 days of fun, it was time to leave:
And we were ready:
We had a loooong ride home.
This is when Phil realized he had to fork over $12 to drive over the George Washington Bridge. TWELVE dollars!
Not worth it:
For $12 bucks, it should have included lunch!
Have a great weekend everybody!!
All I can say is Awwwwwwwww, look at those chubs on Xander!!!!!
ReplyDeletelooks like my kind of vacation! Steve and I went to Philly for our honeymoon :) And I love water parks!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you had a fantastic time!! I'm so glad you got to go!
ReplyDeleteNext time, we will meet . . . I don't care how far I'm driving! ;-)
Mmm, family cheesesteaks. Definitely starting that baby off right!
ReplyDeletePoor man or not, this looks like a great vacation!!
ReplyDeleteWe drive to MA from NC twice a year and I still complain at all the tolls we have to pay. It's rather ridiculous!
Aww! Looks like so much fun!!! You need to teach those kiddos about use of the "a" word ;)
ReplyDeleteNever never take the GWB! I could have told you that! Tappanzee. Once I made this mistake. ONLY once and never again.
ReplyDeleteXander... can you tell this cutie has a portuguese nanny!? ha!
Those kids are the cutest ...well... other than mine ;)
So glad you all had a great trip.
funny pics :)
ReplyDeletewe were going to go to philly last summer because my husband had a buisness trip there but we ended up not going at the last min...those places were all on my list of things to do as well.
i don't think my kids all fell asleep at the same time ever.
Isn't the GW bridge the WORST? Ugh. It's free to *leave* the city, but they charge you to get back home. Jerks.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the looks for the Coco Key resort. I'll have to check it out.
Oh my gosh....I don't blame Xander for crying either!
ReplyDeleteYour trip looks like so much fun!!! Thanks for my newest craving: Philly cheesesteak with pickles!