Vacation to Hershey and Charlottesville

Wayne's vacation started out with a bang. We packed up the crew and headed south where it is warm(er). Can I hear a collective aaahhhh? Our first stop was Hershey, PA. We had a blast swimming at the hotel pool and checking out Chocolate World. I thought we'd all sleep well (being worn out and all) and I guess the boys did, but Alexis decided that sleeping from 9:30 - 11:30 p.m. would be enough for the night. We put her in bed with us and after two hours of rolling, kicking, climbing, anything but sleep, Wayne decided to take her for a drive and finally coax her to sleep. They drove from 2 - 4 a.m. She didn't sleep a wink. It was my turn. I took her down to the hotel lobby where she ran around happy as can be. We headed back to the hotel room to change her diaper at 5:30 a.m. Coming back into the room woke Trevor up. So, we all got moving. We ate breakfast and hung out until Chocolate World opened. As soon as the car started Lexi was out cold. There was a ton of chocolate! It was my kind of place! We saw a 3-D movie and I haven't decided yet if the kids liked it or not. Jacob had his imaginary light saber out when all of the little hershey kisses popped out of the screen. There was also a part where a spider comes crawling out and keeps coming and coming until it's up in your face. He didn't like that either. Trevor had enough of the glasses and watched the show without them. Jacob later told me that he liked it, BUT was a little scared too. The kids LOVED that after every ride/show they received a little Hershey candy bar. We all had sugar headaches when we left.





Alexis was better the second night and that next morning we decided against the hotel breakfast (YUCK and $$$) and decided to head to IHOP or something similar. Wayne started loaded the van and when I saw him come back inside to load more things he said that our car had been hit in the parking lot last night. Thankfully some honest people left their information and we were able to get everything sorted out with a police report and all that goes along with it. We then headed out for breakfast. We couldn't find IHOP and settled on McDonalds. Is it sad to say that it was 10 times better than the hotel breakfast? Sad. Then we decided to go to Amish country. I've been once before, but Wayne had never been and the kids don't remember going, so it was fun. We headed to Intercourse, PA. Hahaha -- truly, I have a picture to prove it.
There were fun little Amish stores with homemade fudge, kettle corn, jams, salsa, etc. There was also a little petting zoo and playground for the kids to play.
Our next stop was the Residence Inn. I don't think we can go back to one hotel room again. It was so great to have a room for the kids and an area for me and Wayne. We put the kids to bed and watched a movie in the other room. It was so great to not have to go to bed when the kids went to bed! The breakfast was continental and delicious. Why didn't we do this earlier? Oh yeah, Priceline, but we got some awesome deals!
The next day we headed to Charlottesville, VA. It was the first time we'd been back since we moved to Rochester for medical residency almost two years ago. We miss it. The weather was perfect. We caught up with friends at a BBQ that evening at our old family housing apartment complex. We loved our time in Charlottesville. If our family didn't live in the west we would settle near there.
Saturday I ran the Charlottesville 10 miler which I posted about below. Wayne took a picture of me and the kids afterwards.
We went to campus with our dear friends Sergio and Sarah and their kids. We had Christian's Pizza (which I LOOOOVVVE) and let the kids play on the lawn at the Rotunda. Then, Sarah and Sergio watched our kids and Wayne and I went to our favorite little Mexican restaurant in Charlottesville. It's really the only good Mexican restaurant there. Thanks you guys! We owe you when you come visit!!
We were going to leave around 7:00 a.m. Sunday to head back home. The drive was eight and a half hours and we wanted to be able to stop often for the kids. When Alexis woke up that morning she was covered in throw-up. So, we washed bedding (which took a few hours) and headed out the door around 9:00. Wayne was catching throw-up with paper towels when we were in the car and we would stop, clean up, and motor on. She was finally done with it around noon. The kids were awesome and we arrived home around 5:30 p.m.
Wayne was summoned for Jury Duty and was at the courthouse bright and early Monday morning. He went in everyday until they finally released him on Thursday. I was worried that he was going to be selected to serve on a Supreme Court case that is estimated to take 3-4 weeks. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when he came home and was done!
I'm sure most of you have heard that my Mom was in a horrible car accident the day before Easter. I found out Easter morning. I was surprised to see my Dad calling at 9:00 a.m. I answered the phone and he told me that he, my Mom and two year old nephew Ryan had been in a car accident the night before. My vision was instantly blurred and the tears started to roll down my cheeks. He told me that he has a contusion to his chest wall and Ryan was completely fine (outside of being scared), but my Mom was send to the shock and trauma ICU and has now been in the hospital for over a week. She'll be moved to a rehabilitation hospital today and we're not sure how long she'll be there. My Dad started a blog for those who know her and would like to know what has been happening. It's updated daily. http://colbyryttingfamily.blogspot.com I'm just thankful that she'll eventually make a complete recovery. I'm going to fly to Utah with the kids on Thursday and will be there until May 9th. Meg will be flying back home with me and will stay until May 24th. I'm hoping that will give Mom enough time to at least be out of intense pain and moving around more easily.