Vacationing... well sort of

So, hubby had to go on a business trip to Massachusetts for almost 2 weeks.  We never have the opportunity to travel with him because the kids were in school or we  had some sort of sport or church activity.  Hubby and I discussed driving up to MA but we decided that he should just fly and we'd see him when he got back.  Well, after 4 days the kids and I missed him terribly so I decided to pack up the van Friday night while the kids slept and I planned to get on the road as soon as my son finished football practice Saturday afternoon.  After practice we grabbed lunch and headed north for a 12hr 30 minute drive to MA. the kids questioned where we were going and I told them we were going to meet my best friend.  They wondered why they had never met my best friend before and why daddy wasn't coming with us.  They asked if daddy knew about this trip?  Who was this best friend?  Why daddy couldn't join us so that we could travel as a family and etc... One of them blurted out " Mom, this is just unfair! Dad should be here with us!  I feel bad that he has to miss all of this excitement! "  I assured them that Daddy knew all about our trip and that they should take plenty of pictures for him, sit back and enjoy the ride :).

After our loooooong road trip (760 miles) we finally arrived at the hotel at 1:30am and daddy was standing there in the parking garage waiting for us!  When the kids realized who he was there were screams, tears, hugs and kisses for him!  They were just overwhelmed with emotion!  I was a but teary eyed watching their reaction to seeing him.  I was told that I was the best mom in the world for making them so happy!

Well, we've been here for 5 days now and the kids have been having a blast!  They've been swimming every day (there's a beautiful indoor pool right outside our hotel room), we've been shopping at the outlets, dining out at new restaurants, driving to the top of Graylock Mountain, playing at nearby parks and just enjoying our time together. Today is the last day of hubby's meeting so we plan to take the kids to a Kids Funplex/Funpark this evening and do more outlet shopping. Later, we may hit the pool for 1 last time.  Tomorrow morning we will drive to New York City and spend the night there.  We plan to take a boat cruise of the city and see some sights such as the Empire State building, The Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Time Square, Central Park and do some shopping in Soho!  We'll be sure to try some New York pizza and stop in Philly to get a philly cheese steak and possibly see the Liberty Bell. Our next stop will be an overnight trip in Maryland so that we can say hello to the grandparents/family/friends and then we'll head home to NC.  This trip has been great so far and the kids are having the time of their lives experiencing everything along the way :)