Midwest Vacation with the Ohio Sandersons

We took a little trip this past week to vacation with our family that lives in Ohio.  We found a great deal at a hotel in Indianapolis.  We spent 3 days going to lots of fun places.  The kids loved playing with their cousins.  It was a wonderful trip.

Day one:  Driving and more driving.  The drive for us was 9 hours to Indianapolis.  The kids all did really good in the car watching lots of movies.  We arrived at our hotel around 9pm our time and 10pm Eastern time.  We went right to bed.

Day two:  We caravaned up to West Lafayette, Indiana.  First stop was Happy Hollow Park where the kids played on the playground and we ate lunch.  Then we hiked up into the forest and tried not to lose anyone.

As the humidity started to rise,  we knew it was time to hit the  Tippecanoe Cove Water Park.  The kids had so much fun.  It was nice to relax and enjoy sunshine and water.  There was something for each kid to enjoy.

After the water park we headed to Bruno's Pizza for some of the best pizza ever.  We were all hungry from a long day.  Then we drove by some of the places the Dad's remembered from their childhood in Indiana.  We drove back to the hotel all tired but happy.  It was a very fun day.

Day Three:  We drove into downtown Indianapolis and walked around.  Sarah, Alex, and Mommy climbed the stairs to the top of an old civil war monument.  We all were waiting for a nice breeze a the top, but were met with a sweltering hot greenhouse enclosure.  We took our pictures and then climbed back down.  Daddy and Lily were smart to take the elevator. 

Next, we drove over to the Indianapolis 500 race track and the Hall of Fame Museum.  When we drove up Alex was excited to see the checkered flag and knew we were in the right place.  Alex was in heaven. We all thought it was pretty neat.  Alex loved looking at all of the cool race cars. 

We  went back to our hotel to relax and Mommy got a quick workout in on the elliptical (as if climbing those stairs weren't enough).  Then we got ready and went out to dinner at Chili's.  Everyone was fed and happy.  Time for bed.

Day Four:  We drove up to Indiana Dunes Beach outside of Chicago.  We went there last year and loved it.  We went to a new beach called Mt. Baldy that has a huge sand dune that goes into Lake Michigan.  We forgot about how humid it was once we were in the water and having fun.

We drove to Chicago after our day at the beach and enjoyed a delicious dinner in the suburbs at Firehouse Subs followed up with a Chocolate Moo from Jamba Juice.  Yum.  Then home 7 hours.  We got home around Midnight and everyone was asleep.

It was a wonderful trip.  Thanks Ohio Sandersons for meeting us half way and coming with us!