As soon as we learned that Connor's school would be closed for Memorial week, we decided that would be a good time to take a family vacation. The longest vacation we had taken as a family was 4 days within 3 hours from home (in case of quick escape back), so this would be a new experience for us. After reconnecting with my friends from Alabama earlier this year, we decided to plan our vacation through Alabama so that it would include a reunion with my friends. We planned a 2 part vacation that would extend from Friday night until the following Saturday....8 days!
I won't sugarcoat....a vacation with toddlers is tough. There are fun times and good times. There are quiet times and lots of loud, rowdy, and whiny times. Lots of time spent in the car traveling. They are out of their comfort zone and their routines, so you have to be prepared for it all. The one-room hotels were a new playground for the boys...so sorry to our neighboring rooms. There were times when we wanted to throw the kids back in the car and head home. It didn't help that we had some rotten weather from time to time. However, we have also had a good time seeing new things and making new memories.
We left for vacation Friday evening and arrived in Huntsville around 8:30 that evening. The car ride went okay as the boys have new DVD players to keep them entertained (and as we learned, to keep them awake and alert). We have not stressed about when we finally get moving in the mornings, so there have been some later morning sleep-ins (very nice). On Saturday, we spent a few hours at the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. The boys were too young for a lot of it, but they loved seeing the different rockets and watching the movie "Fly me to the Moon". That afternoon we went to Sci-Quest, a hands-on interactive science museum. There were over 100 exhibits that the boys enjoyed playing with even if they didn't get the science behind it. That evening, we drove around for awhile to let the boys nap before grabbing some dinner. The boys were exhausted from a full day, so we settled in early.
The next day, we drove to Harmony Park Animal Refuge where you drove through 2 miles of free-roaming animals. The animals - Ostriches, Bisons, Buffalo, Antelopes, Horses, Rams, and Llamas - would walk right up to your window and follow your vehicle. You could buy some feed for them, but due to the rain and fear that my boys would freak out, we passed on that option. We also saw Alligators and Zebras, but they were behind cages. It was really neat to see!
After a leisurely drive around Northern Alabama in off-and-on storms, we finally ended up in the old town that I lived in for 4 years. It was shocking to see that places that closed down 19 years ago when I lived here were still closed down. I drove the family through town pointing out things I remembered, places I frequented, and things that were new. That took about 20 minutes (very small town)! We then arrived at Tanya's house for a cookout and visit with my girlfriends. The boys quickly got over their fear of cats, dogs, and frogs and enjoyed an evening of trampoline and sandbox fun. Chris was a great sport in letting me spend the evening visiting with a group of people he didn't know. We shared pictures and briefly talked about what everyone was up to these days. One of my friends is getting married in 2 weeks, so I will be returning for some more girl time and visiting then.
Monday morning, we decided to check out of the Huntsville hotel early and start our drive south. We ended up at the Birmingham Zoo and ended up with a beautiful day of fun! The weather was great, the boys were very well-behaved and this Zoo was a great zoo to visit (Sea Lion shows, Rhino Encounters, Carousel, train rides). We decided that we could just make a vacation out of zoo trips if it would guarantee well-behaved boys. After the zoo, we drove to Montgomery to stay for the night. We had a nice dinner out and then played in the pool a little (not much, it was too cold).
Tomorrow we continue our drive South to Orange Beach to spend a few more days....
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