Brewing up some fun

Everyone survived The Trip! And we even had some fun to boot. Quite a bit of fun, actually.

The trip to Milwaukee began after work on Thursday, when we drove to Indianapolis and spent the night there before tackling the rest of the journey. I was nervous about the driving part just because I wasn’t sure how our multiple kid-related stops would affect the length of the drive, but we did pretty well and still managed some good breaks along the way. The best part of the drive up was the little playground at the Wisconsin welcome center on Friday, which was a great idea that I think all rest areas should have. The Husband sat in the backseat with Baby B for the entire drive, which I think was the secret to our success, as this allowed him to entertain her and also retrieve dropped/thrown items that might cause a mini-tantrum otherwise.

We arrived shortly after 4 p.m. local time on Friday, and Pen Pal and Her Husband won over Baby B very quickly because they’d brought over some toys from their five-year-old niece, including an awesome doll stroller and a baby doll that she loved pushing around the house. Of course we’d brought a few toys, but it was nice to have other — and new — options to keep her interest.

On Friday morning we went downtown to the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum, which was wonderful. The other children’s museums were awesome, but this one might have been my favorite, especially considering the price (just $6). Although they had an infant/toddler area, the whole museum included things that were appropriate for Baby B. I think the main difference was that this museum didn’t focus as much on science learning but instead about everyday kinds of learning. The best part was the tiny town they had, complete with a news studio, a bank with drive-up ATM, a mechanic’s shop, a post office, and a grocery store and deli. Each of these locations had working phones that called the other places, so parents and children both were getting into character and playing these imaginary townspeople roles. When I was in the deli, I answered the phone and took an order for a cheese sandwich on white bread. Baby B robbed the bank at the drive-thru window (but it was all caught on the security camera they had). She also sent some packages from the post office and did the grocery shopping, then we reported the news (ironically about her bank robbery!). We had a blast!

We had perfect weather all weekend (yay!), so after the museum, we took a walk along the lake to take in the city’s special weekend event, the Harley-Davidson 105th anniversary celebration. Motorcycles were everywhere, and it was fun to feel the rumbling of the bikes as we walked the area. We didn’t make it back to the house until after 2 p.m., but Baby B did great considering she hadn’t had lunch yet and was overdue for her nap. We’re very fortunate that she seems to roll with the punches when we’re out of town and adjusts well to change.

On Sunday morning we made our way to the Milwaukee County Zoo and spent about five hours there, again with Baby B adjusting to a much-later-than-usual nap. We went to the Cincinnati Zoo back in June, just as she was becoming interested in animals (other than her favorite — dogs), but this time she was visiting as a full-on animal lover. (Obsession, anyone?) She enjoyed nearly all the exhibits, but I’d say her favorites were the gorillas and the lions. With the lions, she was dancing and stomping her feet so excitedly (and roaring, too) just watching them give themselves a bath. Oh, and she really seemed to like the elephants, too, as we walked by their enclosure several times, and each time they came in sight, she made her little elephant noise before we’d even ask what elephants say.

Unfortunately, our visit was a short one and we had to drive home on Monday. We did the drive in just one day on the way home, and we ended up with about 10 hours from start to finish (not too bad!), which included an hour for lunch at a sit-down restaurant.

I would have to ask Pen Pal to be certain, but I’d say the trip was a success. Baby B was on her best behavior nearly the entire time, and she only played shy for less than 5 minutes and then she was completely her normal, silly self. We had plenty of time to hang out with her, but we also had the evenings to ourselves as adults without Baby B since she was in bed. Normally at home we have to use that post-bedtime time to catch up on chores around the house, but we didn’t have to do that while away, so we gained some free time.

We have a couple of single-night trips coming up in October, but our next full-weekend trip will be for my half-marathon. As we were driving through downtown Indianapolis on Monday, I realized that exactly two months from that day I would be back in that very city to run my race. I can’t wait!