A Night Away…

Two years ago, we headed to Key Lime Cove indoor water park hotel for a weekend away.  It was lots of fun, and we thought about doing it again this year.  With the price of a water park hotel, though, we decided maybe it would be wiser to stay closer to home.

Keith has co-workers from out of town who come up this way every few months.  When they are here, they talk about how nice their hotel is.  Keith decided to look it up, and we discovered it’s a great place for a weekend trip! 

Not only is there a large pool and a hot tub, there’s also a GREAT kids pool with a waterslide, “waterfall”, and sprayers throughout.  It’s less than a foot deep, so it’s perfect for our little ones. 

The rooms are very nice, and thanks to the help of a wonderful lady at the front desk, we were able to get a 2 queen suite…with a separate living room and bedroom…for $66!  WOW!  It’s a LOT cheaper than $200/night at a water park hotel, and we had just as much fun! 

We should have let him sleep here ;)  But really, this trip was Max’s first time sleeping in a big bed…with no rails.  I put pillows all over next to the bed, but he never fell out.  I was impressed!

Grandma & Grandpa S joined us for our little getaway.  Usually, when we see them, the whole family is around.  We have to “share” them with 20 people!  This time, it was just us & them.  It was a pretty nice treat!

We checked in early and swam all afternoon.

We took a break to give Jensyn a short nap.  The boys played in Grandma & Grandpa’s room while Keith & I had a chance to rest.  (Poor Grandma and Grandpa…no rest for them!) 

Afterwards, we went out for dinner.  This is a restaurant that’s not quite close enough to visit often, but we like to go here a few times each year.  The wait was long this time, but the food was still just as yummy as always!  They have a lady who makes balloon animals on Saturday nights, so our boys each got a dog on a leash.

Jensyn was fascinated by this lady with all the bright colors!  She watched pretty intently!

 

Then it was back to the pool for a little more swimming before bedtime.

We ended the evening with snacks in Grandma & Grandpa’s hotel room.  Grandma brought Valentine’s treats for the kids, and she had also made heart shaped brownies to share.  Yum!

Max was looking through the drawers in their nightstand.  He found the phone book, brought it to Grandpa, and said, “Read this!”  He snuggled right up for a good story.  Alex thought that was hilarious, as Grandpa REALLY did read some of it to Max.

When we got back to our room, Alex looked through our drawers.  Finding the phone book, he called out, “HEY!  We have the same Bible in our drawer!”  I guess a big book with small text must be a Bible ;)

Our kids slept amazingly well, considering we were all in one room.  Jensyn cried to nurse during the night, and she woke Max…but it only took a few minutes to settle everyone.

In the morning, we visited a church that we’ve been curious about.  We really, REALLY enjoyed our visit.  We felt so at home, and the whole experience was just…well…NICE.  Really, really nice.  The pastor was so kind, giving us a tour of the church when we arrived.  The church family was welcoming, and our kids loved their classes.  (Well, Jensyn cried in nursery…but the boys loved their classes.)   The worship service was so organized, and the sermon was excellent – one of those sermons that really makes you think.  We were impressed!  We agreed that, if we lived closer, we’d probably go back again.

We ended our weekend by eating lunch at a restaurant near Daddy’s work.  They order take-out from this place from time to time.  We discovered that it’s not our favorite bbq place, but it was still a good lunch…and kids eat free on Sundays, which made us happy! 

Max just loves his Grandpa S – his “buddy” for the weekend! 

Our boys were excited to get free ice cream cones after their meal.  (Of course, we had to explain to Alex that you can EAT an ice cream cone…we usually give our kids ice cream in bowls, and he was a bit confused when Grandpa took a bit of his cone!)

   

We’re spoiled, I know, to be able to make a little trip like this.  With the discounted room, the weekend was pretty reasonable, but I know that many cannot afford to get away for a night.  We are blessed, and we are thankful!  It was so nice to be away…and even nicer to get some quality time with Grandma & Grandpa!

A few more random pictures to take on at the end…