I started off the morning by giving my hand-made valentines to the kids and Bruce. Eliza also got a Frozen shirt and Frozen socks - she wore all 6 pairs at different times that day. I gave Zabien a plush Grover doll (which he calls Grover's Farm, after a favorite book of his), and an "ah ah George", Curious George movie. Bruce got a new pair of running shorts. Before we left for our trip, Bruce gave me a new foot controlled garbage can. It may not be the most romantic gift, but it is very practical which I think are the best gifts anyway. The kids gave me a set of metallic beads which they quickly claimed for themselves (claiming that mommy was sharing with them permanently), and 3 Valentines balloons.
Rather than having a romantic night out with just the parents, we decided to take the whole family for a weekend getaway. We drove 1.5 hours east to Atlantic City, New Jersey where we stayed at the Atlantic Palace resort - right on the Atlantic City boardwalk. We had high hopes to walk along the famous boardwalk, mowzy down the beach searching for seashells, and stroll through downtown. However, the weather was bitter cold. Temperatures were below zero, and in the negative teens with the wind chill factor. When a strong gust of wind knocked over both kids with our first step outside, we immediately turned around and walked back inside. We opted to drive the 3 blocks over to the Trump Taj Mahal, a famous buffet, where we planned to have lunch. Fortunately we found meter parking, and only had to pay 1.50 instead of the required 20.00 to park at the casino buffet.
Zabien really like the golden elephant statues. If it were warmer, we may have taken more time to glance at them. As it was, Zabien was a little frozen statue - so cold, he couldn't even move. We literally stopped long enough to snap the photos, then proceeded to run inside.
Eliza marched down the sidewalk singing "Let it Go" at the top of her lungs. I hate to break it to you sweet heart, but this cold really did "bother me anyway."
Our Valentines lunch turned out to be more eventful than expected. First of all, we expected a casino buffet to be relatively inexpensive (we must be used to the casino buffets in Las Vegas). Unfortunately, buffets on the east coast, in regards to price, are nothing like they are on the west. But.. it is Valentines Day after all, so we bucked up and paid the pretty penny they charged.
The kids were extremely excited by the buffet choices. Zabien no doubt had eyes bigger than his stomach. He pointed to every dish available and wanted some on his plate - even the exotic stuff. I do have to hand it to him that he literally took a bite of everything on his plate. He ate so fast, then proceeded to run circles around the surrounding, empty tables. The big surprise came when finally went to retrieve him. I grabbed him as he ran by, and as soon as I picked him up, he managed to toss his cookies all over me and the floor. His words, "I ok mommy. I not sick." After I managed to clean it up as best I could with napkins left on a near by table, Zaby eagerly went right back to the buffet line wanting more because he was suddenly "hungry" again. The silly kid ate drank enough chocolate milk and ate enough chocolate ice cream to last him the rest of the month.
After lunch, we drove a few more blocks to visit and climb a lighthouse. This original lighthouse was the tallest in the city and was used as a lighthouse until the 60s when the skyline of Atlantic City completely changed. The lighthouse is no longer the tallest building, nor is it visible from the ocean anymore. We managed to climb all 220 stairs to the top - Eliza walked up every one. Zaby suffered from voluntary and sporadic leg paralysis (which he does often when he doesn't want to walk) and needed to be carried to the top. The picture above is the two of them posing from on the landings.
Bruce and I at the very top on the lookout. It was so COLD! By this time, the snow and ice storms started, so we didn't stay on the landing for long.
Bruce was such good sport through it all. The stairs were so narrow going down that Eliza had a hard time walking. We thought it was safer for her to be carried. Of course, being about 7 months pregnant, it wasn't safer for me to carry any of the kids down. Bruce carried Zaby down, walked back up, and carried Eliza down. When it was all said and done, Bruce probably climbed the 220 lighthouse stairs the equivalence of 3 times.
A selfie in front of the lighthouse.
That evening, we ate popcorn and Valentines cookies in our room while we watched Wreck-It Ralph. I had to take this picture because my children don't tend to sit through an entire movie (with the exception of Frozen). They both sat and watched the movie from start to finish. Zabien said he really liked it; Eliza claims she didn't, but she did watch the whole thing. If she truly didn't like it, she would not have sat through the whole thing.
Despite the bitter cold, it was fun Valentines Day weekend spent together as a family. Maybe next year we will have a little more warmth and a little less throw up. Happy Valentines Day everyone!
0 comments:
Post a Comment