That time we drove across the country... [part 2]

For the next element of our trip...

HOTEL LIFE IN CHARLOTTE

We were luckily to find a great extended stay hotel during our trip.

They provided a great breakfast

(WITH BISCUITS AND GRAVY!)

But for lunch and dinner we had to fend for ourselves.

Sure Richard got a per diem,

but frugal and un-fun Mom did not want to eat out every meal.

It's not healthy for a wallet or a colon.

I found a grocery store and bought enough little things to cook.

I mean, if my hotel room comes with a kitchen,

I'm gonna use it!

We did have many, many wonderful dining out opportunities

(More on that later!)

So, don't feel too bad for Richard.

Seriously don't give in to that little face.

He's fine.

Dinty Moore Stew is good.

Exploring this new big city was really fun!

We drove around downtown,

on the night of a Carolina Panthers football game no less!

We saw lots of crazy fans and drove by the stadium.

 It was entertaining!

Then Mom really wanted to go to a fancy mall.

And if you couldn't tell, I think I'm about the only one

who liked this idea.

(except Richard who has fun wherever he is)

Then the mood changed when they saw...

A LEGO STORE!

Suddenly they were counting up all the money in their piggy banks,

to decide which set they could buy.

The Lego Store seriously is a cool place.

They had this digital screen where you placed a box in front of it...

(See Mitchell demonstrating above)

And BOOM!

It would 3-D build it for you on the screen digitally,

so you can see what it will look like!

Even as you turn the box around, it shows you all angles!

Seriously cool technology.

The kids were happy when we found a fun land.

Kiddie go-karts!

We had a race to see which kid was the fastest.

Now, I would just like to point out the humor that this was not a shnazzy joint.

There was ONE functioning go-kart and so the "race" turned into a time trial,

since each kid could only go one at a time.

And frankly all the other rides were shut down.

Classy Charlotte, classy.

Can I just point out that Mitchell is ALWAYS biting his tongue.

Especially when he is exerting himself.

It has even been stitched in the past because he bit a hole in it!

But here he goes again...

Biting down hard hoping I makes him go faster.

Britta had the funnest ride of all!!

And finally we have PARKER... coming down the bend.

He was so scared.

Later we drove the much bigger go-karts.

(That had more than one that worked)

Richard and I had to drive because the kids were too small.

I took Parker with me,

and he screamed the whole time that I needed to slow down!!!

So, it should be an easy guess who won the time trial...

COLETTI SPEEDETTI!

 Since all the other rides were closed, we tried our hand at Mini-golf.

We were introduced to a tradition by my sister's family

that the loser of the golf game gets ice poured on their heads.

If you don't agree to the terms, you don't play.

Looks like we are all in!!

This way everyone tries their best and 

won't do dumb stuff like college freshman.

We already know Colette is the fastest driver in the family,

so who's the worst golfer??

POOR MITCHELL!!

What a good sport!

Other things we did while in Charlotte can basically be summed up in one word:

SCHOOL!

I promised all teachers that I would keep the kids on track.

So, when Richard would leave for his class,

we would get to work on ours as well.

It's easy to get your kids to do their schoolwork when you have best bribery tool at your disposal...

SWIMMING!!

And that brings us to all children's favorite pass time of any vacation.

They don't even need to leave the hotel to have fun.

Whether you are in Paris, London, or Venice...

if you have a warm pool in your hotel,

you won't see anything else.

After nine days of swimming with a two-year old clenched around my neck,

Britta finally let us put on her floaties on the last night of swimming.

And she loved them!!

She went from an utterly paranoid velcro attachment to either parent, 

to saying "Don't touch me!"

if you got anywhere near her paddling herself around.

Slowly but surely she made her way around the pool several times by herself

and her trusty floaties.

She makes us all very, very happy.

And that about sums up our temporary life in Charlotte, NC.

If you are still interested,

come back tomorrow for more!