Hanging Out with My Boys....

We're back from a quick weekend in Indianapolis and honestly....I wish we were still there.  We had a really nice time and spent WAY too much money but right now (at least before the bills come in) it feels well worth it.  We headed off Friday afternoon and got to the hotel (Omni Severin) around dinnertime.  Ernie and I had stayed at this hotel in downtown last year when we saw David Olney.  Leo seemed pleased when we walked in the lobby, looking around and saying, "this is very nice."  We settled into our room and the boys were so happy they didn't want to go anywhere.  Leo has evidently decided that he is too mature to jump from bed to bed but Owen still glories in it.  We left them to an iCarly marathon and went down and sat at the lobby bar and watched people.  A couple of wedding parties and all sorts of people coming and going....  Then Owen and I went swimming and the boys voted for room service.  I vetoed watching the rest of the iCarly marathon so we flipped through stations until Owen caught sight of the movie Titanic starting.  He begged to watch it so we all agreed.  I thought they'd tire of it as it is one LONG movie but they were mesmerized and stayed up late to watch it till the very end.  Owen thought it was wonderful and talked about it throughout the next day....and Leo thought it was 'quite interesting." 

In the  morning there was more jumping on beds, etc. and then we finally set off for the children's museum as there was not only a Star Wars/Clone Wars exhibition but also one on rock and roll guitars, etc.  We'd never been there before and I'm glad we went as the boys are ALmost getting too old for it.  The place was amazing though and get this.....they sell tylenol in vending machines in the bathroom.  Brilliant!  We did the Star Wars stuff first, then the trains (for all Leo says he doesn't like trains anymore it's still in his blood). 

Just after I looked at all the parents with toddlers and though how glad I was not to have a little one to worry about running off----we almost lost Owen.  He had decided to head up to the lobby on his own.  As I've said before....it's not clear to me whether Owen will shorten my life...or lengthen it.  We gathered him up, yelled at him, and went and had lunch.  Ernie and I spent a lot on sandwiches that sounded good but were pretty bad.  Despite that the place is pretty smart in both menu and logistics.  After that we all headed up to the guitar exhibition.  It was great but the noise was freaking overwhelming.  Leo and I both get museum fatigue pretty quickly and the noise was just stupendous.  First you've got about a million young kids yelling, then there's the poor band playing in the lobby, then you've got 10+ stations in the exhibition that all play different music including one that lets you push a button to hear different guitar solos.  Eek.  Despite that there were some fun things....

Rick Nielsen's John Deere....you gotta love it:

Owen in front of some David Lee Roth/Van Halen cars:

Some Kiss for Rob Arrol:

My personal favorite---the Joan Jett doll:

Leo and I had then had enough so we left and headed to an exhibition on Egypt that looked pretty wonderful except for the fact that we were worn out.  Eventually we had to go back and drag Owen away from the Michael Jackson figure.  We wandered up the central ramp and hit some science thing and hung out a bit until Leo and I found a bench to sit on.  Eventually we pulled the blonde one away and we headed back down four flights of the ramp.  I stupidly said, "yeah, sure we can check out the store."  What was I thinking?  They almost burst with excitement when they saw the Lego.  I was feeling like my father (very indulgent) so I said they could each get something worth x.  Then Owen found something that cost more than x so I said, "yeah, sure."  Then they saw something else which cost x plus x plus x plus x plus possibly more.  I looked at them and said, "well, only if you share it."  Honestly I didn't think they'd agree.  All I can say is that there was great rejoicing in the land and Ernie just rolled his eyes and said, "well, if your mother said so....."

Oh, and I must say that my favorite thing in the whole museum was the four story Dale Chihuly glass sculpture....and on the lower level you could look up at it through the ceiling.  My FAVORITE thing!

We made it back to the hotel mid-afternoon and Ernie and I, at least, were zonked.  The boys were in a Lego frenzy so we left them and went down to the bar where I had a bloody mary.  I haven't had a bloody mary in a million years but damn it felt good after all that sensory overload.  Nice and spicy with a big fat olive.  Ahhhhh.

What else?  Ernie found goggles in the hotel gift shop so we were able to get Leo to go swimming with all of us.  The boys wanted room service again but we said no.  We headed out with them in tow.  The area is way touristy with tons of chain restaurants but the first several we went to wouldn't allow kids.  It was 6:00, they were with their parents and these were chain restaurants--not just bars.  It seemed really odd to me.  Owen had some reaction to the chlorine going on---his face was read and his eyes were watering but you know....with Owen it's always hard to know what's real and what's drama.  Eventually we gave up and went to Hard Rock Cafe, a place we have always avoided on principle.  What principle you ask?  Well, I'm not quite sure but it was a giant concession for Ernie to go there.  We eventually got seated and tried to eat----the food was actually quite good and we had a wonderful waitress.  Poor Ernie had to keep trudging off to the bathroom with Owen to rinse his face off though.  Suffice to say it wasn't the most relaxing meals for him.  And lord but it was loud.  Having Van Halen videos two feet from me though, I can't complain about....

We meandered back to the hotel and informed the boys that we were going to sit in the lobby and people watch.  Leo asked why we would want to do that but he quickly got into the spirit of things.  Eventually Owen was wearing down so I left Leo and his father to the joys of peoplewatching and we headed upstairs.

I'd tried to get the guys to go for a walk twice but both times they had some excuse.  On Sunday morning however they knew they weren't getting out of it.  We headed out a little after 8:00.  I love walking around cities in the morning.  Owen had explained to me that we would need to walk ahead because he and Leo had a lot to talk about (I believe it was Lego related).  We concurred and this is what they looked like whenever we turned around:

We stopped at a place for breakfast and sat outside.  I bribed Leo to eat a piece of croissant and he finally did only to say, "it's bread....why did you want me to eat bread so bad?"  I tried to explain that was the point----that it's just bread so why wouldn't you freaking try it?  We were in too good a mood to irritate each other though.  I suggested going back to the hotel but they wanted to keep walking.  It was lovely. 

Eventually we headed back, loaded up and headed on out.  We stopped at a Trader Joe's and a Penzey's to stock up on a few things and trundled home.  The boys and I napped while poor Ernie drove.  Indianapolis to Champaign isn't that far but it certainly not an exciting drive.

Here's Leo yet again successfully blocking his face from the camera....  And yes, please note there were TWO shopping bags full of spices....and some of Leo's favorite vanilla.

It was nice to be home but really....I wanted to be sitting in that hotel lobby with my guys watching giggly wedding parties and guests traipsing around......  Despite the ups and downs there is nothing better than hanging out with my guys.  It did us all good.