Mini Vacation

This past weekend, we took Eli to Grand Harbor in Dubuque for a visit to the water park and an overnight stay.  A bonus of the trip was we were able to use a gift card Ian received from work that covered both the hotel stay and the brunch the next day.  This trip also gave us the opportunity to spend time with just Eli, which I think is important to do since he has taken on the role of big brother.  Aliyah spent the night at my mom and dad's.  My mom and I were both a little worried Eli would want to go with Aliyah to their house when they picked her up but he actually seemed a lot more concerned with spending time away from her.  He even looked a bit sad as we parted ways but soon perked back up once we arrived at the hotel.  

Ian and Eli both enjoyed the water park.  We have only visited one other time with him when he was quite a bit younger, so I don't think he really remembered it.  Maybe next time he will be more interested in going down the slides. 

Eli also experienced his first time in an arcade.  

This ride caught his eye at the beginning:

There was a huge variety of games to play.  We ended up with 79 tickets at the end.  I was explaining to Eli how he could pick out certain prizes based on the number of tickets he had.  The one thing that grabbed his attention right away was a package of Sour Skittles (I'm still not sure how he loves those things!).  As I was telling him the Skittles were 200 tickets whereas we only had 79, the guy behind the counter took notice and said if he wanted the Skittles he could have them.  The worker reminded me of a stereotypical arcade worker that might play the same role in a movie, with the monotone voice, only working there because he had to at the moment.  I kind of had the impression they give out prizes that way a lot regardless of the actual number of tickets you have.  Ian also scored a bonus token that someone left behind at one of the games along with noticing (twice) that there was a leftover credit still on one of the games.  All in all, we ended up with a $5 (worth of tokens) package of Sour Skittles by the time we were finished.  

The good deals kept coming our way, too, when we ordered pizza for supper and they offered Ian another large pizza for just 50 cents more (Papa John's pizza is our favorite delivery pizza that we take advantage of when staying overnight in a hotel; it's the simple things for us that are a true treat...lol).  By the end of the night, all 3 of us were in bed by 8:00.

The next morning, we enjoyed the breakfast buffet at Tony Roma's.  Ian and Eli also went back to the water park one more time before we left to go home.  I think he was excited to be reunited with his baby sister when my mom and dad brought her back on Sunday.