Weekending in Bloomington

Happy Monday!  Hope you had a nice weekend.  We went on a fun road trip!  Friday after work we headed to Bloomington, IN the home of Indiana University for a little getaway.  I went to college at IU and haven't been back to campus since 2003.  I've been wanting to go visit ever since we moved back to Indiana, but it didn't happen until now.

Side note: I have been looking for a super long curtain rod for our playroom and the only place I could find it was at Target not available for shipping.  I ended up finding one in Bloomington so I planned to head down to pick it up there.  Kevin and I talked about my plan.  He proposed an overnight stay and a little more fun than my quick errand was going to be.  He booked a hotel, made some plans and I got busy packing.  At first I wasn't sure I wanted to go to all the effort of an overnight stay.  Then, he sweetly reminded me that one of my goals for the new year was to go on road trips so off we went :)  He's a keeper!

We stayed in a Hilton with my favorite room set up when traveling with kids - a bedroom that can be closed off, a family room with a kitchenette.  It's perfect to put Fletcher to bed early and then we get to hang out a while longer.  The fridge also allowed us to bring favorite foods for the kids.

It was about a 90 minute drive.  The scenery was snowy and the roads were clear.  It was perfect!  Olive loved watching for "critters" = deer, horses, dogs, etc.  Fletcher happily road along until we were in sight of our hotel.  Then he got carsick :(  Boo!  I cleaned him up quickly and we headed inside.

The kids LOVE staying in hotels.  

The comfy beds, the real telephones and the pool were all a big hit!

We brought along their Boogie Boards and they had so much fun!!  Have you ever heard of them??  The kids got them for Christmas from Kevin's grandma and adore them.  It lets the color, create art and doodle with NO MESS.  There are 4 writing tools that attach to the board, it erases with the touch of the button and my almost 2 year old and 4 year old LOVE them!  We've used them in the car, at church, when we travel and at home.  Art with NO mess and on the go is a huge win in my book!!  They'd be the perfect gift to give for Valentine's Day or to stick in your kid's Easter basket.

Boogie Board link -->
Boogie Board Scribble 'n Play

Mother Bear's was amazing!

We ordered pizza from a favorite local spot - Mother Bears!  Kevin asked if they had any specials and we ended up with a delicious assortment of bread sticks, pizza, brownies and drinks for $18.  We ate, relaxed and then it was time for the POOL!  Our kids are getting old enough to do fun things like this so that was a nice milestone.  We changed and headed downstairs.  Hot tub and pooling here we come.  We swam/burned off some energy for about an hour.

It felt very snow lodgy by the pool.

I always enjoy introducing the kids to new things - new cities, new experiences and new favorites.  It's fun to see their faces light up and for them to learn new skills.  We practiced using an elevator, figuring out directions, navigating new cities and I loved it.

We grabbed lunch at one of our favorite restaurants - Noodles & Co.
I've got to recreated this Pad Thai Noodle dish at home.

We brought along a road trip surprise for each kid.  We did Hatchimals for Olive and cars for Fletcher.  Olive is head over heels for Hatchimals right now so she was thrilled to have some new ones for the trip.

Hatchimal link -->
Hatchimals CollEGGtibles Season 2 - 4-Pack + Bonus (Styles & Colors May Vary) by Spin Master


We did a driving campus tour because of SNOW and got out a time or two.  I checked out my old dorms.  It was a strange feeling of nostalgia and how in the world has it been 15 years since college??  I loved my days at IU.  I 100% knew I wanted to be a teacher before ever going to college.  I never had stressful moments of picking or switching a major.  I studied hard, knew what I wanted to do and loved it.  The campus is HUGE so I'd imagine a big state school would be overwhelming if you headed off to college with lots of uncertainty.  I have no clue where Olive & Fletcher will go to college, but I felt extra motivated to start praying for their college years now.

IU's campus is super beautiful with the woods, the walking paths and all of the old buildings.

Hello School of Education & former dorms.

Linking up for Hello Monday

What did you do this weekend??


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