Spring Break in Retrospect: Thursday

For the past four or five years, we've made a tradition of hitting the Indianapolis Children's Museum over spring break each year. This year, I really wanted to take the kids to stay at a Great Wolf Lodge, but the closest one to us is in Cincy, and we would have had to forego the musuem. Luckily, Tony came up with a great compromise. The Holiday Inn North in Indianapolis has an indoor waterpark, similar to a Great Wolf Lodge, and they had a package deal including tickets to the museum. Tony was able to get Thursday and Friday off, so away we went.

Our original plan was to take the kiddos to the Indianapolis Zoo on Thursday. However, the weather report was 90% rain. When we got into Indy about 9:00 am, the sky was somewhat sunny. We called our friend Dave who lives in town, and he looked up the weather report. The radar claimed it wouldn't be raining until later in the day, but the sky looked ominous. We opted for the Indiana State Museum instead, a little nervously. Tony and I really wanted to see the Lincoln exhibit from the Library of Congress while it was here, but we weren't sure how the kids would handle it. It turned out to be a great choice! Andrew was excited about the Lincoln exhibits because he had studied Lincoln in school. Here he is in front of one of the Lincoln's carriages.
We did the Lincoln exhibit first, knowing it wouldn't hold the boys' attention as long. The exhibits were phenomenal and I am so glad we had the opportunity to view them. After the exhibit, we went outside to see the canal and the steam powered clock. Aidan loved the canal, but the short trip outside validated our museum choice because it was already sprinking.

We came back inside out of the rain and proceeded to eat our picnic lunch in the cafeteria rather than in the White River State Park, like we wanted. Here is the whole gang in front of a sculpture by Robert Indiana:

Aidan and his steam engine:

The boys really liked trying out the pioneer chores. They could lift buckets of water, carry firewood, and churn butter.

The State Musuem turned out to be an excellent alternative to the zoo, and much cheaper (even with IMAX tickets, which we didn't have time for). We covered the museum and the kids really enjoyed it and appreciated learning about our state, which says a lot for a six and five year old. When we left, we had about an hour before we could check into our hotel, so we decided to stop by the state house. None of the kids had been in it before, and we were hoping to catch either our friend Todd, who is Secretary of State, or Dr. Bennett, the superintendent of public instruction, who is an acquaintance from home. Unfortunately, both were out for the day. It was a fun pitstop anyway.

Here are the boys in front of the capitol. I made them pose, even though it was pouring down rain.

We got to the hotel and got checked in. The water park opened at four, but we wanted to get the kids some dinner before we started playing. We walked (well, ran in the rain) across the street to Texas Roadhouse and then returned to get ready to play in the water. Sophie didn't need any more entertainment than the mirror in our room.

Here are two pictures inside the waterpark. It was great - lots of things to do, but not so large that I felt like I lost track of the boys as they were playing.

This is not the best picture of Sophie and I, but it illustrates Sophie's great love of water. She was not interested in the camera - she wanted in the pool!

Beyond the kiddie pool, there were also three water slides that Tony and I took turns on with Andrew. There was a "lazy river" with tubes. I tried doing that with Sophie, but she kept trying to get out of the tube and into the water. There was a hot tub, but the best part was a warm pool, similar to a therapy pool. It was like sitting in a large, bubbly bathtub. Sophie, Tony and I loved it.

We played for three hours until closing, which was plenty for our young brood. We were back in our room shortly after nine and got everyone bathed in the big bathtub. Then the boys got a special treat before bed.

We had a great day, and the kids were so well behaved. Not a fight or argument about anything, and no naps. Perhaps we should live in a hotel? Stay tuned for our pictures from the Friday Children's Musuem visit! I would highly recommend "Carribean Cove" at the Holiday Inn North to anyone. I felt like there were more than enough life guards, and they kept the kids under control. The hotel was nice, and the rates were reasonable. We had a room with two queen beds, a fold out couch and a kitchenette for $306. That included our waterpark admission for two days (if we had wanted to stay), tickets to the musuem (about $50), and kids eat free at Holiday Inn. Not a bad deal!