Parents, a princess and a pirate

Hello from parkersburg WV. It's nice enough town, from what I saw when we drove it. The kids did very well in the car, Matthew had a rough last 30mins or so but did good other then that. We're staying at the historic Blennerhasset hotel. It's a beautiful old hotel that was recently remodeled. Brett was the "guest of the day" so his name was up on a sign at the front desk and he got a free drink at dinner (which I took since he is at dinner with clients). Matthew napped for an hour so K and I watch some little house and relaxed. After he woke up., we explored the hotel and hung out in the library. Kylie likes the chess pieces but we played Shrek instead of chess with them. Matthew just crawled around exploring things. I think I made the staff a little nervous because they kept asking if we needed anything every 15 mins or so.

We did have dinner, without Brett, at the hotel resturant called Spats. Very fancy, I felt underdressed but that's why I made the reservations for 5:30, it was pretty empty. I had a yummy iceburg lettuce wedge salad and chicken tortiallini entree. Kylie had chicken fingers. Then K had a "parfait" for dessert and I had creme brulee. It was very nice and the waiter and hostess told me several times how cute and well-behaved the kids were. Good thing they did well or I would have had to have room service (it's raining so I can't go to any resturants nearby).

After dinner I wanted to give the kids a bath and there was a huge whirlpool tub in our room so I decided to join them for their bath. The water was only about 5 inches deep but it covered some of the jets so I thought I could push the whirlpool button and have bubbles come out. Well, no. The water shot out of the uncovered jets, which Kylie was sitting in front of and Matthew was looking towards. So the water hit Kylie in the back and side and sprayed Matthew in the face. So both kids start screaming and Matthew didn't settle down for the rest of the bath. Then Kylie got the hotel soap in her eyes, which stung, so she's screaming "I need a washcloth, it stings, it STINGS!", while I'm trying to get her a clean washcloth while holding a crying, slippery baby on my lap. We won't try that again.

The next day we drove Brett to work so I would have the car. We went back to the hotel and had breakfast, then put M down for a nap. He slept 2 1/2 hours while Kylie watched TV and played and I read a maginzine and planned out our day. After Matthew woke up, we went to the next town to a doll museaum. We took the 5 minute museaum tour and Kylie played in the play area. I got her a nice doll that wasn't took expensive and got Matthew a stuffed puppy. Then we left for the Fenton Glass Factory.

I was looking forward to this tour because it was listed as one of the top 10 factory tours in the US. After driving 45 mins to the factory, the lady there told me that kids under the age of 2 aren't allowed. Crap. Now, I had looked this up on the Parkersburg.org website and read their brochure and several write-ups in tourist magizines and NOTHING said anything about age restrictions. I was not happy. So, off to the swiss chocolateir. Well, the kids fell asleep in the car so we didn't stop there. Instead, I parked in a church parking lot, read a book and waited for them to wake up. Which they did so then we found a park to play at until Brett needed to be picked up.

The drive home was long but pretty good. matthew wasn't doing good for about 30 mins but then I nursed him (in the car, while he's straped into his seat, that's a fun thing to do). and he fell asleep. So it was quiet after that. It was a fun time, the hotel was great and it was nice to spend the time with Brett instead of having him be out of town.