September 19, 2010

2 1/2 stars out of 5

To sum it up, last week's adventure was exhausting and stressful, but professionally rewarding, and sprinkled with some memorable family fun.

We flew to Cleveland on Monday for a conference that I've been working on for the better part of the last year. Twelve and thirteen hour days + the pregnancy + mothering Roscoe in my "off" time to include nursing him at nap each day, made it particularly tiring for me. There was very little downtime while the conference was in session, sleep at night was impossible, and morning sickness persisted in the form of food aversions galore. Of course, over-sized half-baked cookies and other sugar laden junk were the exception to the rule, which was ironic and by the end of the week I was feeling gross and frustrated. Little Sears will probably be born with cavities.

Roscoe and Andy entertained each other at the pool, and in the city. They found a few fun spots within walking distance to include a police museum, and some parks. Once my professional duties were fulfilled Thursday afternoon we set out as a threesome to sample the local cuisine, introduce Roscoe to bowling (Roscoe beat me, if that's even believable--he did have the advantage of bumpers, and I really am that bad.), and ride the bus to the children's museum.

Unlucky for us, the week we were in town the Great Lakes Science Center was CLOSED, and our hotel was located directly in the middle of the city which meant that we didn't have easy access to a lot of the activities that are traditionally "Cleveland". I really wanted to visit Ralphie's house from A Christmas Story, but we never made it.

The most disappointing part of the trip was that I forgot my camera's SD card, so the only documentation we have are the following five pictures. Sad. Sad. Sad.


Police Museum


On the Lake


Finger painting


Airport


Water Table

Roscoe was delighted by his first visits to the airport (planes make him crazy with excitement), and we were again impressed with his flexibility when it comes to new faces and places. He slept through both flights, and had no issues with keeping to his bedtime routine. We brought along our travel cot, as well as a few surprises (stickers, crayons, a new truck, a new animal book, and a stack and sort board) and all was well in the world of Roscoe. The biggest challenges we faced were to find appropriate whole foods for all of Roscoe's meals and snacks (we weren't entirely successful on this front), and to navigate his and my first extended separation.

Perhaps Cleveland deserves a second chance? If you know the area, what did we miss?!

4 comments:

  1. I've never been to Cleavland, so I don't have any tips on the city for you. Too bad the trip was just so-so :( But that's awesome that your son traveled so well! I'll need tips from you before we go on vacation this winter.
    What kind of work do you do?

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  2. I am so thrilled for you that Roscoe travelled so well - my son - now 25 - had 30 plane trips before turning 4 due to us living in Scotland then Hong Kong - every flight pretty trying, some even ghastly !!!

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  3. That travel cot was a COOL thing to find! It looks pretty comfy too!

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  4. I'm late responding to these comments!!

    Mama Tully: I manage a public health Initiative to integrate population health content into the medical school curriculum. What do you do?!

    Manningroad: 25-30 flights in four years is extraordinary!! That sounds like an incredible amount of work. Did you plan your trips around his sleep schedule? I bet you have a lot of tips to share!!!

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