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?!