A trip to Ottawa

This past weekend, we packed the kids into the car on Friday afternoon and headed down the highway to Ottawa to visit Alison, Billy and baby Theodore.

The drive down was trying. It was raining; it took an hour just to get to Oshawa and patience wasn't a word the kids understood. It took six hours to get there, making it 10:30 p.m. before we finally arrived at our hotel. Thankfully, the kids had fallen asleep at about 9 p.m., but it was still a long drive --especially the two hours after it got dark but before the kids fell asleep. It's a lot harder to entertain kids in the dark.

The next morning, we headed over to my sister's for a visit, hung out there for a little bit and then all packed up and went to the Children's museum -- where the kids had a blast.

Austin building a wall at the Children's museum

Alex driving a bus at the Children's museum

It was mid-afternoon by the time we left and headed back to our hotel so the kids could have a rest and Ali, Billy could get some rest too (after all, Theodore slept through the entire museum visit). Even Austin napped (he who has given up napping) for two hours!

We had booked a hotel suite -- and really, it was like a mini-apartment -- which was great for nap time and evening time. While the kids slept in the bedroom, we could sit on the couch and watch tv. (Or, as was the case on Saturday afternoon -- take naps on the couch.)

We headed back to my sister's for dinner, where my cousin Mindy and her partner Kevin were also there, and more holding Theodore time before calling it a night around 9:30 p.m.

Before leaving town on Sunday, we stopped in for one last visit, but since little Theodore insisted on keeping his parents up all night, we kept it short. Our kids were tired as well after a busy weekend of having fun and staying up late.

The drive home was far less eventful than the drive there -- yet it still took six hours, thanks to a two-hour stop in Brockville to visit Ryan's sister Krista in her new apartment. After a quick lunch and a walk along the waterfront, we were back on the road.

The kids were more or less good in the car -- I kept them busy with a steady stream of games and toys and before we knew it, we were home.