Coeur d' Alene, ID (Day 5)
Thursday, September 26
Our day started bright and early. Up at 4:30am and on the road by 5:00am to drop Andi off at the Spokane International Airport about an hour away. Andi was flying back to Minneapolis for work the next five days while Tory, Aden and I stayed behind in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho.
After we dropped Andi off at the airport, the kids and I swung through Panera Bread for breakfast on the drive back to Coeur d’ Alene. I think the employee working the counter was surprised to see us stroll through the doors in our pajamas at 6:00am on a week-day morning.
The three of us were back “home” in our RV by 7:00am and onto school work by 7:30am. After school and breakfast, the kids snuggled up and watched cartoons while I did a workout. Then, we hung around the RV for the rest of the morning. Sometimes when we’re constantly traveling on-the-go, a slow morning is exactly what we need.
It was raining outside (again) so I decided to take the kids to an indoor amusement park for the afternoon. This was the perfect activity for the kids and I to do together because it’s something Andi would have never agreed to — ha! Not that I particularly enjoy spending my day inside an arcade with loud sounds and flashing lights, but I knew the kids would have a blast.
Triple Play Amusement Park was a kids paradise. Fortunately for us, it was a Thursday afternoon so the place was empty. I bought the kids unlimited wrist bands so there wouldn’t be any whining or fighting and off we went!
First stop was the ropes course. Tory is a big fan of these places and immediately headed to the top of the course once she was strapped into her harness. Aden was too small to go on the adult course with a parent, so I bought a $10 pass and went up with him.
Aden wasn’t having the course at all. In his defense, it was three stories high! A little scary for a five-year-old. Tory, on the other hand, was tight-roping high above us on her own. She was in her element.
Aden and I decided to go through the laser maze while we waited for Tory. It was basically a shipping container that was dark inside with green laser lights shining inside it. I tried to explain to Aden that the lights wouldn’t hurt if they touched him, but he was so scared! “Pretend you’re a spy on a super secret mission,” I told him, but nothing seemed to help. He made it through the maze once and said afterward, “That made my heart shiver!”
Tory did the laser maze a few times by herself after she finished on the ropes course, and then we moved onto the bumper cars in a different section of the amusement park.
The bumper cars were cool because they were in the dark. The cars were lit up by neon lights and Tory and Aden were the only kids on the ride. They had fun bumping into each other without all the craziness of other people around.
The kids played miniature golf and then they discovered the arcade. Their unlimited wrist bands came with $10 of games each, so they spent the next two hours figuring out what games gave them the most tickets to spend.
I think they spent at least 30 minutes at the ticket counter contemplating what to buy with their arcade earnings. Tory and Aden each walked away with prize bags full of plastic balls, decoder rings, temporary tattoos, tootsie rolls, ring pops, neon vampire teeth and silly putty. They were in heaven!
After four hours at Triple Play Fun Park, I convinced the kids it was time to leave. We still needed to buy groceries for the weekend and make dinner.
I made the mistake of letting Aden eat a Ring Pop before we left the arcade — oy. I’ve had more enjoyable shopping trips.
The kids and I bought groceries at Wal-Mart and then returned to Camp Coeur d’ Alene campground. Dinner was easy since Andi was gone — I made the kids a microwaved burrito and a hot dog. I wasn’t even hungry myself, so no need to cook.
Tory, Aden and I finished the night watching cartoons and doing laundry. Tomorrow, we’ll drive back to Spokane to pick up Grandma Janie who’s spending the weekend with us in Coeur d’ Alene. We’re excited!
