What's a group of kids to do while their parents are off cavorting in Hawaii without them? Luckily, they had spring break plans of their own, and they were pretty awesome. Their seven-day stay in Arnold with Hop and Mop included a jam-packed itinerary.
The highlights:
Round-trip shuttle service to and from their woodsy location. Driven by Hop with supplemental kid-tending help by Mop, both of whom are experienced in road trips of all kinds. Bonus passenger: a very excited chocolate Lab who got to share a very packed back seat with three carseats, three kids, and lots of toys.
Epic bunk bed accommodations. Without a doubt, the very best part about Hop and Mop's new cabin is the "bunk bed room," which doubles as a play room and sleeps six grandkids, which comes in handy when five cousins join in on the craziness mid-week.
Woodsy location with nearby access to state parks. A forestry
major, Hop spent untold weekends educating his own children about trees
and national forests, all while putting up with griping about long
hikes, bugs and smelly sweatshirts. He now has a captive audience once
again, and let his grandchildren loose on Big Trees State Park.
Ladybug adventures. The tour guides promised that a ladybug could be procured for a certain ladybug-obsessed little girl, and they delivered!
Western fun. True to Raley tradition, in which no trip is really complete without learning more about California, the Old West, or nature, this week included a day trip to nearby Columbia, where they panned for gold and explored the old town.
The itinerary didn't include a lot of down time for missing parents. With five cousins to play with, a new backyard in which to locate bugs (in Clara's case), a new fridge and pantry to raid (in Joey's case) and a dog to pal around with and sleep beside (in Molly's case), we were lucky they made time for a couple of Skype calls.
But they definitely filled us in on the action afterwards, bursting with details about fallen tree trunks that were tunnels, a tree stump that was so big it could be a dance floor, the secret to getting ladybugs to stay in captivity (a dab of coke on their wings), and elaborate plans for a playhouse in the trees behind the new cabin.
For fledgling Spring Breakers, it sounds like they had a pretty perfect time! Thanks again to Hop and Mop for being their cruise directors!
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