Work Trip Tag Along: Harrisburg

Occasionally, jb has to travel for work.  It's not ideal - we miss her, she misses us, and I'm flying solo for the tricky times of day like bedtime.  Still, it's part of her work and there's no avoiding the occasional work trip.  Sometimes, though, (when a trip is within driving distance) we will tag along.  It's not exactly a family vacation - jb does have to work, (and usually longer than usual hours) after all.  But we do get to at least see jb for good-mornings and good-nights.  Plus, we get to stay in a hotel and explore a new place.

This past weekend, work called jb to Harrisburg.  It was a short trip - arriving Friday afternoon and leaving Sunday morning - and jb was quite busy, but the kids and I made the most of it.

Leo loves hotels.  This is mainly because we let him jump on the beds and watch TV.  (And by TV, I mean on the laptop because - whoa.  It's not easy to find a show that isn't totally objectionable on hotel channels - and the commercials are relentless.  The poor kid watched 20 minutes of HGTV before I finally handed over my laptop.)  jb also goes out to get us all coffee in the morning.  jb gets regular coffee, I get a syrupy frou-frou drink, and Leo gets lightly steamed milk with a sprinkle of cinnamon. 

Watching a show and drinking "coffee"

After a lazy morning we went exploring.  We hit the capitol building, then down to the Susquehanna River.  (Soak your fanny in the Susquehanny!) We walked on the People's Bridge and collected sticks in the Riverside Park. It was chilly and quite windy, so we weren't out long - but it was nice to feel like we got out to see new places.

On the People's Bridge

People's Bridge

Riverside Park

Watching the River

Then of course, just to make sure they were exhausted and there would be no shenanigans at bedtime - we hit the pool.  Now, the pool had been the big seller on this trip.  We had hyped it up to Leo (we've stayed at his hotel a few times and Leo has been in the pool as a baby, so we showed him the videos and promised lots of pool fun) and even borrowed a variety of flotation devices because I was concerned about wrangling both kids int he water.  Well, turns out the pool was under renovation.  Explaining what "renovation" means to a very excited two year old already wearing swim trunks is not fun.  But all was not lost.  I called the hotel down the street and asked if we could use their pool - and they very kindly obliged.  It was even better that the pool at the hotel we were staying at.  They keep it much warmer and had walk down steps (rather than just ladders) to get into the pool.

The kids had a blast.  And yes, my plan worked - they got good and tired and conked out soon after dinner.  I do wish jb could have joined us on these adventures - but I'm really glad that we got to see her more than if we'd been in different cities.  The ability to tag along on her work travel also allows to take trip we couldn't otherwise afford (Hello, NYC!).  It's a win-win.  At least for me and the kids.  I'm sure jb could use a night to just relax in a hotel room alone.