i’ve realized that it doesn’t take much for our family to feel adventurous.  taking a saturday to travel to a gymnastics meet felt a little adventurous. booking a room in an old motel felt adventurous.

and after going back to the office a couple times to make sure we understood where our room was (we were sure we misunderstood), walking into our once-upon-a-time-it-must-have-been-an-apartment motel room was for sure an adventure.

and we weren’t just in a motel room…we were in the s.s. simmer.  the kids loved the nautical theme.  i was impressed to find nautical reminders at every turn.  someone had fun readying the room rooms.

true statements from the mouths of babes:

i can’t believe we have TWO rooms!
i mean, normally a hotel room has only one!
and i can’t believe we have a kitchen!
why didn’t we bring groceries?
and look how everything in the cupboard is wrapped up in plastic bags!
are these walls really wood or was it painted to look like it?
can sally sleep with us?
i mean she probably can or else they wouldn’t have allowed her in.
how do they know that someone won’t steal all these beautiful light houses and life savers?
can we go on line to buy ourselves blankets with ocean things on them?
there must not be any mosquitos or else they would have fixed that screen.
we should come here with friends since there are 4 rooms in our building.
it feels like we should know the people in the house next door since we share a yard.
they must really like kids since they have a playground.
they know how to reuse things really well…
i mean, why not use an old piece of paper if you can?
i can’t believe that this place is cheaper than nana and papa’s hotel…
i mean it’s like we have a whole house!

sally was along and happy to sniff her way back to all those who had shared the room before us.

naomi participated in a district meet and did (very) well.  she’s a strong and determined one…but we knew that.  our family is still trying to make sense of having a programmed life.  it’s not always graceful.  we’re learning.  we’re grateful to have had grandparents along to share in the joy and share in taking the kids out for fresh air.

pizza afterwards and breakfast the next morning with nana and papa were perfect bookends to our adventurous night in the s.s.simmer.

(eliza did papa’s hair…that was a funny time)

ah, simmer motel…you were comfortable, very clean, priced right and a great adventure for our family. apparently every room has a different theme.  the front office alone is worth seeing.

if you find yourself needing a room near manhattan, kansas, check it out.