Spring Breakin' in Illinois

I wasn't really planning to take a spring break. The homeschooled kids and I have taken our "breaks" when we've busiest with theater and the holidays; consequently, we don't have much time to spare this week.

However, Bantam16, who's a freshman at our public high school, has been asking forlornly for several weeks now, "Can't we go somewhere for Spring Break?"

I started with Papa Rooster. "Think we could use some of your Hilton Honors points, spend a couple of nights in Chicago, and do the museums?" But it's the last week of their sales quarter at work. "Maybe if we make our numbers early," he said. I always talk about Papa Rooster being an Anglican priest, but he's also the Director of Sales for a small company in health-care information services, and the pressure is on this week. They've got several contracts to close by Friday.

So, Chicago was out. I just don't want to do it without him. And what the kids really wanted to do...was swim!

So I called the other gals I co-op with. (That means I teach writing, another mom teaches history alternating with science, and the other two moms help with babysitting and driving.) "Wanna take two days off for spring break and go spend one night in a hotel with all the kids? I found the cheapest rate in town, and there's a pool and a complimentary breakfast." "What more do we need?" two of them responded. ("Well, free wireless," I thought, but they're not bloggers.)

So I'm blogging from a recently remodeled Super 8, with a teeny-tiny--but adequate; I'm not complainin'!--pool. We've got 15 kids and 2.5 moms here (that means one can only be here half the time, but her two girls are self-sufficient and helpful). So far we've gone swimming, eaten pizza, and let the kids hang out and watch TV in their rooms--something none of them ever get to do normally. The other moms are both gone for the moment--one went to work, and the other took her teenage son to his soccer game, along with a couple of the smaller kids--so I'm posting while I can!

Here's the older group showing off...


















...and the younger crowd, looking deceptively sedate.















And here's one of our friends masquerading as a mer-man!