A mini break

On Saturday morning we headed south for Charlotte. Stopped for breakfast at a Cracker Barrel just outside Lexington. Cracker Barrel is one of those many large chains that really confuses me. Looking at the entrance it appears to be an old building with old worn farming equipment on the walls and a large wrap around porch with rocking chairs. It all screams genuineness. That feeling lingers until we see the next Cracker Barrel with exactly the same decor and I bet even the same waitresses.

The waitresses are all in their 40's and 50' and butter you up with sugars, honey and darlings. The food is good, the breakfast menu is huge and we had a hard time making up our mind. We ended up with scrambled eggs, bacon, ham, pancakes, french toast, hash brown.

We continued our trip and by noon we parked the car outside Carowinds. A huge amusement and water park lay before us. Started in the kids area where Nick Jr/Nickelodeon were the big sponsor. I was actually a bit disappointed with this part of the park, the rids were a bit so and so. A bit worn down and don't get me started on the people working in the park. So slow it drove us nuts. We now that we are in safety-world but there are some limits. To get the kids on a 'small airplanes that lift 8ft off the ground' we stood in line forever even though there was no queue. The operator named Buddy took his time measuring each child at the gate and then slowly discussing with the annoyed parents why he didn't let their 54'' daughter on a max 48'' ride. Then when all kids weer seated he took a stroll, not a brisk walk, around checking the belts before finally starting the thrilling 90sec ride. Then he had to stroll back around unlocking each and every child not letting the parents help.

We finally managed to get through the kids zone and get something to eat. Instead of looking at all the crazy roller coasters that we couldn't go on we walked to the water park. The kids got new energy and had a great time splashing, soaking and sliding. The sun came out and we had a great time.

Left Carowinds at 8pm and drove to the hotel. The kids ate pizza in bed and watched a little telly.

Rise and shine.

Wonderful breakfast at the hotel, very international. Filip couldn't wait to go to the hotel pool, he had been talking about that since we left home. We hadn't planned anything for the day just knowing that we didn't want to go straight home. All being a bit tired too we didn't want to go a an big exploration trip down town.

Like a miracle we came to Concorde Mills, the shopping heaven. Exit 49 makes many men nervous about the family's future financial situation. Can proudly say I didn't buy a thing. Just walking around alone, the kids and Henrik stayed at the Nascar Speedpark, was a treat for me. I looked at gorgeous knitted Hilfiger sweaters realizing that it will be 3 moths before I would need that.

We came home just before 5pm and it was good to be home.