Daddy Mom

Once a year I get to escape for a couple days with my mom. I can only do so because of Ben and his willingness to take some time off work to watch the kids. The kids love it, I love it, and I hope Ben loves it. The best part is the little updates and pictures while I'm gone. They always have smiles on their faces and they always say things are going well. but as they say "What happens when moms gone stay a secret when moms gone." At least when I come home they are all alive and happy.

Birthday Breakfast

The next morning my friends decided to take me out for breakfast. We went to the Black Bear Diner, which none of us had been to before. It's always busy whenever you drive by, but we were lucky to be able to find it not too bad. 

When we got there William couldn't help but play in the waiting area. They had bear foot prints all over the floor and on the benches as well. He was pretending he was a bear and he was the one leaving those prints. He was pretty upset that I made him leave the prints when it was time to head to our table.

After we sat down and ordered our food, I as given a gift. Inside was a shirt and a sign. I loved them both. The shirt was made personally for me. Which I thought was awesome and it completely described me. The sign was a fun reminder of the friendship that we all share.

It was a great way to end my birthday weekend.

Birthday dinner

Since my actually birthday was on a Sunday this year, we couldn't exactly go out to dinner. Instead we went on Monday. I chose to go to Longhorn Steakhouse. I loved it the last time we were there and I really wanted they beer battered cheese curds. When we got there I was surprised that there wasn't a very long wait. I guess it was a Monday. The kids were excited to be eating somewhere new and I was even more surprised how well they behaved. Dinner was delicious. I would go back all the time if I could afford it.

All about Me

Her first big assignment of the school year was a poster board that told all about her. She could draw or write all the things that make up Gabbi. 

When she came home from school she had half of it done. Sadly she had spelled her own name wrong. I was surprised ans when I asked her why it was spelled "Gabi" instead of "Gabbi" she said that she ran out of room and decided to leave off one of the "b's". She didn't like my response when I told her that she needed to do it over. She told me that she couldn't, that she had done it in marker. I told her to turn it over. She cried not wanting to do it over and I told her that i would help her place the letter for her name and then she could do the rest. She seemed okay with that.

After about an hour, she came out of the office with the finished product. She even added a few things that she didn't have on there earlier. She was proud of her finished poster and couldn't wait to take it to school. 

Box Elder Fair

After we were done with Lagoon we stopped at home for a quick minute before heading up to Garland for the Box Elder Fair. It was the plan that this would be the monthly Sagez get together, but we were the only ones who were able to make it. The kids were happy that we did because they love going to the fair.

When we got there we started with walking around the animal stalls. Our kids love this the best, especially the horses. We even stopped to check out the pigs this time. I hate going in there because of the smell, but the kids didn't want to pass them by. 

When we were done looking at all the animals, we sat down and got a bite to eat while we waited for the Roughstock band to start playing. When they finally did the kids never sat down. They were up and dancing around the whole dance floor the whole time. When it was time to go we literally had to drag them off the dance floor. I almost felt bad, but it had been a long day and I was ready to go home. 

Surprise

My birthday is always a busy one or at least it has been for the last three years because it has landed on the weekend. That weekend (4th Saturday in August) always consists of the Associated Foods Family day at Lagoon with Annie and the Box Elder Fair with Nelson and Deann. We always do our best to do both and this year wasn't any different.

So we went about our day as usual. We went to Lagoon, where I received some balloons, taffy, and cards with some birthday money in them from Beth and Annie, then after we were done there we had a little bit of time before having to head up for the fair. Ben was driving and I was surprised that he got off the freeway before our exit. Where he was going I had no idea. He was driving around the neighborhoods on Mountain Rd. Then he all of a sudden pulled onto one of the neighborhood streets. I was completely lost at this point. When we pulled up to a house I looked at him with a puzzled look and asked what we were doing. He told me he had a birthday present for me. I instantly went mad because he told me to go pick something out for myself and I did that with the clothes. I didn't need anything else for my birthday. 

He had apparently done some searching and was able to find a sales dealer of the  Swaggerz Flip Flops. I had worn my previous pairs so often that they didn't have much sole left. He found a sales dealer and told me to go pick out some flip flops and accessories to go with them. I was shocked. He had completely caught me off guard. We walked up to the garage where a lady was waiting and she walked me in and showed me her inventory. I was surprised how much she had. I was even more surprised to hear that anyone still sold them anymore. So she gave me a birthday special and I picked out a brown and black pair of flip flops and 4 accessories to go with them. Ben made my day. I was surprised to hear how much searching he had to do and how hard he worked to be able to get me something for my birthday.  

Lagoon with Annie

It's that time of year again...Associated Foods Annual Summer Party. We didn't need to get tickets from Annie, but this year we would actually be able to join her for lunch. We had nothing going on til the evening, so we made plans to meet first thing; well 11:00 when they opened. We planned to met up at the designated pavilions for the Associated Food Families.

By the time we got there they had already started serving lunch. We hopped in line with Annie and the others to grab our lunch and went to sit down. We ended up sitting on the grass, there was a lot of people there. The grass was softer then the benches anyways.

After finishing lunch we went to ride the rides. We first started at the Dragonfly. It was a reminder of why I don't actually ride the kid ride anymore. I knew I shouldn't ride, but the kids were begging me, after all their dad was riding, why couldn't I.

After we got off we headed towards the White Roller Coaster. Ben got Owen to agree to go. I was surprised that he did especially after our last trip to Lagoon and all the new rides he tried. Ben sat with William while I took the other two. Gabbi again had to sit by herself, but after some convincing she seemed okay with it.

Owen had a hard time with it at first, but he seemed to start to enjoy it about half way through. When we got off he told me that despite it being like Bombora, being a roller coaster, he liked Bombora best. I'm sure it was because it was taller and a shorter ride.

When we got off I was surprised to see the William was just barley getting onto his ride. I guess that really didn't surprise me because the Baby Boats always has a long line. I don't know why, but it always does.

Gabbi and Owen were a little jealous that William got to ride a boat that they wanted to ride one too. So we headed over to the Tidal Wave. Gabbi was mad that we couldn't sit in the back row. With William riding, he's not tall enough to ride in the back rows. She roller her eyes, but got in the front rows regrettably.

Once the ride got started William was having the best time. He didn't stop smiling the whole time, Owen couldn't keep his head up, and Gabbi couldn't stop screaming. 

Gabbi then wanted to go on the Turn of the Century so Ben and her headed that way while I took the boys over to kiddie land.

While they were on the swings the boys wanted to ride the Sky Fighter. It doesn't do much, but it is still one of their favorites. I'm pretty sure it's only their favorite because they have guns on them that make noises when they shoot.

Because they didn't get enough of the flying, we then went over to the Red Baron. Gabbi was really sweet and told William that she wanted to ride with him. He was so happy about that. She really is good with him.

When we were done with the ride, we ran into Beth, Parker and the kids. They wanted to ride the Red Baron, so the kids got back in line with them. They were happy to ride again. They even changed up and were each riding with a cousin.

After a ride on the planes they kids wanted to go ride the cars. We walked over to the Speedway Jr. Sadly Cloie was to tall to ride and Jayse didn't want to stay in the line, so the rest of them got in line and waited for their turn to ride.

When we got off we let Cloie pick the next ride since she didn't get to ride the cars. She picked Puff the Magic Dragon. We all walked over and got in line. It seemed to be one of the longest lines in Kiddie land. It felt like it took forever, but we finally got to the front and I do mean the front. Owen and McKell took that wonderful opportunity and ran to the front seat. They couldn't have been happier that they were told they had to wait for the next one. I rode with William, Beth with Jayse, and then Cloie with Gabbi. We were all set and ready to go.

When we were done with Puff Annie offered to take the kids while we went on a ride. Ben wanted to ride the White Roller Coaster, so we left the kids with Annie and headed to ride the coaster. It's not my favorite ride, but Ben wanted to ride it.

When we were done we met up with everyone at the Merry-go-round. They had ridden it once before, but wanted to go again.

Our next ride was the Musik Express. I don't know how I convince myself that I can handle this ride, but I go every time. The kids love it, so I go. This time I rode with the younger boys while Owen rode with McKell. While we were on the Express Ben took Gabbi and Cloie to ride the Wild Mouse. It's nice have so many adults that we can all spread out and take the kids where they want to go without making other suffer rides they don't want to. Then when we're ready to meet back up again. It has worked very well all day.

 

Are patience was winding down with all the crowds, but we decided to squeeze in just a few more rides. Ben really wanted to go on the Centennial Screamer. Owen sat and watched a few rides and was slightly panicking, but Ben talked him into somehow. So I rode with Gabbi and Ben rode with Owen. He was just crossing his fingers that he would survive and not fall out. He survived with a few funny faces, but survived.

Since William couldn't ride the last one we let him choose the last ride for us for the day. He chose the Bombora. That doesn't surprise me at all. He would ride that ride over and over if her could. He loves it. I love that he can ride it and its a roller coaster the whole family can enjoy, it's not just another typical kiddie ride.

At that point we had ridden our last ride. We spent more time there then we had planned and we still had other places to go, so it was time for us to head out. We thanked Annie for letting us know and inviting us to her work's family day and we headed back to the Van.

Birthday gifts

With Ben out of town he told me that I was in charge of getting a birthday present for myself since he wouldn't have time before he got back into town and he wasn't sure what I wanted either. It didn't help that I didn't give him any hints and what not. So with his instructions I went and bought some clothes. I was invited to a Lula Rue party and I took advantage of the perfect timing. 

Treat

A perfect way to end the first day of school.....a treat from Zeppes.

The both had a lot to tell me. They both like their teachers and the friends they have in their classes again this year. They are still excited to be back in school and that's all that matters.

First Day of School

It was a fun summer, but now its back to the grind of school. I don't know who's more excited the kids or me. They will both be there all day now, and no sudden breaks in my day to pick up kids. YAY!!! 

Sadly, now I get to entertain William all day by myself. That will be an adventure. I'm not sure how he's going to cope being stuck with only me all day. I know he's going to clobber the kids when they get home wanting to play with them.

The kids excitedly woke up and were ready faster then I could say "get out of bed." I know that this won't last, but I guess I should enjoy it while it does.

When I dropped the kids off at the drop off they had no problem hopping out of the car. They couldn't wait to see what the new school year brings them. I know they will do great things this year. They are so excited and I hope it stays that way.

William wasn't very happy about their leaving, but hopefully we can find something fun to do to ease his pain... : )