Girls Night

Taycina was given some free passes to try out a new Escape room. She's been to this place many times and because of that, she'd been offered this deal. This time, she was given 4 passes and could bring anyone she wanted. She sent me a text asking if I'd be interested in a girl's night. She said she had one other friend coming and that I could do the same. So I asked Christy if she wanted to go. She said yes and we made plans to meet up at Taycina's house and head out.

The Escape Room was at a place called The Great Escape Room found in Layton. I had never been there before, but everyone else had. I had only been to one Escape room before and just hoped that I wouldn't hold us back. I'm not very good at trivia-type games like this. The theme of the room was a rundown hotel being haunted. The storyline didn't make a whole bunch of sense to me, but it still sounded fun. We weren't the only ones in the group either, we had 8 others as well. That gave us better odds, only having an hour to get out. 

We worked in different groups running around the rooms like crazy. After a few clues were figured out, it led us into another room that had a few alcoves. We spent the majority of the time in this room. Little by little, we all were able to work together to unlock the door. To our dismay that just led us into another room. It was smaller and luckily I was grateful that this was the last one. We were met by a ghost "the worker" who congratulated us for getting out of the room. She then led us to the front and asked us all to fill out a survey regarding their new Escape Room theme.

When we were done filling out the surveys we headed to dinner. We went to eat at Tepanyaki. We had to wait a few minutes for a table, but once they were ready they escorted us back. I ordered the steak and chicken combo plate. It was amazing. I love the sauces they use to cook their meat, noodles, rice, and vegetables in. Absolutely to die for, I just wish it wasn't so expensive or I'd go more often. Maybe it's a good thing it's more expensive.

Scout activities

It literally was the last day of the month for me to get Ben's ring inspected, so we were off first thing to get it done and out of the way. When we got there the kids were happy to see that they were able to have some fun during this errand. At the bottom of the escalator, The Boy Scout of America had set up a display that had all sorts of activities that kids of any age could participate in.

The boys looked at me with a look in their eyes that told me that they really wanted to check it out. Since we had time, I told them yes. When they got there, they were super excited to see Pinewood derby cars and track, coloring pages, and even a table where they could make a paper rocket. They headed to that table first.

They each grabbed some paper and got started. After cutting out their pieces they colored them and glued them onto their main paper tube. When everything was glued, dry, and, ready to go, they got in line to launch them. One by one they placed their rockets on the end of the launching pad and then were excited to hear that they got to jump on a bubble to launch them upward. they had so much fun and even more so when they let them launch them over and over.

When they were finally done with their rockets, they moved onto the Pinewood derby area. They got to choose a car, which was already made, thank heaven, and placed it at the top of the track. When they were given the go-ahead, they pulled the lever and let the cars roll. They did this over and over as well. All of this was done while I waited for Ben's ring to get done. It worked out perfectly.

Rolling Clouds

I was on my way to the store this morning and couldn't not take this picture. I know I shouldn't have done it while I was driving, but I didn't want to miss out. The clouds looked so cool, that only a picture could actually explain it. They were rolling over the mountains like a wave washing up on the beach. It was just breathtaking. 

Treehouse Museum

Christy asked if we'd be interested in taking the kids to the Treehouse Museum. It's not my favorite place to go, but she said that there was a special play that was supposed to be really good. She has a friend (like a second mother) that worked there and said it was worth checking out. So we decided to go. 

When we got there, we got there just in time for the play. We walked into the theater and found a seat. It was a story that I had never heard of, but it had a princess, prince, jester, knight, and a few other characters. The kids were laughing and seemed to enjoy it. When the play was over they allowed the kids to come down to the stage to talk with the actors if they wanted and of course, our kids wanted to. 

When they finally got a turn to talk to the actors, I have no idea what they asked them, but from some of their responses, it must have been some interesting questions. They were pretty good actors who were still playing the role.  

When they were finally done talking to the actors we went out into the museum. The kids literally made a run for it. Minus the two youngest kids we didn't care where they went as long as they met us back at the front in an hour when they closed. Christy and I made the rounds to make sure they were all doing okay and having fun. When it was time we gathered the kids and then went to get some ice cream before heading home.

Fun Run

After months of planning the day had finally arrived for the fun run. It wasn't what we had originally wanted to do, but the previous president had convinced everyone else that this was the best way to raise money. We also had a few things left over from last year that we could use as prizes, so we gave in for one more year. In the morning we handed out t-shirts for each of the classes and did our best to hype it all up so the kids would be excited when it was time for their class to run.

Each grade went at different times. They had it all set up to have the kids run on the tennis court which didn't make sense to me at all. The black top was much bigger and had so much more room for the kids to actually run if they wanted instead of walking. I just shrugged my head and helped out where I was told. We set up water stations, hung balloons, and then waited for the kids to come out.

When a grade came out we had parents there cheering their students on as well as some of the staff. The kids were given a few pieces of information on how everything would work, the music was turned on, and then the kids started their run. I helped hand out water as they needed it as well as marking the back of their t-shirts indicating how many laps they had run. After 30ish minutes the majority of the kids had all the boxes tallied on the back of their shirts and some had even gone over. It seemed like they were having fun with it. 

When both Gabbi and Owen came out with their grades they looked excited to get going. Owen ran the entire time with his grade. He and a friend had a contest going to see who could run the most laps. Gabbi started off running but slowed down as it went on. It made me laugh to look at her face every time she came around to have another tally added to her shirt. 

When all was said and done, it was a successful fundraiser. Not all the money had been turned in yet and we still owed money to the company that they used to put it all together, but it would be enough to cover the budget we had already set aside for the rest of this year and the following year.

Birthday Party

We were invited to Kayson's birthday party and the kids were so excited. They love the parties that Melissa and Brandon throw for their kids. Today the theme for the party was Mario Cart. When we got there and things got started they were asked to line up so they could hear what the plan was. The first game was a question game. The person in charge of the round would ask a question like "has brown eyes." If you had brown eyes, you then had to leave your seat and run to another empty seat. If you didn't get to a seat and were the last one standing you would then become the one in charge of the next round. They played a few rounds and you could tell that they were all having a lot of fun.

When that game was done, each of the kids was given a belt made out of packing tape. Then two balloons were stuck to the tape. With each of the kids equipped with two balloons, they were told that this game would be like the battle round on Mario Cart. They had to run around the gym trying to pull off or pop the balloons on other kids. I was surprised how long this took the kids to the last one standing.

Halfway through William pulled himself from the game. He didn't want anyone to pop his last balloon. He came and stood by me in hopes that everyone would leave him alone. It was so funny to watch as he tried to duck more and more into my legs avoiding all the other kids, Owen especially.   

When everyone was done and the last balloon was popped (minus William of course) everyone helped pick up the balloon scraps. It was now time for presents and dessert. In the end, when everyone was done, the kids ran around the gym until it was time to go. Another successful party.

Cleaning

You can tell we were all in need of a girls' night when we get together to clean. We all had been needing to get out and just let go, so we went up to Shantelle's new place and helped her get things ready to paint and whatnot. We got some Fiiz drinks, blared the music, laughed, and talked for a couple hours before calling it a night. It was good to let go if even for a few hours.

Photo

In preparation for this next step, Ben had to put together a packet to get accepted into the Chaplain Candidate program. As a part of that packet, he had to have a new picture taken in his dress blues. It took us forever to get it up to date and all the paperwork to prove that he could wear the awards that he had, but now that it was all done, he was ready to get his picture taken. 

When at the facility we walked into the room where they take the photos. The one in charge told Ben he was next and could go into the dressing room to put on his uniform. When it was his turn, he came out to where they were taking the photo and the photographer adjusted a few things on his jacket. When that was done, she snapped his picture, and we were on our way. This was the last step in completing his packet. Now it was out of our hands and a waiting game.

Wax Museum

The one big project that the 5th graders had to do was the Wax Museum. This was a project that would take some time and eventually ended with a Wax Museum. The first step was to choose a person to do her report on. I was surprised when she came home from school and she told me that she was assigned her person, but she didn't get to pick. She wasn't upset by the person she got, but she said she would have picked someone else if she could. 

Her assigned person was Sonia Sotomayor. She is the third woman, the first woman of color, the first Hispanic, and the first Latina to serve on the Supreme Court. Her life and professional career were pretty impressive. Gabbi was telling me all about it when she got home. She also showed me the few books that she had to do the research she needed to get her project done. Now she just had to get it done.

After a few weeks of on again off again working on this project, she was finally done. She had finished filling out the packet, which in turn helped her to write her report. Now all she had to do was dress up like Sonia and pick some important points to share with those that came to the Wax Museum. She went through some pictures of her and decided that she wanted me to curl her hair and then we borrowed Shantelle's Graduation robe for her to wear. We also made a gavel for her to hold (which she could put her speaking points on) to top it all off. On the day of the Wax Museum, she was ready to go. I was bummed that I wouldn't actually get to see her. It was for the school and teachers to walk through. I had her practice at home, at least I could see that.

When school was over I got an email from her teacher with a picture of all the kids dressed up. He said that everyone did a great job and that it all went off without a hitch. They called it a big success. When Gabbi came home she said pretty much the same thing, with the added twist of how she thought she did. She said it went okay, fumbled over her words a few times, but overall she was glad that it was over.

Treehouse

William was super excited when he was asked if he wanted to go to the Treehouse Museum. We made all the plans and then sadly his friend pulled out at the last minute, but since we had already made the plans he and I went anyways. When we got there his head was spinning trying to decide what to do first. 

One of the workers told us about a craft hour available on the second floor. I asked him what he thought about it, he shook his head, and we headed upstairs. When we got inside, we found a table and sat down. We waited for things to get started and once they did, they explained that they were talking about bugs all month long so the craft was making bugs out of all sorts of materials. Once they were given the go-ahead, he grabbed a lot of different things and just looked at them for a minute. He looked around the room to see what others were doing and then started fiddling himself. When he was done he had a mommy bug and a baby bug that he was very proud of. 

When he was done with his craft, I told him to go where he wanted and I would just follow. We went all over the place. If there was something to do, he found it and we did it. His favorite was the dress-up stage. He could dress up as a lot of things, but his favorite one was the pirate. He even found a parrot that he put on his shoulder. It was so cute. He walked around playing pirate for a long time before moving on to the next thing.

After having gone to every place in the museum he could, I asked him if there was anything else he wanted to do. He told me that he wanted to go back to the train station. I told him yes and he ran for it. He loves the trains and even more so these train tables. We have one but since moving into Mom and Dad's there hasn't been room to set it up. He must be missing it. We stayed there for what seemed like forever. I sadly had to burst his bubble because it was time to go and pick up the other two; they were about to get out of school.

He made one last stop at the Fish tank before heading out the door. It turned out to be a pretty fun afternoon with him.