Six Flags has fireworks for four or five nights so tonight we went to a local parking lot to watch. (We could have watched from the Six Flags parking lot as we have free parking but we honestly didn’t want to deal with any traffic.)
It was a short and sweet 15 minutes. We missed some because they were below the tree line but the kids were happy so all was well. And we were out of the parking lot and home in 10 minutes.
We spent the day in Cadillac with Tom’s extended family at a local campground where the kids enjoyed meeting new friends and playing in the pool.
Katie liked the animals. (Yes there were animals there. She especially liked the goats.)
Maggie didn’t bark once all day…until she got in front of the goats. At which point she thought she was ferocious.
After some visiting I just amused myself. There might have been margaritas involved.
Being in the military has its ups and downs, pros and cons… This move has had its share of cons, but the one definite bonus is that we are close enough to home to visit easily—and this weekend we had a spur of the moment trip home. I hate that we only got about 13 hours to spend at my childhood home (and that includes sleep!) but it’s 13 hours in one of my happy places.
We convinced him to get a haircut last night but he still won’t get a mohawk. (He had one before but one person on his baseball team made fun of it so now he doesn’t want one again.) But he did ask for me to put gel in it this morning. #9goingon13
I put Maggie’s collar on in preparation of our road trip and she is ready.
Today was library day (Owen has a two-hour class so we hang out and wait). She wasn’t sure how to spell Jean but guessed right!
The 5 and 6 is for how old she is now and how old she will be on her birthday.
We were at a local park with friends and there was a birthday party there. When it was over they came over and offered us their leftover cupcakes! It worked out perfectly as there were six kids and two adults and we got eight cupcakes! They also gave us Jello cups, spoons, plates, napkins, and wipes!
Battleship. Still in the shrink-wrap (circa 1996). They’re loving it.
Amazingly, they were entranced. It’s always a crap shoot with older movies.
We found a great Lands End coat for Owen at the Salvation Army today. It must have come from a house with pets because Charlie went crazy on it. Rubbing and pawing and just laying on it.
I love my little photobomber.
With a bonus sno-cone surprise after.
Look what happened mere minutes after arriving at the pool today?! Tooth #2!
She had a tiny freak out but not nearly as bad as before. We also had a momentary panic when I was putting her tooth in a Ziploc bag and it magically disappeared. But we found it and all was well and she was back playing within 10 minutes.
Tom has wanted to come here since we moved here. He hasn’t been to one in 25 years and I’ve never been—I’d never even heard of it before we saw it here. It didn’t quite live up to his hype, but it was passable. Nothing we had was terribly exciting but I’m glad we were able to take a trip down Tom’s memory lane.
Owen was just doing some summer slide work and needed a dictionary. I had to google a dictionary page. So it got me thinking and I asked on Facebook. I have to say I was somewhat surprised.
Whoever came up with slime needs to be shot. 🔫 Whoever came up with GLITTER slime needs to be burned at the stake. 🔥
I told the kids we’d do it once. On a rainy day. And I already regret it. I’ve told them it’s going in the garbage in a few days. IT JUST STICKS TO EVERYTHING. How are you supposed to play with it without it getting all over every damn thing?! (I thought if you kneaded it more it would become less sticky. Nope. It doesn’t even come off your hands nicely when you wash them. #neveragain
Note: Just so you don’t think I’m a horrible parent, I did get some troubleshooting advice from friends… And it helped, but I’m still never making it again. A 5yo plays with it much differently than I touch it, and it still gets ALL over and is too sticky. I just don’t have the patience. Plus she plays with it for about 45 seconds and she’s done.
https://youtu.be/H1BKizRt0hA
I had been up but in my room. I was impressed that the kids were being quiet. I went out and… Katie was so in bed (but awake). I asked where Owen was she she didn’t know.
I found him:
WHAT?! This kid never sleeps in. Maybe MAYBE until 7, but 9?!
Yeah, turns out he had been up earlier—he had been reading downstairs and even had breakfast!—but went back to bed!
And he had a guest in his room because my door had been shut!
We were a playground and the weather was really nice and I kept thinking it would be a perfect day for Six Flags…so we went! I texted friends and they were able to meet us there! Yay!
But first, a bit of backstory.
I love rides. Always have. I remember riding carnival rides all day with friends out at Hanson Hills. And Cedar Point with my dad and cousins (one of the best days ever was an overcast/threat-of-rain day where there were so few people there that we could have just stayed on the ride to ride again if they’d have let us). Tom and I even went to Cedar Point together back in the day. And then I gained weight. And gained weight. And then, shortly after we were married, Tom and I went to Kings Dominion and I had to get off a ride because the safety harness wouldn’t close and I felt so horrible that I gave up on all rides and parks after that. For 15 years. Until I recently lost the weight. So when we moved here—two miles from an amusement park—I was going to make the most of it. And I foolishly bought season passes for all of us because I was excited about it. Kind of forgetting that my kids weren’t big on rides. And apparently Tom isn’t anymore, either. 😭
So a trip to Six Flags isn’t as exciting for them as you’d think. And it’s actually a bit of a bummer for me because they don’t even want to go on the little rides (like the swings) so I can’t even go on those so I have to spend the whole time walking by rides I can’t go on. Katie likes the baby rides but we’re obviously not going to spend all day on those. And Owen is too big for those.
Now, our passes are also good for the water park—which they would love—but it’s so big that we would have to stick together and I’d have to follow them around… And that’s not much fun for me. I’d much rather go to our small water park where I can trust them to play on their own for hours at a time and I don’t even have to put my suit on.
So, needless to say, we obviously won’t be buying season passes again…but since we’ve already bought them, we’re going to use them. So here we are, waiting for our friends. I’d hoped that maybe being with a friend would get Owen on more rides… The sky looks a little threatening but it’s just the phone—it was gloriously sunny. Owen wasn’t thrilled to be taking the picture.
This is the type of ride Katie likes.
Owen did go on a teacup-style ride with his friend and said he might go on it again. Baby steps? Katie, on the other hand, loved it.
Both kids did okay on Justice League—it’s just a ride on a track on an “enhanced-motion vehicle” (it spins and moved around) where you get to shoot at things like a video game.
A ride I made Owen go on because our friends had to leave and Katie wanted to go on it. He survived.
The train. Which they both liked. Because of course it does nothing.
And then… Tom texted saying he was getting out of work early and was coming to meet us!! So he surprised the kids and was just standing there as we walked by. I wish I could have gotten Katie’s reaction.
We went on the mini roller coaster together and they liked it. BABY STEPS. 🙂
She was in a MOOD and wouldn’t stay in her bed to “rest” so I made her lay down next to me. We both napped.
Today was Father’s Day swim day at the water park so we all went and had a great time. Of course I didn’t manage to get one single picture of Tom or us with the kids. So this picture of me will have to suffice. 🙂
Also? Your Tip of the Day? Don’t expect to stay mostly dry if you go down a water slide in a tube with your husband. I got totally dunked, drank a bunch of water, and came up coughing up a lung. But my makeup and lipstick didn’t budge!
The kids have been doing pretty good on our new summer schedule routine (no whining, picking up, keeping organized, doing schoolwork, following rules) so their weekly family reward was a trip to the local carnival!
We met friends there.
Bumper cars!
Katie wanted to go on the little coaster. Owen did not. 🙂
He used to just have two on it. I’m not sure what happened recently. 🙂
One of the rules for going to the water park and being able to run around on their own is that they MUST come and check in at each safety break. These happen every two hours and are announced on the loudspeakers—and they clear the pools. We’ve had a few issues with them not remembering and they’ve been given warnings. Today was the last day for warnings, so Katie had to sit out for 15 minutes (past the end of the safety break, for a total of 30 minutes). I figure that’s small payment for the stress she caused me having to go hunt her down (and not finding her on the first go-round).
