Roller Coaster Fun

This summer we decided to get season passes to a local theme park. Wild Waves is half roller coaster and half water rides. We've been wanting to go for several years now and decided this was a perfect summer to take advantage.

With the season passes each month we get emailed several coupons to use. This month we got to bring a friend for $5. On opening day we decided to let Megan bring a friend. She brought our neighbor Natalie. Only the roller coaster section was open since it isn't really hot enough for the water park. We thought this was perfect for us to explore and get to know the park a bit.

The kids loved it and were all really good. It was a little weird having to divide our time between kids. Andrew is still not tall enough for the bigger rides and he doesn't much like them anyway. Megan is tall enough for most everything and is a huge thrill seeker.

Jeff was Andrew's partner for most of the rides that he needed to be accompanied by an adult. He tried to get me to go but I was having too much fun taking pictures so Jeff was on duty.

We tried to make sure both kids got their share of rides and had a great time. We sometimes would divide and conquer. Jeff or MarGene would take the girls while Jeff and I took Andrew to something more his style.

We had a blast and look forward to the end of the month when the water section opens up. We checked out what they had and it all looks like tons of fun. We plan to have a fun summer.

Fishing Derby

Today we took the kids to a fishing derby. This would be their second time fishing and hopefully a chance to catch something. As the first time we took them fishing both kids came up empty after fishing for over an hour.

This time the had a stocked lake, free fishing poles, free t-shirts, and free cleaning of up to 2 fish per child. Really it wasn't free but the cost of registration of $10 each covered these items. It was also a 30 minute fishing time limit and we signed up for the first slot of 9am.

Both kids were very excited at the chance to fish. I think the hardest part was waiting in line to check in and then standing in another line to get our poles. We had a choice of 4 different colors.

Megan picked pink while Andrew picked blue. They didn't much care for the red or gold options.

We headed down to the water to wait for the ready set go. It was so hard to wait again while everyone got lined up. In fact a few people weren't paying attention and casted off. There was one little girl that caught something right off the bat before we were even allowed to get started.

I have to say Andrew is a natural. He loves fishing and for some reason is very calm and will sit and wait for stuff to happen. I think it is probably the most relaxed I've seen him. I'm calling him our little fish whisperer.

I don't think we had been fishing for very long when Andrew was the first to catch something. This was so very exciting for him and he was a glow with huge smiles. This got Megan going because she saw what it was like and really wanted to catch something.

After the first catch the kids set out to catch more. Andrew came up with the second catch which was amazing. He was actually pretty good with Dad's help. This made Megan so sad she thought she would never catch anything. Jeff transferred his help to Megan and it wasn't long before she came up with her first catch. What a relief that she got something for I would have hated for her to be left out.

As they called times up and last cast Megan put forth her best effort and came up victorious with her second and final catch. Both kids caught their quota of fish which was really nice. We saw some people leaving empty handed so we were very lucky for Jeff's helping skills. Megan didn't want to get near the fish as she didn't like them flopping around or the slimy feel. I tried to get a shot of her big catch but she refused to get near it. Now our only thing is to figure out how to cook these things up as no one in this house eats fish. Wish up luck :}

Gardening Attempt

For Mother's Day Andrew brought home a package of sunflower seeds to plant. They are yellow, red, and brown sunflowers. The picture shows them looking so pretty they were too tempting to not want to plant. In addition to that Megan brought home a little yellow flower in a small cup with soil that needed to be transplanted.

Jeff got home from work and brought home a bag of soil and the kids jumped at the chance to get out in the dirt and help. He also bought a little tomato plant to add to our little garden.

Let's just say out little dirt patch outside the front door will never be the same again. Dirt was flying everywhere and who knows if anything will actually grow but we made an attempt. None of us have any idea about gardening so we'll see how it goes.

The Pretzel Man

What do you do with a huge bag of Costco pretzels that your family doesn't want to eat?? If you live with a husband who loves to experiment with food you create something.

Jeff started out making a gallon sized zip lock bag of ranch flavored pretzels. He took them into work and they were a huge hit. So the very next night he created a plethora of flavors. Including italian parmesan, pizza, cinnamon sugar, honey mustard, and barbecue. I had gallon zip lock bags lining the counter and the oven going no stop. Most all flavors were liked by someone and it has created another run to Costco for another bag to experiment on. Jeff is certainly creative, especially when it comes to food.

Another Circus

Since our last Circus event several months ago the kids have been wanting to go to another one. They had such a good time and talked about it forever. We've had a few different circus's roll into town but we were never sure it would be as good. Well Jeff found another circus and as a surprise got us tickets for this past weekend.

The kids were so excited to go when Jeff told them Friday night. We made an evening of the event going out to dinner before and then making our way to the Circus. This one was a little different as you could go down to the arena before hand and buy tickets to do a few things like pony and elephant rides. The arena was packed with people and the lines were really long. Much to the kids dismay we had to pass on the extras.

This circus had most of the same elements as the other. I do have to say it was a little smaller and not as well run. It was still a lot of fun but just not as good in my opinion. They had 3 rings set up in the arena and the different acts would perform in one of the 3 rings. Sometimes we had a good view and sometimes it was a bit far away.

I made Jeff take some photos since he was closer most of the time and I've been told he is done for the year of taking anymore photos.

They didn't really have any clowns which the kids really loved but they did have a few acts that had some humor or comedy so it filled in the gaps.

There were also some new elements that we had not seen before which was new and different. It made this experience unique but the same so that was nice.

This one also had a bike raffle. Andrew was off one number. So close but no win. We also had a marriage proposal from a tight rope walker. The spot light popped up on the tight rope as a guy walked out and asked for our indulgence. He had his girlfriend brought out to the arena down below and proposed to her kneeling on the tight rope. You could say that was definitely unique.

The kids both said that this circus was just as good as the last in their opinion. They just love a circus and all the cool things that you get to see. It's not everyday you see such cool acts.

After all was done and we were headed home in the car I asked if the kids had fun. Both said they had a great time. Andrew said "it was awesome" and Megan said " it was just okay" even though she would totally go again.

Happy Birthday Laurie!!!

A big Happy Birthday to my wonderful BFF and Sister Laurie Von!! I love these days where I get to reflect back and look at all the photos from the past. It always gives me great laughs to see how much we've changed and remember all the great times. It was hilarious to see some of the pictures we took. I hope you get a good laugh like I did. I know you'll remember each picture and be glad I didn't share anything really embarrassing :}

Really who would have thought that just by having 3 classes our junior year of high school would have brought two totally different people together for such a strong friendship? It has been a long road when I think back and I'm glad you never gave up on me and continued inviting me to activities.

I hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy your palindrome year. Put your feet up and relax you deserve a day off at least once a year.