Yet another day Spencer didn't have school. At the end of Mommy School today we made crafts. Spencer's been begging to go to Burger King and get Thor toys, but I'm not a really big fan of BK (you can read my earlier BK post about this) so I decided he could make a Thor hammer for his craft. I rinsed out an empty Tropicana orange juice box, squished the spout inside, and folded the top part in to form a rectangle. I put some glue on it and let Spencer wrap it up in tin foil, like a present. Then we took an empty paper towel holder and I had Spencer crumple and stuff old papers he had colored on into it to make it firm so it wouldn't squish when he held it. Then I used clear packaging on the top and bottom of the paper towel holder to keep the papers in it and then taped the orange juice box on top of that. I didn't have any brown ribbon so I used lime green that I had to tape a loop to the bottom, like Thor's. Then he decorated it with super hero stickers he had. I admit it doesn't look just like Thor's, but it's close enough to make Spencer happy and it was made out of stuff that was going to be thrown away, so it was basically free. Tessa made a Dora bracelet.
Outside was wet, cold, and rainy so I had to think of a Friday fun day activity inside. Since I had to make a Costco trip today, I decided we'd stop at South Towne Mall and play at Dino Towne. I know Spencer's taller than the dinosaur's hand (I think it's 42"), but he wasn't near the biggest kid playing. If you haven't been to Dino Towne it's a dinosaur themed play area for the kids on the lower level of South Towne Mall--and it's free. The floor is cushy and carpeted. There's a big tree they can climb in and go down a couple short, but steep and slick slides. There's also a dinosaur skeleton looking slide, a dinosaur skeleton they can climb inside of or on top of, a small dinosaur they can climb on and pretend to ride, a globe they can spin, and a few other things. Spencer and Tessa ran around for about an hour. I even let Clara go down the slides with me helping, and she loved to look in the mirrors that were just her size. Personally I don't really like going shopping, I prefer online, but if I have to go to the mall I usually choose South Towne just because of Dino Towne. I rarely make it anywhere without kids and having the bribe of Dino Towne if they behave while I shop makes it much easier than other malls, even though Fashion Place has more of the stores I would go to. As was, I only bought Tessa some more shorts to wear under her dresses and skirts, but the point was for the kids to have fun and they did.
By the time I got home it was close to dinner time so we decided to go out for dinner. I was glancing through the Happenings Book we have, trying to decide where to go and saw a buy one get one free at the Mayan Adventures. We went there once, about 4 years ago, and were so unimpressed I've never had the desire to go back. I've heard the food has improved and thought the kids might get a kick out of the diving and Brodie agreed. The kids loved playing on the rock dragons in front of the restaurant. After climbing up stairs all the way to the 4th floor, we sat down and opened our menus. If you go, keep in mind about $2-$3 of each meal is the price of the show. That makes their prices more reasonable. Really $8 for a kids meal? Luckily we had the buy one get one free so we got out of there for $34 including tip. Brodie and I each got he carnitas, which were surprisingly good! Not something I would crave or go back specifically for, but they were good. And there really was a lot of pork, more than you would need for the 3 small tortillas they give you, but I was full after only 2 and we brought the rest home. We had the kids split a chicken tenders meal and Spencer ate 2 pieces and a few fries while Tessa ate only 1 and a few fries. Clara had some rice and beans and pork. Maybe it was all the chips they gave us at first, but we were all stuffed when we left. And more than that the kids LOVED the shows. Every 15 minutes they have a different show. The first one was a really cool diving show with about 5 divers playing drums and diving off the "cliff" into the water. Some of them even swung from the ceiling and then did their flips and spins from the ceiling down to the water. They were quite talented! There was also a girl who spun batons with fire on the ends, one who hung down from the ceiling on some material doing the whole wrapping and spinning herself down routine, and one did acrobatics on a hoop hanging from the ceiling. I was very impressed with the shows and watched most of them myself. The kids were mesmerized. Tessa was only scared during the "monsoon" act with the loud thunder and flashes (lightning). If you think of the prices including a small fee for the show, this is a place I could see us going once a year or so. It really was fun! When we came home Spencer ran outside to practice jumping off the garden wall so he can be a diver at Mayan when he grows up. I totally forgot to bring my camera here, but if you haven't been before or if it's been a while, I really recommend this place. I also recommend going a little earlier before it gets too crowded and requesting a table by the edge so you can see while you eat rather than having to put down your food and walk over to the edge every 10 minutes.
No comments:
Post a Comment