Good old Classic Fun

We just returned home from 2 1/2 hours of fun at Classic Fun Center in Sandy.  My kids have soooo much fun whenever we go there.  We went today because Tessa has been begging to go and use her scooter ever since she got it on Easter.  Walking in and seeing that big skating rink always brings back such memories from my younger days.  Spencer and Tessa took off riding their scooters and having a blast.  Then we moved into the other room and rode around the track one time, with Clara in her stroller.

  Then we parked the scooters and stroller and headed for the bounce area.  I think that's my kids' favorite part.  They bounced and bounced and bounced all over as well as climbing and sliding.  They were all smiles and sweat!  Clara didn't like being held so I let her crawl around the dirty floor a little bit.  This first picture is the toddler bounce area (kids 4 and under).  No other little kids were in there so I let Spencer go in and play with Tessa.  They love trying to make a basket.  Tessa also loves the different slides, the Double Trouble is her favorite as it's the easiest for her little legs to climb up.  Spencer really loves the one on the end that is an obstacle course climbing, squeezing, and moving around things to get to the slides at the end.  You can even push a button that will time you, or you can push both buttons and have a race.

Then we moved on to the Jungle.  Lots of climbing with nets all around.  Some of the platforms are bouncy and there are things to sit and bounce or swing on, and a bridge that goes over the skating track to more fun things like the crocodile pit (ball pit) and a zipline.  They climbed and played and had a blast.  Spencer was so sweet and helped Tessa a lot as she is too short to climb up to some platforms or get on the sitting swing thing by herself.  He also held her hand to cross the bridge since she was scared.  It made me so happy to see him being so sweet to her!

After this we took a little rest and drank some water.  Then the kids headed into the Blast Zone while Clara and I watched from the skating track.  The loud noise of the compressors scared Tessa a bit, but not as much as the older kids who were screaming scared her.  Spencer went down the steep, slick red slide once and that was enough. Tessa didn't dare do that and just loved playing in the balls.  The Blast Zone pass gives you half an hour but 15 minutes ended up being enough for my kids.

Then we used our tokens we got with the Mom's Club (10 tokens each) on the arcade games, most of which only take 2 tokens and they are 10 cents a token.  Tessa loved using them to ride the little rides (jeep, helicopter, roller coaster, ice cream truck) and Spencer used all of his trying to win a toy for Clara but the claw kept dropping them before getting to the chute.  I ended up buying an extra $2 of tokens for them to play games that would give them tickets so they could get some cheap choking hazards and candy.

It was a very fun day and the kids have been playing together so well since we got home too.  Well worth the $7.50 admission price (during Mom's Club which is 10 am-3 pm M-F except school breaks and holidays).  Even though I feel it's worth the $7.50 that is still $15 for the two kids and I like to keep Friday Fun Days no more than $10.  I don't know what I'll do when I have to start paying for Clara!  That will be in a couple months at Classic.  At least they are great at letting spectator parents in free!  Anyway, I always check their website for coupons before going at http://www.classicfuncenter.com/sandy/scoupons.html  They change their coupons monthly and this month was a free blast zone with the Mom's Club purchase.  My kids don't use it enough (15 minutes) to make it worth purchasing, but for free it was worth adding on.  My favorite coupon is when they have "Pay your age" for Mom's Club.  Spencer is $6 and Tessa is $3 and Clara is 0.  Also in the summer they have a summer pass for $10 a person and then each time you go each activity (including waterpark) is only $1.

A really SWEET day!

I've wanted to take a tour of the Sweet Candy Factory for quite a while, but they don't offer tours on Fridays.  I thought last week during my "Mommy Camp Spring Break" would have been a perfect time, but they were booked so I scheduled for today.  My sister, Janelle, and her two girls came too.

We all had to wear hairnets, including Clara.  The kids were so dang cute in their hairnets that Janelle took a picture.  I'll have her send it to me so I can post it on here.  Clara actually did a pretty good job of keeping it on, only taking it off a couple times during the 40 minute tour.  They had us take off all jewelry, including wedding rings and my earrings, as well as leave all purses and hats at the front.  They also asked about Clara's binki.  With her losing streak I finally bought the clip to keep it attached to her, but she managed to take it off and drop it in the car before going in.  As such I decided it was best to pocket her binki for the tour.  She didn't mind, replacing it by sucking on her toes for 40 minutes.

It was interesting to see the process of candy making.  I couldn't believe how much sugar they go through in a couple of days!  I also didn't know it took 7 days to make a jelly bean!  And Spencer's good nose quickly caught on to the room that makes cinnamon bears and the kitchen that dips chocolate items.  The 5 kids were very well behaved, although Tessa kept requesting I carry her.  She also tried to hold Spencer's hand, which they do on a very regular basis, but today he had Bailee's hand and pushed sweet little Tessa away.  I felt so bad for her and carried her more than I would have otherwise.

And there were samples.  We were given jelly beans before they got their hard sugary coating.  At the end we were given plenty of taffy as well as rock candy, jelly sticks, chocolate covered candies, and jelly beans.  Then there was the store with all the different flavors to choose from.  They make like 90 different flavors!  So, despite my kids having full Easter baskets at home still, and their bellies already being full of samples, I let each kid take a bag and put 12 different taffies in it to try.  Spencer was so excited for all the flavors!  Tessa just randomly grabbed and put in her bag.  I was also excited for all the flavors and bought quite a large bag!  After a very thorough tasting throughout the night I have to say my favorite five are:  Huckleberry, Butter Popcorn, Pineapple, Coconut, and Watermelon.  Spencer's favorites were Butter Popcorn, Cotton Candy, and Bubblegum.  They were all very good, intense flavors.  I also bought a container of grapefruit sours which are good, but would be better if they were a little more sour.

It was a fun tour, the taffy is very yummy, and it was FREE!  (except all the candy I bought at the store at the end)  If you want to take a tour just request a reservation online or by phone at least a couple days in advance.  And be sure to buy some of the yummy taffy at the end!  Their website is http://www.sweetcandy.com/

Planet Play Deal

So the Incredible Pizza Company has changed their name to a more appropriate "Planet Play".  I've never eaten or played there, but I dropped Spencer off for a birthday party a few months ago and he had soooo much fun.  Today on City Deals you can purchase 4 buffets with $50 of play cards for only $32.00.  Go to their website and find Planet Play and enter the code SUNNY20 at the checkout.  I bought one so we can go as a family later.  I figure when we go out to eat as the 4 of us it costs about $32 and even if the pizza is as bad as Chuck E. Cheese at least there is a buffet with salad, pasta, dessert, and such.  And then we get $50 of play for free!  They have bumper cars that are like $3 a game, miniature golf and mini bowling that are about $3 a game, go-karts that are about $5 a game, laser tag that's about $5 a game, and arcade games.  Just thought I'd give a heads-up.

Easter and at-home activities for Spring Break

I complain a lot about how much school Spencer has off.  Now he had off this entire week for spring break.  I've also been busy working and not spending as much time playing with or doing homework and learning stuff with my kids.  Monday was the last day of tax season so I decided I'd make an extra effort to spend time playing with and teaching my children this week.  We called it Spring Break Mommy Camp.

Tuesday was Science Day.  I got some great ideas from http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/   We did the experiments for static electricity and why the sky is blue.  The kids favorite thing was making sky in a jar.  You put water in a glass jar with a little bit of milk and then shine a flashlight on it to show how the light bounces off the particles and makes it look blue.  Tessa's extra static-y hair made the static electricity experiments work well, but Spencer's favorite part was discovering he could drag his feet on the carpet and shock me.  Not exactly my favorite part.  I tried my best to explain the whys to the experiments and I think Spencer kind of understood a little.  Tessa just wanted to eat the Cheerios and have me stop combing her hair.

Wednesday was Cooking Day.  Spencer has a Better Homes and Garden Jr. Cookbook that I let him choose a recipe out of.  He chose some caramel apple muffins for breakfast.  My neighbor gave us a bunch of her kids' old books and there was an old cake cook book in there that Tessa grabbed.    She chose "Surprise Cake" although it never explained what the surprise was.  We made Spencer's muffins for breakfast.  He wasn't in the mood to do anything so I had him read the recipe while Tessa and I made them.  They turned out pretty good so I think I may tweak them a bit for future uses.  Later in the afternoon we made Tessa's surprise cake.  This time Spencer read as well as finding me the correct measuring cups and spoons while Tessa explained to me what she saw in the pictures.  They both helped measure, pour, crack eggs, and stir.  I've made quite a few cakes and reading the recipe had me skeptical to begin with.  As we were mixing it together I was getting a bit nervous.  Then we baked them.  Sure enough the 2 cakes came out thinner and crispier than a sugar cookie.  The kids asked why it was "Surprise" cake so I took the opportunity to tell them to surprise daddy with a filling.  They put on strawberry jam (that Brodie made last week) and cut up bananas.  Tessa cut her banana in only 3 pieces so I had to cut them a little thinner.  Then I whipped up some whipping cream to cover the "cake" in.  It turned out not too bad, but not anything I would want to make again, or even eat the next day so it was garbaged.  But the kids enjoy cooking and I enjoy them enjoying cooking.

Thursday was Story Book day.  I stayed up until 1 am Wednesday night preparing.  I took scraps of red sheet from when I made superhero capes for Spencer's birthday party and I sewed a red cape for Tessa.  I also bought a basic cloth covered headband and some fun textured brown felt.  I cut out carboard "ear" shapes and glued the felt on them.  Then I hot-glued the "ears" to the headband.  I also picked up 3 pig noses from Zurchers for about $1 a piece.  First I read the kids The Three Little Pigs.  Then I gave them each a nose and I was the Big, Bad Wolf and we acted it out.  Knowing the story well, Spencer chose to be the 3rd Little Pig.  Tessa wanted to be the 1st Little Pig so Clara, by default, was the 2nd.  The kids had a blast acting out the story and running from me when I blew down their houses (their foam little couches).   Then I read them Little Red Riding Hood and handed over my wolf gear to Spencer.  I presented little Tessa with her red riding hood and she made me a basket of goodies to bring since I was the sick grandmother.  Spencer loved tricking his sister and trying to eat me up.  Although this is one of Tessa's favorite stories, she was a bit apprehensive here.  Maybe Spencer made too intimidating of a wolf.  But she liked her cape.  Then we met up with my sister and her two girls at the Draper library for a puppet show.  If you haven't been to a library puppet show, you really should go.  Besides being free (well already paid for in our property taxes...) the lady who does the puppet shows does a great job!  I've taken the girls a few times to the Sandy library and we always love the puppet shows.  This puppet show was "A Very Small House" based on a Polish folklore.  A married couple complained their house was too small so the mayor had them bring all their animals inside and then when they took them all out they loved all the space they had.  My kids are still talking about it.  Then we looked around and chose some books to bring home, including Happy Birthday Big Bad Wolf.

Friday was Earth Day.  My kids are already aware of Earth Day and of the concepts of recycling, planting, and keeping the earth clean but I talked about it again after swimming.  Then I had them watch Wall-E while I showered, reminding them we don't want to live on an earth full of garbage and that we need plants to provide us oxygen to breathe.  Then my sister and her girls came over and we decorated pots.  I couldn't find my acrylic paints so we ended up using sticky foam shapes, jewels, and buttons.  Then we filled them with dirt and planted Vinca seeds.  After that we went across the street to play with and feed the chickens.  We brought the eggs home and got each kid a plastic shopping bag (I do have a few despite trying to use the re-usable kinds).  We then went for a walk picking up all the garbage we saw.  Our  neighborhood is quite clean so we had to head out to the busier road to find some.  We also had to tell the kids not to pick up broken glass or cigarettes.  You would have thought it was an Easter Egg hunt the kids were having so much fun and were so excited to find garbage!  Even today walking home from church Spencer was pointing out the garbage he saw and said, "Mom, we need to walk over here with our bags and get this garbage."  When we returned home and washed our hands really well we then made cookies with colored sugar cookie dough.  I told each kid to make something about the earth.  Bailee made her Grandma Sue, who lives on the earth.  Afton made a puppy, which also lives on the earth.  Spencer made the sky with lots of colors in it.  Tessa made "the earth when it was a ghost".  That's my abstract little girl!

On Saturday I needed to get the house clean so I decided mommy camp would be "Getting Ready for Easter" which was a dressed up way of saying cleaning the house.  I knew my kids would be upset that I tried to make cleaning look fun so I tried to make it fun.  I told them because it was Mommy School they were going to learn something new.  Up til now they've only had to clean their rooms, put away toys & dishes.  I started by teaching them how to clean the bathroom.  I had them put on their swimsuits and get in the tub with some Scrubbing Bubbles.  They sprayed, waited, and wiped.  Then they rinsed the shower walls, and themselves, with the shower.  After getting dried and dressed I taught them how to clean the toilet with the toilet wand.  When I told Spencer the toilet wand hadn't been invented when I was a kid and I had to put my hand in the toilet with a rag he was very grossed out.  I used to be too.  Boy do I love the toilet wand.  I then gave them Clorox wipes for the outside of the toilet.  And I had them use my favorite cleaner, Comet spray, for the sink and counter.  They did a pretty good job.  Then I gave them Windex and paper towels and showed them how to clean the windows on the main floor.  After that (and washing hands) it was time to tackle the bedrooms.  For fun I had Spencer clean Tessa's room and Tessa clean Spencer's room.  Then it was the TV room and the toy room.  As I helped with all these areas, my awesome husband took care of the front room and the kitchen.  Four hours later we had a clean house for the Easter Bunny to hide eggs in.  Then we moved on to decorating eggs.

The kids were so excited for Easter and asked for a sleepover so I let them sleep together in the toy room.  Luckily they were asleep by 9:00.  I ended up getting to bed around midnight.  Then Tessa woke me up at 3:30 saying, "Spencer said to ask you if we could get up now?"  Ya, Spencer sends his little sister to do the dirty work.  I sent her back downstairs where Spencer had his alarm clock and knows the 7:00 rule at our house.  When I came down at 6:59 they were both sitting on the couch staring at the clock.  They shot up like rockets when it changed to 7:00.  And by the response of Tessa to her toys, she hadn't seen them at 3:30 in the morning.

I've heard people complain about Easter being like Christmas.  I grew up getting candy and maybe a necklace or something fairly small.  And my kids do have way more toys than they really need.  That being said, Easter is like a Spring Christmas at our house in terms of gifts.  My kids birthdays are in January and September and living in Utah there's no point in outside toys at those times or for Christmas.  But I love my kids playing outside and love to encourage them to do so.  The Easter Bunny always brings some fun outdoor toys for the kids like bikes, trikes, scooters, plastic golf set, push car, rocket, sprinkler, etc.  This year E.B. brought Spencer a 21" Hot Wheels skateboard that he has been loving!  Tessa got a cute, pink, 3-wheeled Razor scooter.  Clara got a big Nemo bouncing ball.  The older kids also got kid umbrellas, flashlights, summer pajamas, and bubble shooters.  And of course candy.  In lots of eggs.  Rather than packing a few eggs I put only a little candy in each egg but it took a whole bunch of eggs.  In the past the Accountant in me has given them a number to make sure they find every single egg and to make sure they get the same amount of eggs.  This year I just hid them.  They've been finding more throughout the day.  I think they have all been found now.  And I didn't count, I figure however many they have is more than enough and they are good enough at sharing that if one runs out before the other kid I'm sure they'll share.  Clara got a bunch of the Gerber snacks that I don't usually spend money on, cuz Cheerios are a bunch cheaper.  The yogurt/fruit melts were pretty good!

At church today Tessa got to say the prayer in primary and she wasn't shy about it at all!  She was so excited to see the other little girls and discover the Easter Bunny brought all of them Tangled.  It was really cute trying to teach the 3 year olds how to say "resurrection" and "atonement".  After church the kids quickly turned on our version of the cute movie and have been practicing their skateboarding and scooter skills while watching the movie.  I'm waiting for them to crash from too much sugar and not enough sleep.  They've been really good so far!  I also need to find a better way to integrate the Easter Bunny part with the spiritual part of Easter.

Swimming!

First I want to clarify that my previous post was for last week's Friday fun day.  I just hadn't found time to blog about it until midnight Thursday night (hence the Friday date) while I was waiting to switch laundry.

So this week Friday was the last day of swimming lessons for the kids.  They have gotten much more comfortable in the water, but they are still a bit unsure of it.  However Dimple Dell has this really fun looking park in the zero-entry kiddie pool area so I thought it would be both fun and a good experience to go swimming there.  Their open plunge, or splash & swim, starts at 3:00 in the afternoon and is $5.50 for an adult, $4.00 for each of my older kids, and $2.00 for my baby.  That's $15.50 for all of us.  That is more than my budget and I don't think we'd get that much out of our swimming time anyhow.

But then I discovered their "tot time" Monday through Friday from 11 am to 12 pm.  It's for ages 5 and under and is only $2.50 for an adult and $1.50 per kid.  That made it only $7.00 for us.  True Spencer is 6, but I figured he was close enough.  So Tessa's lesson ended at 10:30 and then I dried her off and changed her into a dry swimsuit so she wouldn't get too cold.  We then got the rest of us changed and hung around until 11.  I'm a bit paranoid and made Tessa and Clara wear life jackets.  Clara hated not being able to move so when I was just sitting around I took it off and she had a blast splashing and kicking.  But I put it back on when I would go moving around.  I made Tessa leave hers on cuz she's so little.  It had its good and bad.  Good was when the lazy river right next to the kids playground started pulling her away from the playground so her feet weren't touching.  Bad was that as soon as her feet couldn't touch it would tip her horizontal and she would roll to her stomach with her face in the water and she couldn't lift it out with the bulky jacket. 

During tot time they don't run the large waterslide that Spencer was so excited to try (although I'm sure he would have chickened out anyhow).  They also turned off the water spraying parts of the playground, which also disappointed Spencer.  But it was great for the little ones.  The bigger kids both had fun on the slide and Spencer had a blast all over the water where he could walk by himself.  It was the most fun in water I've seen Spencer have.  The kids also liked the lazy river as I would hold Clara laying down in her life jacket with her head resting on the back part, hold Tessa on my hip, and have Spencer hang around my neck as he still couldn't touch the bottom.  They loved having me pull them around over and over.  I tried to go against the river for a little exercise but it rushed water onto the part Clara was laying on so I just went the "lazy" way.  Then at 11:45 Spencer scooted over to his final swimming lesson while the girls and I showered, dried off, and changed our clothes.

It was fun to go swimming together and it wasn't very crowded.  Forty-five minutes was plenty long for the girls, although Spencer would have loved to stay longer and do more.  It was also a fun way to end swimming lessons.  I'm not going to enroll them again at Dimple Dell as it's too much of a hassle to go for one and then go back a little later for the next.  I'll put them in another session in summer in an outdoor pool where they can both have class at the same time.  Maybe next winter while Spencer's in school I'll take the girls to Dimple Dell for tot time again.  I didn't take pictures while we were swimming as I only have two arms, but here are some pictures I took during their lessons.

Super hero fish, a movie and pizza

I thought it would be great to get a jump on swimming lessons before summer started and needed to find an indoor pool.  Dimple Dell is close by and I remembered they had a fun indoor pool so I enrolled my kids.  They had a session that started last week and then they don't have any for a couple weeks and then another session starting a week or so into May.  I enrolled them for the one starting last week, without thinking of how busy work would be the last week of tax season.  It made the week a little more stressful for me.  Three days a week I woke Clara up early from a nap to drive the girls down to the rec center, get in and get Tessa changed and to the pool, entertain Clara for half an hour on my lap, get Tessa showered and dried and dressed, drive home 10 minutes before needing to get Spencer from school, come back home for another 20 minutes before leaving to do it all again with Spencer.  It took quite a bit of time.  However the kids are getting much more comfortable in the water and are having fun so it's worth it.

To get to Dimple Dell we drive by the Living Planet Aquarium so my kids were well aware of the new Superhero exhibit and have been begging to go.  Friday seemed like a perfect time.  In the 20 minutes I had between lessons I quickly made a few PB&J sandwiches that I packed along with my favorite Brothers' All Natural freeze dried fruit (I buy the large variety pack at Costco) and some Kool-Aid bottles.  I also packed Clara some baby food and bread.  We went straight from swimming lessons to the Aquarium, arriving around 12:30.  As we walked in I counted 3 signs that said, "No outside food or drink".  This didn't include the 1 sign that said, "No food or drink in the exhibit halls" so I figure it meant no outside food or drink anywhere, including the cafe.

Cafe?  Yes, it's called Calypso's Cafe.  But it's not a cafe.  There is one person with a counter top, microwave oven, and refrigerator.  And a kids meal consisting of a hot dog, chips, and a juice box is $5.00.  But there are quite a few tables in a very fun room with fish murals on all the blue walls and fish hanging from the ceiling.  And most of the people in there were eating their own food that they brought.  But I had read 3 signs and felt a little guilty so I bought a Diet Coke for myself and cookies for each of the kids.  The Diet Coke was reasonably priced for an establishment (although a 21 ounce cup 3/4 filled with ice for $1.50 was a bunch more than my can of Dr. Pepper) but the cookies were ridiculous!  They were 89 cents a piece and they were barely bigger and not any tastier than a Chips Ahoy cookie.  I no longer felt guilty eating our homemade PB&Js.  The kids loved eating in the "ocean" with Mama and Papa Bear.  That's right, we brought stuffed Mama and Papa Berenstain Bear with us.  Spencer had a take home bag from school with some Berenstain Bear books and these stuffed bears.  He had to read one book and then take Mama and Papa on an adventure with him and then write about it in the notebook to send back to class.  So they came with us to the Aquarium.

The last time we went to the Aquarium (a couple hours earlier in the day) all the fish were so active, except the stingrays.  This time was the opposite.  We still love to see all the fish (see my earlier Aquarium post about a month ago) but we had a good time with the stingrays this time.  Spencer pet them multiple times as they were swimming all over and coming up and flapping.  It must have been close to meal time.  Tessa has never seen them so active and I think it really scared her so she refused to put her hand in the water.  Other than that it was the same as last time.  We loved seeing the fish and climbing on everything that could be climbed on (the large toad, the canoe in the Amazon, the coral rocks by the sunken ship, the boat, and everything else they could find) and taking pictures with the Berenstain bears.

The new exhibit was really only cool because of it's "Superhero" theme.  The fish by themselves were quite dull but reading their super powers was fun.  At least the powers I was able to explain to Spencer.  Tessa really had no interest in anything here except the lizard at the end (superhero power of climbing walls).

I believe everyone has their areas where they are cheap and other areas where they splurge.  Movies are an area we are cheap on.  I just can't justify $30 to try to get my kids to sit through 2 hours of a movie that will come out on DVD eventually.  So we rarely go.  As such we just barely got around to renting Megamind for the kids to watch.  We made a fun night out of it by ordering pizza from The Pie (if you get take out or delivery remember to ask for extra sauce!) and eating it downstairs while watching the movie together as a family.  I thought it turned out to be a very cute show (which isn't my usual comment for a non-Disney kids movie) so the Easter Bunny may have picked it up at Target last night for $6.  The kids had fun and Tessa can't wait for the next Pizza Movie night.  She's hoping for the Barbie fairy movie but by the time we get around to renting another movie and being up for ordering out pizza again there will probably be a better kids movie for us to rent.

Birthdays and BK

So tomorrow is Brodie's birthday.  Unluckily his birthday is in the rush of the end of tax season so he usually spends it working then coming home to get dinner for the kids and putting them to bed.  I usually buy something for him as well as buying him a cake (I know this comes as a huge shock to those who know me and this is the only time I ever buy a cake rather than make one).  I love my husband very much and feel bad that I don't really show it on his birthday so I wanted to make a little more of an effort this year.  Also, whenever I ask him what he wants for his birthday, Christmas, Fathers' Day, etc. he usually responds with, "We don't have any money" so I didn't even bother asking him this year.

I made an appointment for the carpets to be cleaned today, as Brodie is a bit of a clean freak and our carpets are pretty bad.  Because of this I passed up on some work I should have been doing and had the kids help me clean the house yesterday.  I also baked Brodie's favorite chocolate cake yesterday.  This morning after Brodie took Spencer to school I hurried and moved everything except the big furniture out of the front room and TV room and vacuumed them.  Today was short day where Spencer basically goes to school to say the Pledge of Allegiance and then comes home so I didn't have much time to shower after getting the rooms ready.  Scott's Carpet Care did an awesome job of cleaning the carpets while I played with the kiddos down in the playroom.  Spencer wanted to watch The Lion King while we played.  Which makes me wonder why Disney movies have a recurring theme of a dead parent.  Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Bambi, and Nemo all have lost their mothers.  Simba and Tiana lose their fathers.  Cinderella, Snow White, Tarzan, and Mowgli lost both parents.  Even Aurora and Rapunzel don't know who their parents really are until they are all grown up.  Okay off subject here.

After the carpets were cleaned I still had a full day so I gave in to Spencer's request for McDonald's as their new toys came out today.  First I cut the cake I made in half and filled it with Brodie's favorite chocolate ice cream.  I didn't have any whipping cream so I just put it in the freezer like this for now.  Anyhow, I'm sick of McDonald's.  The last time we went the kids didn't even finish their meals or want to play at the Playplace.  So I decided we'd at least go to a different McDonald's with a playplace they haven't been to before, but I didn't want to drive too far out of the way.  We passed a Burger King and I offered that as an option.  Spencer said, "Ya!  We haven't been there before and they have Hop toys!"  Seriously I think that kid could tell you what toy is in any fast food chain's kids' meals.  So we went there.  Positives:  We had the Playplace to ourselves and the kids played for like 45 minutes because it was new and different.  They had a blast!  Also, I thought the chicken nuggets had better flavor than McDonald's and I enjoyed my Tendergrill sandwich much more than McDonald's food for adults.  Also the kids loved the crowns.  Negatives:  It is much more expensive than McDonald's.  The nugget kids meal was $3.49 (McD's is currently $2.99) and the mac'n cheese they advertise was even more.  Then they charged $.20 to upgrade the drink to milk.  And another $.59 charge to upgrade the fries to apples.  McDonald's let's you get milk and apples at no extra cost.  Their chicken nuggets had more flavor, but the breading had a horrible dry, stale texture.  And their toys aren't near as cool.  They're made cheaper and don't do the cool things McDonald's toys usually do.  But it was Friday Fun Day and the kids had fun.

We then stopped at Kohl's to get daddy birthday presents from the kids and then over to Costco where I made it out without even having to sign the credit card receipt (meaning it was under $100).  I pretty much just bought fruit and veggies cuz I love the quality and price here.  And I had to fill up with gas which I hate doing these days.

We got home with enough time for the kids to show dad their toys and play for a bit while I ran to Wal-Mart quickly and then put together a butterfly craft kit for my neice's birthday.  We dropped off Spencer and Tessa and then took Clara with us to dinner.  It was different just having one little baby.  We had a Groupon deal for Wild Rose, which is from the owners of Tiburon and Epic but out at the District.  It was really good, but I still prefer Tiburon.  Mmm thinking of their halibut in a carrot butter reduction and their chipotle seared scallops....... but tonight's dinner was very good as well.  Clara was pretty well behaved and loved gumming away on a piece of bread.  Spencer and Tessa had a blast decorating their guitars and eating cake and hitting the pinata.  They talked and sang in their balloon microphones all the way home!

That's about it since I have to make some ganache to cover the cake I made and be up in a few hours to attend my nephew's baptism before hurrying back for a full day of work.  Hopefully today made up in advance for Brodie having to take care of the kids all day tomorrow for his birthday!

April Fool's Day and a birthday party at Boondocks!

I am not a big fan of pranks, or even of surprises.  So much so that I usually buy my own birthday and Christmas gifts from my husband.  However, my kids are so much fun that I knew they would get a kick out of the day.  Of course I didn't think about this until 10:30 last night so this is how the morning went:

Spencer woke up in a pretty, silky pink and and purple Fancy Nancy comforter.  He at first thought that was kind of silly.  If you've been following my blog you know he only had school 1 out of the 4 Fridays in March which explains why his first question while I was still in bed was, "Do I have school today?"  In the April Fool's mood I made a mistake and said, "No, it's Church Day.  April Fool's!"  I then followed him downstairs and he kept going down to the TV room and turned it on.  I said, "Spencer, you need to come and eat breakfast."  He replied, "No, I'm going to watch a show."  I said, "You need to eat so you can get to school."  And the tears came, "But you said I didn't have school!"  I knew at this point I had made a huge mistake as I reminded him I said April Fool's.  He was still crying as I pointed out the cupcake stand full of chocolate cupcakes with candles.  I lit one and put it in front of him and began singing "Happy Birthday."  He kept crying and getting mad at me saying "It's NOT my Birthday!"  So I blew out the candle and ate the cupcake which made him more upset.  He finally calmed down so I gave him a cupcake and told him we'd trick Tessa when she came down.  As if on cue, Tessa strolled down with her cute, mysterious face as she said, "Hey, there's a Superhero blanket on my bed?"  She's new to April Fool's day so I quickly expained it to her.  Then I lit her a candle and Spencer and I sang her Happy Birthday.  Her whole face was smiling.  Then we both said in unison, "April Fool's!"  And she laughed hysterically.  Now it was getting fun.

When the kids wanted cereal I opened the cupboard and asked which they wanted.  They both screamed, "Fruit Loops!"  When I poured from the box, Frosted Flakes came out and they laughed.  Then they chose Captain Crunch and Cinnamon Toast Crunch came out.  The next box had the Fruit Loops in it.  Then when Spencer went to get dressed he started laughing and said, "Mom I don't wear girl panties!"  And he threw all of Tessa's panties out of his room.  That made Tessa wonder what was in her drawers so she ran upstairs to see.  She started laughing and brought Spencer his underwear and told him she liked the octopus ones.  That was as far as my late night thoughts got me but it set them on the path.

After Spencer came home from school he couldn't stop his April Fool's jokes.  Of course his were at a kindergarten level such as telling me it was snowing while we were outside in the 60 degree sunshine or telling Tessa the fruit snacks she just ate were poison and she was going to die.  At least he was quick to always follow his jokes up with "April Fool's!" which would make Tessa laugh.  By lunch time Tessa was saying, "Ha, ha Spencer you so funny" after absolutely everything Spencer said, even when it wasn't a joke.  And Tessa followed up just about everything she said with "April First Day!"  But she never got the hang of actually tricking anyone,she just said that at the end of whatever she was saying.

Shortly after lunch we began our Friday clean up, which was enough of a downer to seem to make them lose the April Fool's magic.  After cleaning the front room and TV room I decided they needed to enjoy the beautiful weather so I sent them outside while I vacuumed and got some laundry done.  Then we tackled the toy room.  The cleaning combined with the break outside took longer than I had thought it would, so we headed out a little later than I originally planned.

My sweet little neice turned 5 today!  My sister decided to have her party at Boondocks in Kaysville, which was really sweet of her to make it closer to us Salt Lake City-ers as she lives up in Tremonton herself.  But the party started at 7 and was about half an hour away and my kids go to bed  between 7:30 and 8:00.  So we headed out early, stopped for dinner, and arrived at Boondocks just before 6.  Tessa is too short for most things there and we didn't have  alot of time so I just got them wristbands for the Kiddie Cove.  My youngest sister arrived about the same time with her two girls so the four kids had a blast playing in the Kiddie Cove.  It was a lot of fun and I know $3 isn't much, but it's too much for the Kiddie Cove.  It's not that much of a step up from a McDonald's playplace where $3 not only gets you unlimited play but a kid's meal with a toy as well.  And places like Classic and Jungle Jim's aren't too much more but include all sorts of rides or bouncy houses and slides as well for not much more money.  Luckily I had a Happenings Coupon for buy one get one free and it was worth $1.50 per kid.  Then we played a few arcade games but I also noticed $5 doesn't get near as many games at Boondocks as it does at Chuck E Cheese's or Jungle Jim's or Classic.  The other places are like 10 cents a game but here they are a minimum of 25 cents and some are up to $1.50!  Nonetheless my kids had fun playing the few games they did and redeeming their tickets for some useless choking hazards.  Most importantly they had a blast playing with their cousins.

We had already eaten but my sister got pizza for the party and my kids ended up eating a slice each as well as having some cake.  They had a lot of fun running around the room and the tables with each other.  I felt bad that as we were leaving (a little past 8) all the other cousins were just heading out to the bumper boats.  Spencer cried that we weren't going with them but it was already past their bedtime, Clara would need to nurse soon, and I was exhausted.  Thankfully Spencer didn't cry long and the car ride home was uneventful.  I was actually quite surprised with how well the kids did for the ride up and back.  We rarely drive more than 10 minutes away from our house and I didn't even hook up the DVD screens.  I am sure lucky to have such great kids!

And now I am wishing I was in bed but I'm waiting for the laundry cuz Tessa puked all over herself and her bed a little bit ago.  I cleaned her up and changed her sheets, but my past experiences tell me there is a very high likelihood I'll need to change them again tonight so I need to get them cleaned.  I'm hoping it's something she ate and that this won't spread to my other kids or the cousins they played with or the countless other children who were at Boondocks tonight.  But if it does.....so goes life.

Oh, and staying true to tradition Clara lost her favorite sippy cup at Boondocks tonight.