Welcome to some tid-bits of our lives. This is my on-line journal of my kids and their silly, little personalities and how they occupy our days! Visit www.flickr.com/photos/gillsrus for updated pictures of our family and past holiday cards.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
My Anniversary Day in a (big) Nutshell...
Well, I survived my first airshow as an adult. And I have to say it was actually very interesting and entertaining for me. Nothing like I remember as a child. I just remember having to walk around all day in the sweltering sun. I wasn't too eager to take my kids to this event alone, but having a son who is in LOVE with airplanes, I figured it was my parental duty to go....it was free afterall, so Nick couldn't even be upset about it :o)
It was, however, very stressful and hectic in the beginning. Actually the whole day has been about time restraints for us. My goal was to leave the house by 7:30 am to make it to Rapid when the gaits opened at 9. (Aerial acts started at 11). We ended up getting out of here just before 8:30. After a quick stop at Office Max, we placed ourselves driving up to the main entrance of Ellsworth Airforce Base just in time to be smack dab in the middle of 2 lanes of stopped, bottle-necked traffic. The time ticked away, and there went 11 o'clock. Finally they diverted our road to going to a different parking area (light-years away) and we were able to park. I'm sure the satellite image of me sprinting our mini-van stroller with two kids, collectively weighing 70 pounds, across a mounded, (prickly) grassy field for approximately 1 mile would be quite entertaining. Despite dumping the kids off at 2 of the 3 drainage (drop-off) ditches along the way, we made pretty decent time. We got to the port-a-potties so Blakely could go potty (she first voiced she had to go at about minute 2 of our 35 minute traffic wait). I stuffed her and I into the stink box and noticed her shorts were wet. I asked her if she peed in her pants and she matter-of-factly pointed her finger in the air and said "but only just a little". Too bad so sad, we had no extra clothes in the stroller and the car might as well have been parked in Sundance. On we went. We got to walk through a large cargo plane, and look in the cockpit of a fighter jet. We got to watch some awesome aerial stunts and manuevers which Deklan could not quit "woohooo"ing about. He told me, "Mom, I just LOVE airshows!" I gotta admit, I was almost in tears seeing how happy he was to be there. All the while, the looming knowledge of trying to make it back to Sundance before 4 to hit a birthday party with "blow up castles" was eating at my organizational skills. Quickly, it was off to find food & souvenirs. Each kid got a toy plane, Blakely got some chicken strips and french fries, Deklan got a funnel cake, and I got the scraps that they didn't eat...after they were already licked, dropped on the ground, etc.
We made the journey back to the Armada, sticky-handed, and off we went to the mall to find Dad a hat for our anniversary. During the drive I asked Deklan what his favorite part was. Blakely spoke up first and said, "I liked getting fwench fwies....that was my favowite pawt." Not too unlike me as a child after an airshow, I imagine
We stopped at the mall and I let Blakely out, and then went around the back of the vehicle to get Deklan out. Blakely followed me. As I lead them to the doors, I noticed Blakely eating something. "Where did you get that??" I asked her. "From the back of the Armada.." and she pointed to the tailgate. Sure enough, there was the napkin and two chicken strips I set there while loading the stroller in the back end. They made the trip all the way from the base, along the interstate, and to the mall parking lot. She had already taken a few bites by the time I saw her, so I decided I wouldn't make her throw it down and she could just finish the rest.....hey, I made a judgement call....
To make a long story a little bit longer, we couldn't find a hat for Nick, the kids were totally naughty, and I was still stressing about our time crunch, not to mention hearing "are we gonna make it to the party??!" every 5 minutes. I finally had a Mom-Flip-Out moment and said NO! WE ARE NOT GOING TO THE PARTY! YOU TWO ARE BEING TOO NAUGHTY!...we got back on the interstate, the kids fell asleep, and I got to drink my Mt. Dew and calm down a bit. We got back to Sundance just in time to enjoy the last hour of the birthday party, complete with a bouncy castle, bouncy slide, playset (that is the envy of playsets everywhere), pizza, pop, a 3 tiered castle cake and filled cupcakes... pretty darn good party! And we aren't done yet...the kids are at the neighbors playing in the sprinkler and in an hour we'll be going to a barbecue. A pretty fun day...the only thing that could make this totally fun anniversary day better, would be if Nick were actually able to spend it with us too!
It was, however, very stressful and hectic in the beginning. Actually the whole day has been about time restraints for us. My goal was to leave the house by 7:30 am to make it to Rapid when the gaits opened at 9. (Aerial acts started at 11). We ended up getting out of here just before 8:30. After a quick stop at Office Max, we placed ourselves driving up to the main entrance of Ellsworth Airforce Base just in time to be smack dab in the middle of 2 lanes of stopped, bottle-necked traffic. The time ticked away, and there went 11 o'clock. Finally they diverted our road to going to a different parking area (light-years away) and we were able to park. I'm sure the satellite image of me sprinting our mini-van stroller with two kids, collectively weighing 70 pounds, across a mounded, (prickly) grassy field for approximately 1 mile would be quite entertaining. Despite dumping the kids off at 2 of the 3 drainage (drop-off) ditches along the way, we made pretty decent time. We got to the port-a-potties so Blakely could go potty (she first voiced she had to go at about minute 2 of our 35 minute traffic wait). I stuffed her and I into the stink box and noticed her shorts were wet. I asked her if she peed in her pants and she matter-of-factly pointed her finger in the air and said "but only just a little". Too bad so sad, we had no extra clothes in the stroller and the car might as well have been parked in Sundance. On we went. We got to walk through a large cargo plane, and look in the cockpit of a fighter jet. We got to watch some awesome aerial stunts and manuevers which Deklan could not quit "woohooo"ing about. He told me, "Mom, I just LOVE airshows!" I gotta admit, I was almost in tears seeing how happy he was to be there. All the while, the looming knowledge of trying to make it back to Sundance before 4 to hit a birthday party with "blow up castles" was eating at my organizational skills. Quickly, it was off to find food & souvenirs. Each kid got a toy plane, Blakely got some chicken strips and french fries, Deklan got a funnel cake, and I got the scraps that they didn't eat...after they were already licked, dropped on the ground, etc.
We made the journey back to the Armada, sticky-handed, and off we went to the mall to find Dad a hat for our anniversary. During the drive I asked Deklan what his favorite part was. Blakely spoke up first and said, "I liked getting fwench fwies....that was my favowite pawt." Not too unlike me as a child after an airshow, I imagine
We stopped at the mall and I let Blakely out, and then went around the back of the vehicle to get Deklan out. Blakely followed me. As I lead them to the doors, I noticed Blakely eating something. "Where did you get that??" I asked her. "From the back of the Armada.." and she pointed to the tailgate. Sure enough, there was the napkin and two chicken strips I set there while loading the stroller in the back end. They made the trip all the way from the base, along the interstate, and to the mall parking lot. She had already taken a few bites by the time I saw her, so I decided I wouldn't make her throw it down and she could just finish the rest.....hey, I made a judgement call....
To make a long story a little bit longer, we couldn't find a hat for Nick, the kids were totally naughty, and I was still stressing about our time crunch, not to mention hearing "are we gonna make it to the party??!" every 5 minutes. I finally had a Mom-Flip-Out moment and said NO! WE ARE NOT GOING TO THE PARTY! YOU TWO ARE BEING TOO NAUGHTY!...we got back on the interstate, the kids fell asleep, and I got to drink my Mt. Dew and calm down a bit. We got back to Sundance just in time to enjoy the last hour of the birthday party, complete with a bouncy castle, bouncy slide, playset (that is the envy of playsets everywhere), pizza, pop, a 3 tiered castle cake and filled cupcakes... pretty darn good party! And we aren't done yet...the kids are at the neighbors playing in the sprinkler and in an hour we'll be going to a barbecue. A pretty fun day...the only thing that could make this totally fun anniversary day better, would be if Nick were actually able to spend it with us too!
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