State of the Family #11

Returning from vacay at Mahoney St. Park! So much to write about. . . fun, fun, fun!

Miss Thumb Sucker was not a huge fan of vacation for 3 main reasons. 1) She was stuck in the stroller the majority of the time, being rolled around from one activity she really couldn't participate in to the next, 2) She FINALLY cut that tooth, so she ran a fever and was not feeling great the whole time and 3) She couldn't get a comfortable, long nap in because we were always on the move. She was in decent spirits throughout the 3 days despite these things going against her. She totally hated the pool. She is not a fan of the cold water and clings to my chest and whimpers every time I try to put her in it. I don't think I got any pictures of her doing this though. I'll have to try next time we go to the pool. It will be a great scrapbook page! I did get a picture of her crying by the ball pit though. She wasn't a fan of that either!

Miss Firecracker did awesome! She was so entertained that she barely had time to throw a fit at all. The only problem we had with her was getting her to go to sleep at night! She had so much fun trying to keep up with her brother that you would have thought she would just crash at night. But she was so wired from the excitement that she had a hard time calming down. She tried so hard to keep up with him at the indoor playground and was right on his tail with everything he did at Cablea's (yes, we spent 3 hours in Cabela's on our vacation. . . daddy's choice). She isn't quite as fearless as him in the pool, however, but she was all over that froggy slide. She came home with a blotchy sunburn though since we evidently missed a few spots just around her swim suit. Thankfully it doesn't seem to be slowing her down. She was all over the zoo as well, always trying to keep up with her brother. I always think of a t-shirt I saw a while back: "Monkey see, Monkey do, Monkey get in trouble too!" Makes me laugh at how true it is!

Noisy Man had a blast. Everything we did was right up his alley. He loved running around Cabela's checking out the taxidermy and playing in the tents and hunting blinds. A nice employee even gave us some free tokens to play the hunting games they have there. We had a hard time keeping track of him in the indoor playground as he was going haywire up and down the entire structure. We spent some time fishing, but didn't really catch anything so he bored of that quickly. The pool was his domain though. This is where it is hardest trying to find him. He has NO FEAR in the water and is everywhere. Up and down the slides, over to the wave pool, floating around the water, shooting the guns. Geeesh! He is hard to keep up with and hard to catch. Being the terrible parents we are, we kind of forgot about him and his more olive skin and didn't re-apply sunscreen to him when we did his fair-skinned sisters. So, he came home with a pretty decent sunburn and I am about in tears every time I think about how preventable it is and how awful I was not to put more on him. On a brighter note, he totally loved watching Toy Story 3 in 3D and tried grabbing a few things as they "came out" of the screen at us. And we finished the vacay off at the zoo, another one of his faves!

Daddy was a little disappointed with the 3 hour Cabela's visit. Really? What did he expect when dragging 3 small children? He says he didn't really get to "look" at anything. I told him he'd have to go back with out us sometime. He wasn't too opposed to this idea. Seriously, what woman and 3 small children want to stand around fishing lures for 45 minutes? He had a hard time in the indoor playground being over 6 ft tall and all, but still had fun chasing the kids around. He bored quickly with the fishing as well and complained the whole time about his legs burning during the paddle boats and climbing the observation tower - he complains just to make sure I'm paying attention - he had a ball at both activities! He is always right at home in the pool like his son and fried even worse than he did too. His stomach is as bright as a tomato. I think his skin isn't as indestructible as it once was and he needs to up his SPF requirements. There might have been a tear spotted in the corner of his eye during Toy Story as well, but it is hard to tell with the 3D glasses (shhhh. . . don't tell him I said that). And he loves the zoo as much as the kids since he doesn't get to go with us most of the time. Mr. Schedule he is, though, had a hard time with "vacation time" and getting the kids to bed late most nights.

I am just trying to recover! I had a blast at everything and came home a little fried as well. My skin is probably about the same as Daddy's and needs a higher SPF than I used to require. I bawled at the end of Toy Story and loved watching everyone have so much fun. Now I just need some sleep since Miss Thumb Sucker hasn't slept more than 2 hrs at a time in 3 nights and was up every hour last night. My favorite is probably the indoor playground and I was able to get around significantly easier this time that last time we were there! Last time I was 7 months pregnant and had a hard time squeezing up some of the tubes! This time I could almost keep up with the kids! I totally recommend this place - so much fun!

I'll add pics later!