Saturday Fun

Last Saturday was the first Saturday Ben had off since before the kids started school, so we planned to spend the day doing some fun stuff. The older boys wanted to go with their Papa to the model airplane show in Monaville.  They had a lot of fun and got to see lots of cool RC airplanes. I think they have both decided that they now want to build and fly their own RC airplane, so this is a job for Papa!  He already got a game for his computer that is a flight simulator so they can practice flying without actually crashing anything, and they LOVE it! Yesterday after school the first thing Jacob asked me was if he could go over to Papa's house to play that game!  Papa is going to have a good time with the boys teaching them to build and fly RC planes.

Since the boys were going with Papa, we decided to let what we did be Annalisa's choice.  We started the morning off with breakfast at What-A-Burger and then headed down to Conroe. After a quick stop at Guitar Center (NOT Annalisa's choice!) we went to the mall. Ben knew there was a water taxi you could ride, so he purposely drove next to it while looking for a parking space. Annalisa saw the boat and immediately started asking if we could ride it. Then she saw Barnes & Noble (her FAVORITE library) and asked if we could go there. On our way through the mall to the water taxi she saw Marble Slab Creamery.....gotta add that to the list of things to do!  We rode the water taxi around the Woodlands and Annalisa got to sit at the very front of the boat.  We went from there to Barnes & Noble, and when we walked in the front door Annalisa said, "I LOVE the way libraries smell!"  My kids have always thought Barnes & Noble was a library because they can sit in the kids' section and read the books (we don't usually buy them anything even though I am a book lover! We usually take them there just to pass some time).  So, we went straight to the kids' section and Annalisa got hung up looking at American Girl books.  They have some really neat ones that are for crafts and stuff, but she got very excited about one that teaches you how to fix your doll's hair. It came with a special brush that won't damage your doll's hair and a DVD with tips and tricks.  She was SOLD! Nanny gave Annalisa $25.00 for her birthday, and the book was $19.95, so we were getting it!  

 After Barnes & Noble we went to Red Robin for lunch and back to the mall because Annalisa had seen the carousel there---who can pass up a carousel? Me!!  This carousel was doing circles at close to 30 mph and I wanted to throw up just standing close to it. I was sure that some kid's vomit was going to land on me during one of the rotations, but thankfully I was able to get far enough away into a "safe zone"!  Annalisa's horse was appropriately named "Flash", which is the nickname her Uncle Bub gave her when she about 2 and always wore light up shoes.  After the death defying carousel ride, we were on our way to Marble Slab when Annalisa spied The Disney Store! It is nearly impossible to get by The Disney Store without going in if you have a kid under the age of 11.  There were girls in there trying on The Little Mermaid costume, which was very pretty, but was $100!  IT IS A COSTUME for a 7 year old!!!! Are you kidding me?  So, we got our ice cream and headed to Sam's--also not Annalisa's choice, but we told her at the beginning that we had to go there before going home.  All in all it was a good day for everyone!  

When we got home Annalisa immediately began to watch the DVD on how to fix Julie's hair and she was putting it into all kinds of braids and ponytails!  I can't leave you without telling you this, though:  Nana came over to bring us something, and while she was here Annalisa was fixing Julie's hair.  She told Nana, "You always have to spray a little bit of water on her hair before you brush it."  Nana said, "Oh, really? Why?"  Annalisa said, "To keep the flies away."  Nana and I both tried really hard not to laugh at this point because Annalisa was so serious.  She said, "Really! It says so right here..." She turned the pages of her book frantically looking for the picture of the misting bottle with the tip....it read, "Always be sure to spray some water on your doll's hair before brushing to help maintain flyaways."  I love my daughter and the way she is always able to make us laugh!!!

(Benjamin was not forgotten or left out during this day of fun--he was with me, Ben and Annalisa all day long, and he enjoyed it very much!)