A couple weeks ago we took our little family to Boone for the weekend for a wedding. We debated about taking the kids to Tweetsie (it's expensive, it was cold, we only had half a day), but we decided it was worth it so we went, and it was the right decision! Apparently Steven had a neighbor when they were kids that went to Tweetsie and he would come home telling stories about the train ride and the gunfights and whatnot, so as we were standing in line at the train Steven said he'd been waiting 34 years for this experience...I know it didn't disappoint our kids, unfortunately for him it was a bit of a letdown from how much he had built it up in his mind all those years. I was impressed that the politically correct forces of this world hadn't descended too hard on the train gig, they still painted their faces and shot guns at each other. I might have asked for a refund if there weren't any good fight scenes.
Mary Jo wasn't old enough to appreciate the train ride, but she looked cute on it!
She did, however, enjoyed Tweetsie more than I thought she would. All 14 pounds of her rode the carousel, the ferris wheel (I made Steven take her on that and I took the boys,I would have gotten too nervous),
the cars, and even the ski lift. If she was moving, she was happy!!
I think these might be the same horses I sat on as a kid. Other than some hair malfunction the kids enjoyed all the Wild West props, including the fake man in the jail cell - David was kind of obsessed with that guy. It was a fun day.
Sweet Ei uses anything he can find as a sword, usually some kind of kitchen utensil. I didn't realize he had actually taken this from the kitchen for the car ride, but it worked out nicely to prop him up for a nap. Notice the sucker on his lap. Now that's what you called passed out!
Poor D seems to be still struggling with his birth order change so we decided it might do him some good to go to Charlotte for a few days to spend some special one on one time with my parents. My kids are blessed to have 4 grandparents that dote on them often, and even though it was hard to leave him I think he really enjoyed himself and I know my parents enjoyed him. He's pretty good when he gets all the attention and his needs (and most of his wants) are met immediately. Aren't we all? Pictured above are the other 3 in his bed, missing him (I let Sadie and Eli have sleepovers as a consolation). While he was gone I got some stuff done that's so hard to do with a 2 year old. Poor Mary Jo, I think we made 6 stops one of the days. But it was great to get the little stinker back, and thankfully he was happy to come back!
Our next excitement was that Sadie finally lost her first tooth! And about a minute later she lost it, in the couch. We looked and looked and could not find that darn tooth. She and her Daddy took a special trip to the gas station for candy and lo and behold the Tooth Fairy came anyways, much to her excitement! My sweet husband decided to tell Sadie that the Tooth Fairy was from Canada, and sure enough under her pillow the next morning was a Canadian dollar. She was thrilled but I'm kind of thinking this was a bad idea, I mean, there are a lot more teeth, in her mouth alone, that we are going to give out money for - and I'm not loaded with Canadian cash. I'll let her Daddy figure that out, I guess the Tooth Fairy can come back to the States, or if he has any other currency laying around she can move there!
Eli doesn't seem to struggle with the middle child thing. This is a good example. Sadie and David found the 2 kid chairs that we have and sat down to watch tv. No more chairs? I don't complain, says Eli, I just sit in the grocery cart. Sweet boy.
And this guy's sweet too, he's so expressive right now and the stories he comes up with are hilarious. He found Eli's old snow boots in the closet and this is the best picture I could get. You can't make this child smile, eat, pee in the potty, or go to sleep....if he doesn't want to. Hoping that will work out in my favor with the whole peer pressure thing down the road. We'll see.
And this little girl just thinks she's as big as they are. I kept telling Sadie she was waiting to get her first tooth until Sadie lost hers...but we're still waiting. She just likes to stay the baby longer, which I'm perfectly fine with. She is doing better with eating solids, and sleeping, so praise the Lord for that. In general, I just need to praise the Lord for a whole slew of things. I don't do the 30 days of Thankful that many of my friends do on Facebook, but I do like the concept and truly when I read other's posts it reminds me to always be thankful, too. Here's hoping you can find your own things to be thankful for today!
