More

Of course I took more than just 11 pictures last Friday. Was going to post these sooner, and it just didn't happen. :) But here are more images from our day on 11/11/11.

Love the bread flying through the air!

Trying to be serious like Abe. :)

It's cold again now... brrr!

Last night I went with friends to see Eclipse and then the new Breaking Dawn Part 1!

It was so good! I think it's the best one yet!

We had a good time, but why oh why does my body now HURT so very much?

I guess 41 just doesn't "do" lack of sleep like 21 or even 31.

When will I learn!?

Oh well, kids had no clue I was even gone and I had a great time! :)

11/11/11

What a date in history! 11 / 11 / 11 - I mean, how cool is that!? :)

So... we did something fairly cool to celebrate!

Today the kids and I did 11 activities, spending under $11, and taking 11 photos along our way.

Olivia kept saying how many things we'd done and adding up how much we'd spent, too cute!

And Number ONE on our agenda, breakfast in bed! (Cost - nothing, just what we had around.)

Number TWO: dropping off an old flag to the local VFW. (Cost - nothing, total cost - nothing.)

Number THREE: a donut for each as a morning snack. (Cost - $2.85, Total - $2.85)

Number FOUR - feeding the ducks, and boy were they hungry! (Cost - $1, Total cost - $3.85)

Number FIVE - Playing at the park near the ducks. (Cost - nothing, Total cost $3.85)

Number SIX - Visiting our local history museum. (Cost - nothing, Total cost - $3.85)

Number SEVEN - Lunch! (Cost - nothing since we had a gift card!, Total cost - $3.85)

Number EIGHT - Walking through our state park. (Cost - nothing, Total cost - $3.85)

Number NINE - Buying "penny" candy at our local candy store. (Cost - $2.88, Total cost - $6.73)

Number TEN - Reading at Barnes and Noble and picking up five books I won in a raffle recently. (Cost - nothing, Total cost - $6.73)

Number ELEVEN - McDonalds to play and eat. (Cost - $4.14, Total cost - $10.87)

Liam had had enough by McDonalds and things spiraled out of control fairly quickly, hence the ONE picture that is quite blurry. :( So we left rather quickly but once home and laying down for a movie he calmed down and we had a great rest of the day too.

Day Three

Braeden was warm through the night off and on, but woke up fine today. We still stayed out of the water today though and instead went through two stores, played at a HUGE play area, ate some TASTY ice cream, and then went to pick up our pottery pieces before heading home.

What can I say, the kid wanted to make a vase for flowers, he cracks me up!

Liam picked Dracula. :)

And Olivia's is a wall hanging that says "Girls Rock".

There is wire and some beads to be added to hang it with.

And I got a free 6" tile to paint but was so busy corralling and helping

that I am not happy with it, but it's ok, it was FREE! :)

And when we arrived home finally, our clocks obviously hadn't been set back yet. The kids don't know about daylight savings and now was not the time to teach them! I left the clocks as is as we are all exhausted, and they were in bed and sound asleep a full hour early! Love it!

Mwahahaha!!!!!

Day Two

The tour of the hotel's vacation club program went well. The kids had fun watching a movie and hanging out while I spent an hour learning about the club. It's a great program for many, just not for me. I did walk away from the hour with two $50 cash cards, 140 tokens for the kids to use in the arcade, and a FREE 3 day / 2 night stay to come again in the next year. We will love coming back when it's hot and discovering the fun in the outdoor water parks!

So after that we hit the arcade...

painted some pottery (free with our cash card!),

went to a second indoor water park,

took a rest,

and went to the third indoor park.

Tomorrow we plan on playing in the indoor play area, getting some great ice cream, and going back to one of the water parks before we hit the road for home. Unfortunately, Braeden seemed warm to me at bedtime and of course I don't have the thermometer which I usually do bring. Hopefully sleep will help and he'll be fine. Off to bed!

Day One

I decided a while back that we needed a family getaway soon. Time for just us, to forget about work and school and house and dog and just focus on a little fun and relaxation. Friends had HIGHLY recommended a waterpark hotel in the Dells, a very do-able drive from where we are and I set about researching.

Since we only had a short work day today with having parent teacher conferences last night and this morning, I thought this weekend would be perfect, and got a GREAT deal at that! I can't believe what is included in the cost. We got a marvelous two queen suite with wet bar and it is SO perfect! There are three indoor waterparks (even more outside but not the season for that, we'll definitely have to make a return trip though!) and so much more to do.

Even though we are out for a family fun weekend, I'm ever the budgeteer. We got a great deal like I said, have a fridge and microwave in the room so brought our own food, and then spent money on gas. We are ordering lunch tomorrow, buying ice cream, and doing one additional activity on site tomorrow for a small cost, but that's it. (Believe me there is SO much more we COULD do.)

I also got "suckered" in to a sales pitch in the morning for a new part of their property, but if the perks I'm supposed to get for listening, while the kids get to go to kids club and play, are real... it's SO worth it... but more on that tomorrow when I see what comes of it! :)

Morning started with the kids at a friends house while I went to the boys conferences and had some of my own. Liam is struggling in different ways and his educational program is changing. I'm not convinced that the changes that were made a week or so ago are what is best for him and we are meeting again this week, so we'll see. It's a hard place to both work and parent in the same district some time because you want badly to advocate, while knowing the people you're advocating for/against/with, and it complicates things. His conference was about what I expected in terms of his educational skills: he's very behind. But I know that, have known that all his life, but have still been so impressed by where he began and how very far he HAS come.

Braeden's... well I was very apprehensive as I wasn't sure how he's been doing lately. And it was such a breath of fresh air! He has just been thriving the past couple weeks. So happy, and helpful, and still fidgety but not as much. No defiance, No refusal, just more a "typical" second grader. And OH how I pray it continues! :)

Olivia's was last night and she's doing well. She's a great kid and still struggling with Math which I've known. A joy to have in class, though she can be chatty after a couple days of sitting in a new group (since she's had to be moved a few times!). Honestly I like that. She has a hard time making friends in new situations so it's good to hear that a couple days of getting to know someone and she's a chatty cathy! :)

The kids had NO idea we were going to the waterpark today and it was a complete surprise when I picked them up shortly after noon! They were very excited! A few hours in the car with a couple new to us DVDs ($5 for three used ones!) and we were there!

No on to the REAL reason you stop by... PICTURES!

All are sound asleep and gearing up for another great day...