Kid's Carnival

How do I get drug into these things? They always sound like so much fun. Today Zander and I went to the Kid's Carnival at the Greensboro Coliseum. I thought if we arrived when it opened that there wouldn't be many people there and the lines wouldn't be long. Wrong!!! It is only 39 degrees and the wind is blowing like crazy. There was such a long line that we had to stand out in the freezing cold for about 10 minutes while they let people in.
Once inside, I look around and instantly saw that this was an event for 5-12 year olds. Now, they had marketed the event as a whole family event so I was disappointed. I saw 4 rides that Zander could ride. He did not want to ride the merry-go-round, so we went over to the dinosaurs. I put him in and to my horror, it went up in the air and around very fast. Thank heavens that when he gets on a ride, he turns into "stone boy". He doesn't move and he puts on this very serious face. (Pictures to come later) When he got off I was afraid that he wouldn't want to ride anything else.
Next, he saw the helicopter rides. We stood in line for about 10 minutes. When it was our turn the man that was running the rides tapes up a homemade sign that says "No one over 150 lbs." I was horrified! What do I do? I obviously can't get on and Zander is not getting on this ride by himself. Well, the woman in front of me said, "I guess my daughter will be riding by herself." She let the man put her on the ride. Well I decided that I was getting on that ride. When we got to the man, he looked at me and said, "he is too short for this ride". I said, "there are other children on the ride that are shorter than he is and you didn't measure any of them." I held my breathe as he began to speak, he said, "Well, you are too tall for the ride". Was I going to push the issue and make him tell me in front of everyone that I was too fat for the ride? While I was deciding, the lady in front of us asked Zander if he wanted to ride with her little girl. He decided that he did not want to ride if Mommy couldn't ride. I was saved. We got out of line and went to the next disappointment.
We then went to one of the many jumping things. He wanted to get in which surprised me because he had a bad experience at a birthday party on one with some big kids and usually doesn't want to get in. He got in and climbed over the first hump. As I was encouraging him to go over the next rock wall type hump, I realized that he wasn't going to be tall enough to get through the next section and guess what?!! No one over 150 lbs. is allowed in again. You have got to be kidding me. Why did I pay for a ticket? I can't do anything. So, when he got close enough to me, I grabbed him and pulled him out.
He was able to ride the train and a dog. Next, we went outside to the pony rides. He rode a pony named Andy and had a ball. Then we bought some carrots and fed the goats and Camels. He loved that. He really wants a baby goat. I would get one for the backyard, but I am afraid that our neighbors would eat it. All in all, it was a fun day. We were really cold so we decided to go home.
We did also go by the local hardware store to view the chicks and ducks that were dyed colors. That was Zander's favorite part of the day. They are so cute. I had to resist the urge to bring home baby ducks. I have done that and will not do it again. Happy Easter!

Vacation Day

On Friday, I had the day off from work. Zander and I went to breakfast at Mickey's with Cici and Papa and all of their breakfast friends. It was nice, we haven't gotten to do that in a long time.
When we got home, we dyed Easter Eggs. This was our first time. I think I got it all on video tape but you know how that goes. We will see. It was quite uneventful. We covered the table, I let him drop the tablets in the water. He was more interested in the magic (clear) crayon that came with the pack than anything else. We dyed our eggs and cleaned up. I hope that he remembers times like that with me as fondly as I do. That was Easter to me, getting to dye the eggs and taking pictures after church on Sunday. Then our parents hid eggs for us at Granny's house for us to find. They weren't just thrown on the ground either, they hid them. It was alot of fun.
So, in memory of my childhood, we will have the first annual Easter Egg hunt tomorrow after lunch. I have stuffed over 100 eggs full of candy. Sounds wonderful, huh? The only problem is it is only supposed to be in the 30's tomorrow. We will see how it goes.

Triad Children's Show

Happy Easter!!! Our family attended the Triad Children's show last week. We had alot of fun. Zander did his favorite thing - play basketball. He was Hansbrough of course. He also loved the petting zoo. He got to play with a corn snake, bunnies, chinchilla's and several other animals. We did not know that the Easter bunny was going to be there, but we took a minute to have a picture made. We hope that you all have a great Easter.

Sammy's Story

When I was really struggling with Zander and potty training I made up a story to help with the situation. Now every time he sits on the potty at home, he begs me to tell him the story about Sammy. Last night, I proceeded to tell him the story, after a particularly long, rough day at work. At the end, I helped him pull up his pants and he wrapped his arms around my neck and gave me the sweetest hug that I think he has ever given me and said, "Mom, you forgot to say and Sammy loved his mommy very much!" Is there a more perfect end to any day?
Go hug your kids and tell them you love them.

Out of the mouths of Babes

For those of you that don't know, Zander goes to the YMCA school close to where I work. This is perfect for his love of basketball, but he is not old enough to play yet. There is this darling lady named Ms. Ethel that works at the front desk. She always makes it a point to stop what ever she is doing and talk with Zander when he comes in each morning. This morning, her boss was standing there and a gentleman was sitting in a chair behind her beside of all of the basketballs. Zander said Good morning and then proceeded to say, "I want to hold your big, hard balls!" Well, I knew what he was talking about but they didn't and asked him to repeat himself to which he said, "I want to hold your big, hard balls!". After the gentleman about fell in the floor laughing, they let him go behind the desk and bounce the balls. The conversation very quickly changed to "Hansbrough does not wear his mask anymore" and "When I play ball at Chapel Hill, I will tell Roy Williams what to do".
It just goes to show that you never know what they are going to say and who they are going to say it to.

When I grow up

This was a big weekend for Zander. On Friday night (Great) Aunt Tracy decided that she wanted to have a sleep over. She invited Zander, Brady, Rosie and Riley to stay with Zachary. They all survived and much fun was had by all. Summers and I went on the first date we have had in a long time. This is only the second night that Zander has spent away from home. We went to see a very stupid movie (Blades of Glory) but it was nice to be out of the house for a while. On Sunday, we went to the park for an Easter egg hunt. That was very interesting. CiCi and PaPa were there to watch. I gave CiCi the bag to hold, Summers had the camera and I had the camcorder. They said on your mark, get set, go! Well the next thing I knew, it was over. There were so many children and the parents were kicking the eggs to their kids, that it was over before we even formed a strategy. Needless to say there won't be any great pictures. Zander got 2 eggs and promptly ate the candy. He then proceeded to look very sad in front of the other moms and 2 of them gave him a piece of candy. He had a good time none the less. He got to play on the playground and that was all that he cared about. Then we went to Granny's for awhile. Next, we went to the Mexican restaurant with CiCi and PaPa. We always use this as a time for Zander to practice what little Spanish he knows. The employees are great and take a lot of time kidding around with him. Tonight for some reason the owner kept coming over to the table and talking to him. They were discussing the spanish words for mouth, eyes, nose and then ears. Zander told him that ears hear loud noises like fire alarms. He then asked him if he was going to test the fire alarm. The man then asked Zander if he worked for the fire dept. He asked him if he was going to be a fireman when he grew up. Without hesitating, Zander said, "No, my mom said that it is too dangerous!" He then started telling him that he was going to be a Japenese chef. In the meantime, the waiter came and took some of our plates away. The next thing I knew, Zander said, "Here" and handed his plate to the owner and then said, "Clean this table up!". I was mortified. He very nicely took the plate and walked to the checkout area. When we got up there he was still holding the plate like he didn't have a clue what to do with it. He continued to talk to Zander. I know that it sounded rude, and I tried to explain to him that it was his restaurant and he did not have to clean up that tables. I hope that they let us come again.