Update...

This past week has been quite an experience. I do not recommend getting carpal tunnel surgery done within a month of each other. I don't know if it's because I have had carpal tunnel for so long or what but this past week has been an eye opener.

Even though I had surgery on my left hand the pain was more in my right hand. I have had to compensate it so I wouldn't hurt my other hand. One of my friends told me I was crazy to get it done so quickly after the first but I thought it would be no big deal. Wrong.

The pain would keep me up at night & sometimes I couldn't even think of putting something into either hand. The pain killers that the Dr gave me didn't work so I ended up using Schane's Tylenol with Codeine that she received when she got her tonsils out. That worked great! And there's a refill!

I'm still not sleeping very well but I'm not taking the medicine. I don't want to get addicted you know. Deb is going to help me get the house in order for Joan's return next week. Even pushing a vacuum around for 5 mins can set off an extremely bad pain attack.

Deb has signed us both up for the last cake class. I told her I don't know how I'm going to make it through but she says that she will help me. The title is called Fondant & Gum Paste. After this class we should know it all. Ya right. My hand is hurting just thinking about taking this class. It starts next Thursday. I might need to go drugged to my class that way I won't be complaining. Maybe I better call in that refill too......

The Circus

After the mall experience that afternoon I was ready to have a fun evening. Our evening turned out to be something that my friend & I will never forget.

Before going home from the mall I picked up Phillip & Douglas at their house because their mom Nicole was meeting us at our house to take us all to the circus. Nicole got off work late so we were already off to a great start. We then stop by a McDonald's drive thru so the kids could eat a little something before going into the stadium. The lady that was helping us was driving us crazy. She didn't understand our order at all & Nicole was slowly losing her patience. There was no problem with the reception it was just that she was being retarded. I just don't know how else to put it, sorry.

We make it to the circus finally & we're running late. Nicole drops us off & we wait outside, I didn't realize that she took her ticket or we could have gone inside. We finally find our seats, which are in the nosebleed section, literally. We are less than 10 rows from the very top. We got the tickets free so we weren't complaining.

Speaking of seats though, the nice lady that gave us the tickets had other people sit in our seats so we had no where to sit. Luckily the show already started so we had to ask other people if other seats were reserved so we could sit down. Then no one bothered to turn the air up because we were all dying up there. Nicole texted me & said that Phillip was starting to fall asleep, he was bored. Less than 20 mins that we were there somebody behind me spills there drink down my back & doesn't even say sorry! I'm just loving this day.

The show was pretty slow in the beginning but the second half it picked up and they turned up the air. Thank goodness. Next thing I know some one has dropped a baby bottle on my back & the kid sitting behind me kept kicking me & throwing his blanket on me. Did I have a sign on my back that said "Please hit my back I like it?" Plus we had screaming babies all around us.

Schane' finally said that she wanted to go. She had been waiting to see the elephants & they hadn't come out yet. I told her after all that I had been through I was not about to leave til we saw the dang elephants. No one was going to chase me out of there from my horribly, possessed bad seat.

In the end Schane' loved it, I'm so glad. The boys weren't thrilled as was Nicole. I was just relieved that Schane' enjoyed herself because I didn't want to think sitting through that hell was for nothing. I do have a couple of more pics but blogger won't let me upload anything right now so you're all out of luck. I didn't even think I would get a good shot from where we were sitting so when I looked at the few that I did take I was happily surprised. At least something went right.

Shopping...UGH

Last Wednesday was unbelievably long. We started out the day at a huge mall where we met Liz, her mom, & Liz's matron of honor, Lori. Liz is getting married to Tom, who is Tim's brother, & Schane' is the flower girl. Liz had not found a dress for Schane' yet so she asked if we could all get together, have some lunch, & look for a dress.

Looking for a dress was the easiest thing in the world. We found it in the first store we went in, Burlington Coat Factory. Liz just fell in love with it & couldn't believe her luck. She said the colors will go beautifully with the bridesmaids dresses.

After dress shopping, Liz treated us all to eat at The Rainforest Cafe. I'm sure most of you have been there but we had not had the priviledge yet. We had a great time browsing in the gift store, looking at all the animals in the restaurant, & looking at the fish tanks with some of the most beautiful & amazing fish in it.

Liz is in the back row with her mom & Lori is holding her baby daughter Isabella.

Up to this point we were having a pretty good day. Schane' had been complaining of her stomach hurting on Tuesday & on Wednesday it was still hurting. I'm not sure what was going on but I try to not make a big deal of it because she is still quite the "drama queen". (There's something for you to comment on Deb!)

After lunch Liz suggested that we try looking for shoes. This part was horrendous. We went to 20 different stores that carried shoes & we found NOTHING. Can you believe it? Schane' decided to complain forever that her feet hurt, I was getting extremely tired, & both my hands were starting to ache. Liz said that she is the shopping queen & she can go longer than the energizer bunny. I really pray she has a girl, if not, she is really in for a rude awakening when her daughter turns into a teenager, or even before.

We finally get to the last store & Liz says I liked this pair at one of the stores we first went into. So back we go to the beginning & find the store. We found out in a hurry that they do not thrive on customer service. Liz said what's customer service anymore? Realistically she's right. Anyway, I ask for Schane's shoe size & he brings a pair out, Schane' said the shoes hurt her toes, Liz asks to get Schane's feet measured & he said she needs a larger shoe size, duh. He said they are "out of style" so he doesn't have any bigger sizes. Then I have to ask him if he can call around to other stores. He calls one & they don't have any. I have to ask him several times to keep calling different stores because he doesn't know what customer service is & couldn't do it on his own. We had no luck with any other stores.

We ended up buying a pair of sandals at PayLess. They don't look as good as the first shoe that we tried on but they will still look nice. The wedding is outdoors anyway so who really wants to wear shoes instead of sandals.

After that horrific event of shoe searching I was ready to go. We had plans for the evening so we had to hurry & leave. Liz & her clan were staying at the mall for a bit longer to relax. My idea of relaxing at that point was getting far away from the mall that I could.

Happy & Grumpy

I have labled this happy & grumpy because for the better part of the day I was happy & Schane' was grumpy, I felt like we were part of the 7 Dwarfs. Schane' does this hip hop thing much better than I do, it's what started the hysterical laughter.

This is what I look like with lack of sleep. My face is all red, I'm laughing hysterically at everything, & it doesn't help when a friend just rips the biggest burp out of nowhere by accident. I guess you just had to have been there.

So I made it through my surgery ok. My day started with Tim yelling at me from the hallway mims, what time is it? I look at my phone & see that it's 5:30, 10 mins before my alarm goes off. Nothing is worse than being woken up before your alarm.

After my surgery we go & get something to eat because I was starving & then off to home. I only got about 2-2 1/2 hrs of sleep before we had to go again. We headed to PetsMart to get some stuff for Schane's hermit crabs & then off to her dentist appt. We found out that she had NO cavities! Yeah!! Tim then takes us all to Sonic, which is a fast food place, & gets us ice cream. What a better way to celebrate a mouth with no cavities.

Off to home again where we watched part of a movie before Deb coming over to take us to cheer. Schane' took a little nap on the way to pick up Abbey but once we got to cheer all went down hill. It might look like she's happy but really she isn't. As you can tell it was hawaiian night. They worked on their cheer for awhile and then did some limbo. It took along time but I finally got a smile out of her.

My left hand seems to be more irritated than my right one did when I got it done. With my right hand I was able to hold things the first day but with my left I don't want to hold a thing. I have managed to take no pain killers today but I will probably take one tonight so I can sleep. Tomorrow there are no plans except to rest my hands & maybe clean off the kitchen table.

Sunday Laughs

I've had some pretty funny things happen from last night to today but I am not going to go into them. I even told Deb that she could write it all but she was like, you actually want me to write about it? She's a lot better with words than I am, kind of like planet jules!

One thing I will mention happened to me this afternoon. Tim, Schane' & I went to Wal Mart & walked around for about 30 mins before Tim realized that my zipper was down on my pants. I was like you're just now noticing? He said, well Mims, it's not something that I would notice right off. So that's just only a sliver of the laughs that has happened to me today.

Tonight we ate at Applebee's. Deb, Matt, Abbey, Schane, Tim, & me. Right from the start we had another discussion about manners, & then Deb tells me that I tend to me snooty with the waitresses so then I had to apoligize. After the last few days I almost feel like keeping my mouth closed. Maybe that would work, or not. It sure doesn't work for my daughter when I tell her to keep her mouth closed.

Tim tends to spoil Schane', as most of you know. So Schane' wanted an oreo shake, Tim got her one. That meant that Deb had to get Matt & Abbey one too, not really but she was being nice so they didn't feel left out. We all got dessert with our meal because it came with it. Are you getting the picture yet? Three kids with milk shakes & dessert? No need to say more.

Tomorrow is my hand surgery. Tim is spending the night because we have to be at the surgical centre by 6:30 & the surgery is at 8. At 2:30 is Schane's dentist appt & 6:00 is cheerleading. Another fun filled day at the homefront.

Manners

This past week I did some babysitting for Deb, in turn, she took Nae' & I to the movies today. We saw The Incredible Hulk. It was great! I highly recommend it. Nae' didn't care for the final fight scene but other than that she liked it.

After we got popcorn & drinks, Deb asked me if I wanted a napkin for the popcorn. I said no, that's what shorts are for. She looked at me & couldn't believe it. She said what, you miss manners? I'm like I know, I know. So then we got to talking about manners. She thinks I'm a little psychotic when it comes to the dinner table. When it comes to dinnertime I might go overboard but I thank my upbringing for that. I don't like anyone on the telephone, I won't even answer mine, I like to pray & hold hands before hand, & I don't like elbows on the table. In fact, I have taught Schane' the elbow song that my parents used to sing to us if we had our elbows on the table while we ate. Schane' in turn has taught Deb's kids this song & now they sing it at the table. I think it's hilarious & a great experience in teaching manners.

Deb says she is afraid when she eats dinner at my house. She thinks that I am going to correct her because she might do something wrong. Yes, I have no right correcting other friends kids, & I have to be careful of that because I have made some people mad, but Matt & Abbey are family & if Deb had a problem she would say something. I do have to tell you that she's not totally serious about being afraid, I mean she's getting a free meal, right?

So I ask all of you, what kind of manners do you have? Do you correct your friends kids? Do you go overboard at the dinner table to make it a nice family time with no interruptions? I remember for the most part that dinner was at 6, we always ate together, & we didn't answer the phone. Looking back I know family time & manners were being instilled into us even if we didn't like what we were having for dinner. What a great thing to pass on to our family from past generations.

Record High

I decided yesterday that I would take Schane' to a different water park today. It will be the last time I would be able to take her due to my surgery on Monday. We spent 4hrs playing, playing, & more playing.


As you can tell Schane' was wiped out. You can also tell that I am a little red. Living in Arizona you just automatically stock up on sun screen. I have plenty of it. I put a 50 spf on both of us an hr before we left. The problem was I didn't reapply as the day went, only on our faces did I reapply, even though it doesn't look like it. Schane' is pink too but I think I got the worst of it.

The only thing different this morning than usual is I used a lotion sunscreen instead of the spray, which I love. When I got home & looked at myself in the mirror I was maaaaad! I couldn't believe I was so burned. I hadn't reapplied when I went before to the water park so why now?

After me taking a shower I took Schane' to her swimming lesson, even though she didn't want to go, & met up with friends there. While driving to Sonic for dinner, Schane' was talking to Tim. She then handed me the phone & he said why are you two out in this heat? I said Schane' had her swimming lesson & we were headed to dinner. He then told me that it was 114 outside, a record so far this year. When I got to Sonic I asked my friend what her temp gage for outside read, it said that it was 117 outside! No wonder I'm burned! No stinkin sunscreen is going to keep you from burning with that kind of heat, especially when you are in the water.

We bought Sonic for dinner & brought it home. I then had Nicole, Phillip, & Douglas come over. It was premiere night on the Disney Channel for "Camp Rock", starring the Jonas Brothers. My other friends are Pam & Eric, they're the ones we went quad riding with. It was party night at my house. Joan is probably glad she wasn't here, there was a little drama of course.

So now it is almost 11 & I am very tired. My body feels a little warm but not to bad. Thankfully we can sleep in tomorrow. Overall it was a great day. Schane' tried new slides that she hadn't been on before & was scared going down but once we got out she would yell that was great, let's go again. I hope this adventure today will be enough to hold her for a few weeks because she has no choice, mom won't be able to go swimming!

Cleanin' The Car

Schane' & I cleaned the whole car out this morning. Everything came out of the trunk & all the junk was taken out from the middle. It's a shocker to most people around here & they're already taking bets on how long it will last. After everything was out I then proceeded to vacuum. My right hand was hurting really badly so I did the driver side front & back & let Schane' do the passenger side front & back. I was expecting a mean looking face but instead she smiled, maybe it's all the drilling into her when I take a picture you better be smiling!

After taking showers, & taking time out to read, we went to one of my old jobs & took lunch to my friend, who used to be my supervisor. Kathy is an awesome woman. I have known her for approx. 7 yrs. She has seen me through really rough times & really great times. Kathy has really been an inspiration to me. We have had great talks about our faith, God, & family. It has almost become a tradition that we get together for Thanksgiving. She keeps trying to get out of it but I won't let her. Last year she let Schane' decorate the tree along side her daughter who is just as special as her mom.

Thanks Kathy for all you do, we love you!!

Are you Mexican?

I took Matt, Abbey, & Schane' to a pool yesterday & while they were in line to go down a slide I was in the pool watching them. A girl sneezed & I said God bless you. She said thank you. She then proceeded to ask me a hundred questions, not really. I could tell she was handicapped so I answered her questions. Questions like, do you want to be my friend, how old are you ( I didn't answer that), will you be my friend, & the best yet "Are you Mexican"? What?!! I might have a tan but not that much of a tan. And all honesty she wasn't that handicapped.

I have been telling this story to my friends & it will probably be one of the funniest stories that will be retold til the day I die.

Swimming...Again

On Monday we went to a different pool. They actually let you bring food in. Yeah! My friend Nicole ordered pizza so we swam, drank, & ate poolside. What could be better? Um, work would be but for now I will settle for the pool. I liked the pool we went to on Friday better but hey, water is water & it keeps you cool, especially since it's 113 this week.



Here Schane' is lying under a fountain with Phillip & Douglas. I'm not sure what her deal is with the thumbs up but I take it as a good sign that everything is cool.


At one point I am sitting on the edge of the pool & Nicole yells at me saying here comes am/pm. Again? Are they following me or am I following them? Of course Schane's friends spot me first because I am close to the entrance so I take them over to where she is and then the screaming & excitement started.

The picture with them all in the pool is Kiley, Abbey, Alayiah (in the back right), & then Schane'. The one with them standing is Kiley & Alayiah with Schane'. Alayiah & Schane' were in the same class. She really bugged me a lot when I volunteered. She didn't listen really well & was always out of her seat, plus she talked a lot. Not the best influence for Schane' in class but we dealt with it.

Schane' asked Alayiah for her phone number & she said all you have to do is press #2. Alrighty then! I guess she has the speed dial down don't you think? I had to explain to her that everybody's phone is different & we can't just push #2 and call you. Schane' was like, "Don't you even know your phone number"? No she doesn't. I hope nothing bad ever happens to her. In a way I was thankful that she didn't.

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Hi everybody, this is Schane'. My mom is helping me type & spell words. This is my daddy, Tim. I wanted to show him off to everybody. Daddy came over after mom & I went to church. We gave him some cards that we bought & some crafts that I made. Mom didn't take a picture of them yet, sorry. Mommy gave him a really cool frame that we bought at the Christian book store. We still have to put pictures in it.



Daddy helped me put up this big flower net above my bed. I really LOVE it. Do you love it? A friend gave it to me, she had it in her bedroom & was going to give it away, so she gave it to me! We also rearranged my bedroom so I have more space to play house. I just love the change!

For lunch we headed of to Deb's. They had a big water slide that all of us kids used. Mom went on too but she ended up being to big.
I don't have any pictures because mom forgot the camera, she wasn't very happy about this either. It drives dad & I crazy that she takes so many pictures. I have to go. I hope you liked my story.


Happy Father's Day to all you dad's out there!

Kung Fu Panda

That's right everybody, I took a picture of the PANDA! If you haven't seen this movie then you are missing out. I on the other hand have seen it twice. I highly recommend it. We saw it opening weekend with some great friends & then we saw it tonight with some other great friends.

Nicole called me up & wanted to know if we wanted to go see the movie & catch some dinner. I said I can't do both but she said don't worry about it. She ended up treating us the whole night. The picture on the right are her two boys, she too is a single parent. Douglas is in front, he's going into the fourth grade, & Phillip is in the back, he is going into the fifth grade.


They saw The Incredible Hulk last night & highly recommend it. I'm not sure if we're going to that. Even the tv show gave me nightmares, but I still watched it. If you haven't seen the new Indiana Jones movie then I would wait. I wasn't to impressed, though my Pastor had great reviews of it. I would have left it at 3, those I liked. But then no movie director ever listens to me. Why is that? I see enough of them.

Tinkerbell

This is our latest creation. It was for a friend of Deb's. With my hand still healing and me not working I usually make the cakes during the day but her friend didn't bring over the stuff til Fri eve. We had to have everything done because the party was for Saturday. This meant that it was going to be a very long evening because not only did we have to make and decorate a cake we had to make & decorate 48 cupcakes too. By the time we left I was so tired I could have driven with my eyes closed, but I didn't. It was 12:01 when I pulled into the driveway.

Charlie's Angels

Friday was a very long day. After 7:30am my friend Deb phoned me saying that she was on her way to drop off Matt. By 7:50am Deb was gone & Matt was painting a ceramic alligator. I looked in on the girls about 8:20 & they were still sleeping, supposedly. They went to bed after 11pm so I knew that they were tired. They got up soon after I took this picture. They also decided to paint their ceramics, Abbey's is a monkey & Schane's is a horse, the all brown one. I painted the panda of course.

The kids all played for a bit, not very well, but they played. So I told them all to go outside. I had bought water guns at Walmart for $1 & they turned out to be not very good. So we headed off to the Dollar Store to buy spray bottles, should have done that in the first place. The first one didn't have any so we had to go to another one. After we got home they played outside for about 15 mins & decided they were done, Matt wanted to play but the girls didn't.

We killed a bunch of time before heading off to an aquatic centre. On Friday's it is free in the afternoon. We got there after 1:30 & it was packed, they only opened at 1:00! We had lots of fun playing tag in the water & going down slides.

We then headed home to grab the kids clothes & sped off to Schane's swimming lesson. We had dinner, a movie, & cake to decorate, that picture will come later, at their house. I've told mom about their dog Halo that they have so I finally grabbed a picture. She is part boxer & mastif. She is definitely Deb's dog and she is the BIGGEST baby. She had shown up at my old work. We had her almost a month when the owner's were going to turn her into the humane society. I had been telling Deb about her but she kept saying no. Finally I convinced her to bring the family & take a look because she was going to get turned in with in a week. They all fell in love with her like we all did. Now she is the baby of the house.

Busy On Wednesday

This is Cerys. She is the youngest of 6. Schane' just loves being around her. She feeds her, plays with her, pushes her in the stroller, etc. Though I haven't gotten her to change her diaper, yet! While her mom, Nicol, & I were talking she was following Cerys around & I couldn't resist this cute photo, Cerys really was having fun even though it looks like she is going to be dropped. So then I snapped this other photo to show you that she really is a happy little girl. She smiles more for her mom, she won't smile for me but she is a cutie no matter what!

Then it was time to start our store. Nicol went through all the coins & asked if they knew who the presidents were, how much it was worth, etc. Schane' looked really scared & I thought she was going to cry but later in the evening she said she had a lot of fun. Nicol had brought out a bunch of food & toys. Peter, who is the fourth in the family, said that no one was buying from him, he was in charge of the food, while Schane' was in charge of the toys. So Nicol & I got involved & we bought food from him so he wouldn't feel left out.

Just before we were ready to leave for the swim party Zach came over & asked if we wanted to try to fly the kite. Schane' was all excited but I said we had to go. I ended up giving in because we didn't try at all yesterday because I thought there wasn't enough wind so I let Zach take the kite out with Schane' to see if he could help her get it up. They got it up a few times but it didn't last long. Zach called the kite stubborn. Schane' had fun though & that's all that mattered. I don't see any strong winds in the forecast either, it's supposed to be 111 for Father's Day. Yikes!

This is April, only acting like she is going to bonk my child. April was one of two Sunday School teachers that Schane' had this past year. They get along really great. Schane' sort of held her own with a whole bunch of jr high kids but she also was a little annoying. The kids were great though & didn't mind at all that she came. I also took a picture of our Pastor & Youth Director. They decided to chill out in the hot tub after a long game of tossing the ball in the pool, guys against girls. I believe the girls won, there were a lot more of them than the guys.

That was our busy day yesterday. Today we chilled out at home not doing a whole lot. We did manage to straighten our room up so that nothing is on the floor anymore. Next we have to tackle our closet, that will definitely be a chore! Tonight we have Abbey spending the night & then Matt will come over tomorrow morning. Their grandma usually watches them but she is having company stay with her for awhile so I said that I can watch them. Until next time.....

Blessed & Spoiled

Most of you know that I am very blessed with the situation that I am in. I couldn't have asked for a better friend to live with, not fight with, & who loves & helps out in any way with my daughter. Her name is Joan. Right now she is on vacation & will be back in a month & then gone again, maybe. Her plans continuously change. So while she is gone, I am holding down the fort. The only thing I can't take care of is the yard. I can, but it would be hard. My gracious neighbors who have 6 kids have volunteerd their kids to help me out. Today, Zach came over to mow the lawn. Then he brought the edger. Before I had my hand surgery the lawn wasn't bad, but since then it grew out of control. Monday I get my left hand done & then I really will be out of service. Next up is the weeds. Ya, they really are out of control. Thank goodness I've got lots & lots of kids around & some very generous neighbors to lend a helping hand.

Then we have miss Schane'. She called herself Little Red Riding Hood & I had to correct her by saying No, you're Little Blue Riding Hood. She was going to help out Zach this morning but he said no, that he would have her help next time. You can bet that she'll be helping with the weeds though!

We are off the to go fly a kite, hopefully. We haven't been having strong enough winds lately but we are going to try. Then we are going to the neighbors to play store. Schane' needs help working with money & since my neighbor, Nicol, homeschools her kids she thought it would be great to involve Schane'. Then we are headed to a pool party. I help with the jr. high from church & during the summer they have pool party's. It's going to be another busy, fun filled day!

A Compliment

After our 4 hr excursion at Waterworld we headed off to Costco. I told a friend that I would get pictures developed for her from her daughter's birthday party that I took. They leave for Israel tomorrow & will be gone for a month. While the pictures were being developed Schane' & I grabbed something to eat. We hadn't eaten since breakfast so we were a little ravenous.

While we were eating, I got to thinking why we were so quiet. No 8 yr old is ever quiet. Then again, why am I not talking to my 8 yr old. It was kind of bugging me in an odd way. So I started making funny faces, then we started talking silly, and so on. Once in awhile I would look around at other people but mainly we were just having fun. Then we had a nice elderly lady come over to us & tell us how refreshing it is to see people having fun & laughing. She asked me if I was her mom, I said yes. She said she had been observing us & was just so delighted to see a great relationship between two people. Then she asked me again, Is this really your daughter? Yes, really she is my daughter. The look on her face was priceless. She was astounded by the great relationship that we have & wanted to make sure I knew how blessed we both were.

Is that not awesome or what! That gave me such a high. Why are we not all like that? Why can we receive compliments but not give them?Are we so clammed up in our own lives that we can't see the joy around us & say something? I'm not one to talk either. I don't give out many compliments but after today I am making it a goal to be more noticeable of my surroundings & say something. So, to that nice elderly lady who just happened to lift my spirits & make my blog, I thank you.

A Thought 2 Reality

On Saturday I took Schane' to one of the water parks called Waterworld. I told her we weren't going to stay very long, just a couple of hrs. We went in the wave pool together & then she wanted to go on what she calls "the white slides". Last year we always got a tube & went down together, this year she surprised me by saying she wanted to go down alone. What?! Are you sure? You never went down by yourself before. She said she did last year, but I don't remember. According to her, I don't remember a lot! So she went in her own tube & I went in mine. The line was horrendous, we waited & waited to get to the top.


After that we did other things & then it was time to go back to the wave pool. By this time I was cold. The water was cold, the air was cold, I did not feel like being there anymore. I told Schane' that she could go in the wave pool by herself while I stand towards the back. Once again she did it by herself. I felt like we were both taking baby steps. At one point I lost site of her but then all of a sudden she pops up out of the water with her pink goggles on & a huge smile. I was very proud of her. I told her that she really needed someone to play with, especially when mom is whiny & cold. Her response was "well if you would just move around you wouldn't be so cold". That's a child for ya.

So that brings me to my title, A Thought 2 Reality. I decided since I am getting surgery done next Monday on my left hand that I had better take Schane' a few more times so she won't complain to much about not going, wishful thinking I know. We decided to go when the park opened up. When we got there there was a HUGE line. I'm thinking no way, Monday morning & there is this big of a line? Schane' said maybe the schools are on an outing, uh Schane' school is out for everybody. We finally realize that it is the summer rec program from our city, which Schane' would be in if I had a job.


So there we are in the wave pool once again when Schane' yells out "there's Kiley"! Sure enough. I couldn't believe it. Schane' had someone to play with!! Not that I don't love my child, but everyone knows that we all need a break. Especially me, since my child is with me 24-7. Kiley just happens to be a great friend from Schane's old school. I was able to sit in the background while Kiley & Schane' hit the wave pool together. It was a great thumbs up day!

Narnia Exhibit

On Friday Schane' & I went to the Narnia Exhibit at the Science Centre. It was "member's only" day. I only bought our member passes a couple of months ago so I wanted to experience what it would be like for member's only. For the most part it was great. There were no crowds & you could read everything without people surrounding & crowding you. Schane' took off ahead of me because I took to long to read, sounds like experiencing a museum with dad, and then she would eventually come back to me & tell me what lies ahead.

The Science Centre set it up perfectly. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside of course so the ones that I do have are from the entrance. The first room talks about the movies & has a little set up & then someone directs you into "The Wardrobe". The windows are covered & you can hear sounds of rain, then someone opens the door of the wardrobe & you walk through all the coats, & then snow is falling on you when you enter the magical world of Narnia. There are props from both movies, trivia questions, etc. Schane's favorite part was at the end where all the original crowns were laid out from the end of The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe. Of all the pieces I'm not sure why that is her favorite but it is.

I thought the whole thing was well done & very well put together. We will probably go back & walk through it again, though I won't take as much time as I did the first time. So, if the Narnia Exhibit happens to hit your town I highly recommend it, and be sure to have some time on your hands because it is worth reading all the fine print.