Saturday is a Special Day

 

We had so much fun on Saturday! I told you already about Scout getting her ears pierced, but I wanted to fill you in on the rest of the day. Drama Queen took Princess, Prima Donna, and Crafty to Steamfest (and she has promised to post on that one for you), so that left my sweetie and me with the Dog Walker and the little kids.

First we went to the Lowe's class and the kids built an incredibly cute version of RC from the Toy Story movies. After that Sport headed off for his first paid babysitting job ever. My sweetie suggested I lay down for an hour since I was up terribly late the night before. I gratefully agreed. Sport returned triumphantly $13 richer a couple of hours later.

By 2:30 we were looking for something fun to do, so I suggested a road trip. We piled the kids in the van and headed for the freeway. Since it has been Pioneer Day week, we have been trying really hard to live more like the pioneers and their frugal lifestyle. That made our fun day a bit trickier, but certainly not impossible.

Our first stop was the fruit stand. One of the ladies I visit-teach had surgery and I wanted to buy her some cherries. Then we drove a few blocks to the nearest Tesoro for gas. I had a handful of gift cards the kids have accumulated from the Gallons for Grades program and I wanted to use them. We don't have many Tesoros in Salt Lake County any more. After filling up we still had enough for some treats and drinks.

Our next stop was the Provo Splashpad. We had never been there before, but we had heard that it was awesome from my little brother. I encouraged the kids to bring an extra set of clothes which they all did except for the Dog Walker. He had to dry out the old-fashioned way.

The kids loved splashing through the water even though it was a little cold. Baby Doll was nervous at first, but after a couple of minutes she was having more fun than anyone else...except for maybe the Dog Walker. The kids loved teasing him as he sprawled on the cement trying to dry out.

After about an hour we changed the kids' clothes in the van and headed for our next destination, a quick trip into Staples for a couple of things I really wanted before the sale changed. Then we drove to the mall in Provo. The kids were shocked! We rarely go to the mall. I handed the mostly-dry Dog Walker our bag of chips and drinks and we crossed the parking lot to the food court. The kids were so excited to ride the escalators to the second floor!

I pulled out $15 worth of Hot-Dog-On-A-Stick gift cards and ordered each of us a corn dog. While we were enjoying our dinner, I casually pointed out the Claires to Scout and then you know what happened next...Scout got her ears pierced!

After wandering through a few more shops and letting the kids play in the kids' area, we headed for the van. It took us about an hour to get home. Bossy and her boys showed up about 20 minutes later to do sparklers. Then it was time for showers and bed. The kids were tired and it was late, but we had pretty much worn them out having fun and they willingly climbed the stairs.

Except for Curly and Baby Doll...

...the Dog Walker carried them up.