Parent One Upping

Linus Launcher

Here it is ... the final post of our summer adventures. Summer 2017 was good to us and we were a little sad to see it end. We finally felt, this summer, like we are less tethered by naps, early bedtimes, and tantrum landmines. While there were some tantrums due to missed naps or late bedtimes, they did not define us like they have in the past.

On our final Thursday of summer, day care closed early. I picked up the troops at 3:30 and told them I had to run a quick errand. They were busy talking to me and weren't paying attention to where we were going. All of a sudden, Quinn looked up and said, "Mom, you just pulled in to ValleyFair." Yep, sure did! They were pretty excited by the surprise. As I parked, Dec looked sad and said, "I wish Makai would be here." Surprise again, gang! He was.

It's better with friends

Ms. Angie (Kai's mom) was a total trooper and navigated ValleyFair on crutches. Luckily it was a lovely cool day and not crowded at all (thank you, Minnesota State Fair!). We spent about two and half hours in the kids ride area, letting the gang do their thing. Kai even talked Fiona into going on his favorite ride, the Linus Launcher. She loved it and they went several times. Quinn desperately wanted to try it, but just couldn't talk herself into it that day.

Day care was closed on Friday, so Mike took the day off to spend it with the crew. I teased him that I had taken them to ValleyFair during my special time - what would he do? Apparently Mike takes challenges very seriously. When I texted him on Friday morning to see where they were, I got a note back that they were at the Mall of America. Having been with Mike for almost 15 years, I know three very important things. 1) He hates crowds. 2) He hates malls. 3) He hates crowds and malls most on holiday weekends. I was a smidge worried that someone had kidnapped them and was using Mike's cell phone to text with me.

When I got home, to my relief, I found that they had not been kidnapped. Mike had indeed taken them, of his own free will, to Ikea for bed tents and then to MOA for lunch. They rode a few rides in the mall amusement park and Declan spotted the Paw Patrol puppies hanging out there. They waited in line very patiently for a chance to get their photo with Chase and Marshall.

Saturday, after we hung out with Auntie for a bit, we headed back to ValleyFair. I found my new Scrambler partner in Fiona and we all enjoyed several trips around the Merry Go Round. Quinn found her courage (with help from her sister) and did her own turn on the Linus Launcher. We were a little worried that she didn't like it, but when the ride ended, we got a small smile and a thumbs up.

We finished out the weekend with a friend birthday party for the girls on Sunday and a back to school dinner with our bus stop buddies on Monday. And with that, summer was officially over.