Family Adventures

Getting ready for the 3D movie

My cousin and his family are visiting this week.  Whenever any family member visits, we throw a party.  We take day trips, we go out for dinner, we spend lots of time together.  This visit has been no exception.

The girls looking through Galileo telescopes

Tuesday we all went to the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  My children love that place because they have rides.  They have a hot air balloon ride, a ferris wheel, a paratrooper jump, a 3D/4D movie theater, and a full motion flight simulator.  This was our third visit to the Air Zoo.

Joy and Lizzy and a screaming Grandma

The first time David went, it was just him, my dad, my uncle and my cousin.  The boys went on the flight simulator with no idea what they were doing.  They spent the whole time flipping upside down, around, over and under.  David swore he would never go on the ride again!  We have since avoided the simulators because the idea of spinning in every direction held little appeal.

David riding the Ferris Wheel with me

This trip I talked David into going on the ride with the promise that we would definitely not go upside down.  He agreed.  The girls then decided they wanted to try it and talked my mom into it as well.  David ended up riding by himself because Lizzy needed a partner.  David went first.  His flight started out with him barely, barely moving at all.  Just a tiny little dip to one side.  The operator ended up stopping David's ride to show him how to use the controllers.  The next thing we see is David flipped upside down.  Oops.  I missed the end of his ride because it was my turn--but we got smart and asked the operator to put it on demo mode which she promised would not go upside down.  My mom did the same thing with Joy.  While David looked a little green after his ride, the girls declared it their favorite ride.

Joy on the hot air balloon ride all by herself

Wednesday we met up at an outlet mall with my sister and her family.  (The mall is halfway between our houses)  The kids and I shopped until we dropped.  Lizzy got 2 dresses, a pair of dress shoes, 2 pairs of stretch pants to wear under her dresses and a book.  Joy got a dress, a pair of dress shoes, 2 pairs of stretch pants and a book.  David got bought 2 t-shirts, swim trunks, and a book.  For myself I bought a pair of yoga pants.  The prices were great and other than the books, they were all things on our list of needs (I made a list ahead of time so I wouldn't be tempted to buy things on impulse).  We all met up for lunch and enjoyed lots of laughs and conversation.

  

Joy testing out her helicopter flying skills

Joy training to be an astronaut

Today is back to normal--daily reading and math, lots of cleaning on my part, laundry to catch up on, and children who are begging to go do something fun instead of being cooped up in the house with mom who has to do chores.