Labor Day Surprise

We usually go camping for Labor Day Weekend but with Hunter's baptism and Brian and Tif using our toy hauler we decided to do something else.

Justin had Monday off..........which is rare, there are few holidays they take off for so we thought we better get out of town while we could.

The kids had no idea what we were doing. I pack everything and made the kids clean out the Maxima.....then we told them we were kidnapping them!

They were so surprised and excited!

Justin took Hunter with him to gas up the car. I guess because it was Hunter's birthday Justin was feeling nice and let Hunter get this HUGE $3.00 jawbreaker sucker. Justin would never normally get one of these for the kids so once I told Hunter that he realized how special he was and that his Dad loved him!

Well I could have rang Justin's neck because seriously this white chalky stuff got every where. All over Hunter and seriously all over the back of my car!!! GESH PEOPLE!!!

Guess you should buy your kids one of these and then take them to the public pool or something but definitely not on a 2 1/2 hour drive!!!

I had to take a picture because I know I will never let me kids have one of these again.........LOL!

So we surprised the kids by taking them down to Mesa for the rest of the weekend. Our plan was to take them to Sun splash on Monday. They have be wanting to go there for quite awhile...........they've never been there before so we thought it's be a great surprise. And it was.................you'd have thought we were taking them to Disneyland or something huge! We were able to leave Mr. Grant with my mother-in-law. She was so sweet and offered to keep him...........thank you so much! He would have been a mess at Sun splash. Well until Monday we played at the pool at the hotel. The kids just had a ball! We were at the pool the next morning all of probably 30 minutes and Cluff luck stuck! Kiersten and Hunter had been pushing each other in.......all in fun of course. I kept telling them someone was going to get hurt..................and yeah they did. Full details of that event are in a separate post, but lets just say Sun splash was now not an option and it included a trip to the Urgent Care. Yes we are still conducting our Study of Urgent Cares Across the US! Logan has been able to swim on his own since he was 2 1/2. Whenever we are at hotels people away comment, especially when he was younger, on how good of a summer he is. Yep he is a fish! And he can do a great BOMB! Since Sun splash was out we decided to let the kids pick out one toy just to keep the trip fun and exciting. Logan picked out a pocket remote control car.........which is actually well made and great fun! He was so happy with it. We watched "The Zookeeper" at the Superstition Mall theater and then let the kids play out in the court yard since it was evening and the sun had gone down. Logan had a blast showing off his remote control skills to the crowd! On Monday, the planned day for Sun splash, we let the kids swim in the hotel pool for a bit. But someone had to keep their chin above water......other post will connect all the dots! But this picture kind of gives you a clue! Her daddy spoiled her with rides on his back! After the facts of the accident at the pool, Kiersten spent most of her chore money buying a birthday present for Hunter. WOW what an example! I don't know very many kids (or grown ups for that matter) that would spent their money, not 24 hours later, buying something for the person that had caused them to get 5 stitches. Hunter was so humbled by this that he put back a toy that he was buying for himself and decided to surprise Kiersten with an owl stuffed animal and some little things for her collection. It was nice to see them treat each other so good! They really are wonderful, caring kids! Hunter just had a blast with his lego set and of course put it together in 15 minutes. We were nice fun parents and let the kids get their legs in at the water at the Superstition mall. They were so excited! I am so happy to be married to my Best Friend! Justin and I were high school sweet hearts and have been a part of each others lives for 20 years now. I can not imagine my life without him! Not that it's been complete bliss but any means......we have been through hell and back to be honest. I am just so happy to be back from hell and on to the good stuff!!!! Thanks babe for being wonderful and for treating me so good! All I do know is that being where we are now was worth the wait, years of tears and hell! Sorry that is the nicest way I can put it......some of you know what I mean so I am sure you'd agree! I just love Justin so much! He is a wonderful husband, father and friend! After the pool time on Monday the kids wanted to go paint at As You Wish. They each picked out whatever they wanted to paint and we got started. Logan picked a dinosaur (not surprising), Hunter got a dragon, and Kiersten picked an owl. It was great fun just watching my kids enjoy being creative! Justin "helping" or taking over Logan's project. Hunter was so happy with how is dragon was turning out! Dinosaur Loving Logan He has loved dinosaur since he was about 3. I told Justin at the beginning that he should pick something to paint but he said he didn't want to. Well Logan asked for a little help painting the teeth and Justin ended up painting the whole dinosaur over again to make it one solid color. It was so cute to watch Justin be so serious about his painting job. See he should have gotten his own :)

Everyone was so happy with their final projects!

We ended up having to take them home with us to have them fired here in Safford. But a week later we had them back and they now decorate the kids rooms.

While we were in Mesa we ate at lots of yummy places including The Cheesecake Factory, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Ihop and Texas Roadhouse shown here. The kids love going to the Texas Roadhouse where they get to throw the peanut shells on the floor.

On our way out of town we stopped at the mall again to do a little shopping. And for the first time in history Justin spent more money at the mall then ME! Yeah not something I am proud of............LOL!

Hunter talked his dad into letting him get a remote control helicopter, even though he only had half the money for it at the time. No one was worried though because Justin will make sure Hunter pays him back in full after his birthday party. Well Justin ended up getting himself a large remote control helicopter as well. It was so cute to see Justin acting much like a little boy. I just had to have a picture of my two cute boys! I think Hunter was thrilled that his dad got a helicopter too! Hunter made sure to bring up the fact they him and his dad like the same things and how much they are alike. It amazes me how much a boy needs and admires his dad. And the same is true for a girl and her mom.

I remind Justin of this often, especially when he works so much that he starts missing the kids stuff. He did make good this summer on getting to ONE yes only ONE of the boys baseball games but I was so happy that he made the decision and got to at least one game. He says he often gets so wrapped up in the company that he forgets the kids need him too. He tries to say I do such a great job at doing stuff with the kids, getting them to all their activities and whatnot and that he knows they are well cared for that he forgets he needs to be involved as well. That is a nice compliment but the fact is that no matter what I do with the boys it doesn't seem to add up to what Justin does with them. I am totally fine with this reality but I just have to keep showing Justin and reminding him of the truth of it.

I try to be super understanding because I know he handles an extreme amount of pressure and stress in helping run the company. I have to say he does a wonderful job!!! For our family keeping things balanced to where Justin attends stuff with the kids and I is our constant battle. But he says he needs my reminders and is always willing to trying and figure out how he can do it all! He is amazing!

I have to say the one CONSISTENT piece of advice I get from people who have raised their families is,

"Do as much as you can with your kids while you can!"

I try to remember this advice always!

All in all our Mesa trip was great fun even though we didn't make it to Sun splash!