Freed Retreat 2010 - Condensed Version

This year the Freed Retreat was shortened to just a one day event. We met at a park in Cape Girardeau and planned a day of fun activities. We once again had a great turnout and got to visit with about 60 extended family members. Aunt Pam brought lots of fun stuff for the kids. They had water balloon tosses and bubbles, and played in the kiddie pool and on the playground equipment. We ate a lot and visited a lot. It was a nice, enjoyable day.

Magic House Fun

Bryan and Valerie went to Chicago to celebrate their anniversary, so Kameron and Paige spent the weekend with Papa and Mamaw. We all went to the Magic House on Saturday and had a great time. It has probably been 20 years since I've been to the Magic House, so everything was different.

There were tons of fun places to explore and puzzles to figure out. Jason and Max did the electricity ball, but Ellie wanted none of that. She tried most other activities, but repeatedly told us she didn't want to touch the ball that would make her hair stand up.

They played hard and crashed hard afterwards. I don't think we'll wait another 20 years to return.

Eat More Chicken

Have I ever said how much we love Chick-fil-A? If you know my daughter, you're not surprised to hear that one of her favorite restaurants is one that serves only chicken. And their chicken sandwiches are so yummy, but we love it for so many other reasons...

1. The restaurant is always clean!
2. The employees are efficient, friendly and helpful.
3. The provide bendy straws for the kids, plastic stick down place mats (for feeding babies right off the table), free bowls of Cheerios for the little ones, fun and educational kids' meal toys, and Purell wipes throughout the restaurant including right outside the playland.

What could make us like Chick-fil-A even more, you ask? Well, this morning we received an email to let us know that Belle from Beauty & the Beast (from the Muny production starting next week) would be at our local Chick-fil-A tonight to visit and make crafts with the kids and sign autographs. Wow! What a treat for a soon to be 4-year-old that loves Disney princesses.

We headed there for dinner, and surprisingly, got a parking space and a table right away. Ellie, however, has developed a bit of fear around dressed up characters. She liked to look at Belle from afar, but wasn't too crazy about going up and taking a picture with her, which is why we don't have a very good shot of Belle. It was pretty fun though, and Ellie has been talking about it non-stop. Yay for Chick-fil-A!

Country Days 2010

We headed down to Farmington for another weekend of Country Days. The kids always have a great time. We met up with the Felkers and watched the parade. Ellie has developed a bit of a fear of dressed up characters, so she was constantly getting up from her chair and hiding behind me whenever a clown or princess came near.

After the parade, Gran took a sleepy Max back to the house and we took Ellie down to ride some rides. She's getting big enough now that she wants to try some of the bigger kid rides. She and Jason rode this spinning ride, but they didn't spin too much (so Jason wouldn't get sick), and Ellie loved it.

The giant slide is always a hit and a must do each year.

Ellie rode the boat merry-go-round and the car merry-go-round. This might be the last year Ellie enjoys these rides, but I think they'll be perfect for Max next year.

But Ellie's absolute favorite part was the pony rides. She kept talking about it afterwards and telling us how much fun it was.

After we finished at Country Days, we headed back to Gran and Popi's for lunch and to cool down. Luckily we planned ahead and brought bathing suits for the kids, so they had a good time playing in the sprinkler.

Gran saves Max from the cold water.

Max got a cold blast of water and wasn't too sure if he liked it.

The kids also played in the playhouse. What kid doesn't love a playhouse?!