The Croods

I LOVE SUMMER VACATION!!!! Seriously, not having to get up quite so early (though Daphne still likes to be up around 730-800) and being able to do whatever we want, whenever we want. It's fantastic!

First of all, I would like to give a shout out to all veterans! Thank you for your service, past and present. And, to those that lost their lives, thank you for your sacrifice. Happy Memorial Day. 

So, yesterday, on Memorial Day, I took the trio to see The Croods. We went with family friends (Charly's bestie, bestie's Mom...my friend, and bestie's brother...Kenna's friend). It made the movie trip so much more enjoyable. :) Anyhow, we got a HUGE popcorn and soda, both of which come with free refills. I broke out the paper bags, and everyone got their own bag of popcorn, and we brought color coded straws, so we could share the drink. :) Yes, we like to do things as inexpensively as possible. When raising three girls, now is the time to be saving. All the kiddos (and the Moms) enjoyed the movie. There were lots of giggles and some more serious parts, but it was definitely a hit. Daphne, my crazy baby that doesn't like to watch TV, even sat on my lap and squealed with delight, when everyone would laugh. There was a baby behind us that kept crying, and sometimes that consumed Daphne's attention, but then baby would stop and she'd go back to enjoying the movie. :) I'm glad she wasn't running through the aisles like I had expected!

So, if you haven't already...check out The Croods.

Doodle marks the spot

As I sit here eating grapes, I figured I would talk about the weekend that has absolutely flown by!
Kenna has a marker obsession. I think she really only has this obsession for the fact that everything she writes on has her stamp of approval on it. Friday evening, she drew on her bean bag chair, her sister's bean bag chair, herself, and the kitchen table. Luckily she got hold of a dry erase marker, so it came off of everything fairly easily. Then, I get to the bean bag chair. I think, I'll wash Charly's first, since Kenna will probably draw all over hers again anyhow. We'll start with the one that didn't do it. I'm thinking that when I undo the zipper of the bean bag chair, that the 'beans' will be a mesh case, like a pillow case or something. NOPE! They are completely loose! So, here I am, in the laundry room, trying to get creative with containing the beans. I think to myself, 'I'll put them in a garbage bag. This should be easy!' WRONG! Oh my goodness...what a freakin' nightmare! I finally get one garbage bag filled, and gave up. There were SO many loose beans all over the floor. Every time I moved the bean bag, it would send 10 more beans whisking across the floor. It looks like we're having a white Christmas, in our house! There are beans everywhere!! I still have to figure out what to do with the rest of the beans, so I can get this dang bean bag chair washed! Oh, a box! I have a big box! Finally!! I get them all dumped in the box, and the chair washed! Thankfully, all the work and wave of snowy white beans is not for nothing, because ALL of the marker marks came out!
Now, onto the child! Kenna is covered in marker! And, she's so proud of it. She proudly marched out into the living room to show off her marker. She was so excited to get a picture of all the marks. Geez! So, I get her in the tub. After multiple scrubbing attempts, we get the marker off her leg and arm, but it is NOT coming off of her face. Dry erase marker is not easy to get off of skin! So, my poor kiddo spends the next 12 hours with a marker face, until we do bath time again, on Saturday! Thankfully, it came off! So, when we were in public on Saturday, it didn't look like my child was a football player. :)

On Saturday, I took the 3 girls (Charly, Kenna and Daphne) to the movies. We also invited a friend of Charly's and my parents. We saw 'We Bought A Zoo'. We have a theater that plays second run movies, so you get the fun experience of going to the movies, without paying an arm and a leg. Thankfully, because, I like my arms and legs. :) It was a cute movie. However, it was not quite how I expected it to be, based on the previews. I expected a bit more kid friendly, though it was fine. I thought it'd be more about the animals and zoo factor, than their life...I dunno how to explain it. But, it was good! Charly and her friend enjoyed it. Kenna got bored and started running from one end of the isle to the other. Thankfully, she was being quiet, is shorter than the seats, and the theater wasn't packed. :)
Today, was a restful day. Okay, well except for me having to make a several hour trip to the grocery store, with Charly, and our coupon binder. But, it was fun! And, we are set on our meal planning adventures. :) Good times! I hope everyone else had an eventful weekend. :)

Vroom Vroom. Should I attempt this?

I talked to a good friend, Heather, on Thursday, and she told me that she was going to take her kids to see Cars 2. Well, Charly wanted to see this too. I told Heather, that we'd have to wait until it came to the cheap, second run, theater. Then, she proceeded to tell me about this theater, that played brand new movies, for $2 matinee, and $4 after 6pm. Okay, she now has my attention. Where is this awesome theater she speaks of?? She sends me a link to the theater. http://blanchestercinemas.com/  BLANCHESTER, OH! Where in the world is Blanchester?
Well, it's about an hour from where I live in Kentucky. So, I get the calculator out and try to see if it would be worth the drive (gas) to take both girls there, or if it would be better to take just Charly to see it close to the house. Well, it was about the same, and Kenna would get to see it too. SO, we decide to go and meet her there. Woo Hoo! Charly is beyond excited. Kenna is just happy to be getting out of the house. The movie starts at 2p, so we need to be there by at least 130p, so we can get our tickets. So, we leave the house at 1235p. Woo Hoo! We can do this! Get on the road, thinking Kenna would fall asleep in the car, so we would be able to enjoy her first movie theater experience. NOPE. She's wide awake the entire trip. After sitting in some construction traffic for about 15 minutes, we finally get there at 145p. Okay, we still have time. We get the tickets (Heather bought them ahead of time, for us), and now we're in the popcorn & drink line. OMG! Could they be any slower?? They had one guy working the tickets and concession, and everytime he'd start a concession order, someone would walk in for tickets. It finally starts to slow down, and a second guy walks in. Thank goodness. Now, we get through this line of people wanting their popcorn. We up...large popcorn and sprite - $6.75. Not too bad...$12.75 for the entire new movie experience. Anyhow, would I do it again, even with the slow (at first) concession stand; You bet your hiney I would! Overall, it was a great experience!
So, we get the drink and popcorn. Charly grabs a booster seat for Kenna, and we're off to the small theater to find Heather. She's right in the middle...thankfully she saved us some seats. So, we get situated, and between Heather and kids, and me with the kids, we take up almost the whole row (just to give you an idea of when I say small theater). Then, Heather says "I hope my baby behaves". I then respond "I hope my baby does okay".
And, we're off. The movie starts. Charly is super excited. Kenna's still not sure what's going on, but the big screen and loud sounds definitely have her attention. Woo Hoo! This is fabulous! Well, about 3/4 of the way through the movie, Kenna realizes that she can get off of her seat. So, back and forth between Charly and I she starts. Then, she sees there are people in front of us. Uh Oh! What is she thinking? What is she going to do? Well, she just watches them, and decides she's having more fun going from Charly's seat, to my lap. Finally, the movie ends, and overall it was a success with Kenna's first movie. And, the movie was very cute! We love Mater though, so it was a success to the Feightner gals. On the way out, I did apologize to the guys cleaning the theater. It appeared as though a popcorn bomb went off under Kenna's seat.
So, on the road we go. The girls are definitely tired at this point. We are on the road, maybe 5 minutes, and Kenna's out. Woo Hoo! Then, before I get to the interstate, Charly's out! Woo Hoo. Quiet car ride home...this is great. THEN, we get into Kentucky, and about 5 minutes later, traffic comes to a screeching halt. OMG! I turn to the radio to find out there is a 5 car pile up one exit before mine, and it has the interstate shut down. I'm right by the on ramp...so I decide to do what others are doing, and I head down the on ramp, to a side street.  And, take the back roads to get home. So, now at this point a one hour car ride, has turned into an almost hour and a half car ride. That's when Kenna wakes up. She wants out of her seat, and now. She's thirsty. She's hungry, and I have only a chocolate chip cookie. I give it to her, and she's quiet. Then, the cookie that seemed so big at the time, now seems so tiny. Why didn't I have more???
Now, we're home 30 minutes later, but it seemed like it took 4 hours to get home, when in reality it was only 2 hours. Screaming kids in a car, will definitely do that to you!
Overall, the trip was a success. The girls did not fight in the car, to the theater, at the theater, or on the way home. And, about 15 minutes after we got home, my Mom called and said she was coming to get Charly for the evening. So, there was also no fighting the rest of the evening. What a great way to end a great day!!