Month: January 2013

After spending so much time inside and sick I really needed a fun outing. I found out about the Great Arizona Puppet Theater while google searching one night. I thought that sounded like a whole lot of fun so called and reserved tickets. I was disappointed that the show started at 10am because they told me I needed to get there by 9:50am at the latest and since the theater is in Phoenix, it would take me a while to drive there. And getting all four kids ready for the day (and myself) and making it out there that early… whew, I wasn’t excited about that busy morning!

So the morning of the show I got the older girls ready for school and took them to school and then drove home to get myself and the younger two ready. It was already almost 9am at this point and I really should’ve left right at 9am to have plenty of time. I managed to make it out of the house at about 9:05am! I figured it was a 45 minute drive to Phoenix from where we lived but I forgot to give myself at extra 5 or 10 minutes to stop through McDonald’s drive thru for breakfast for the little kids. They’d eaten a granola bar but that would last them maybe a half hour before they’d be squawking about hunger again.

I called Allan just to ask him exactly how long he thought it would take to get there and if I’d make it. He was adamant about me definitely not having enough time to get there! He said it’d take 45 minutes to an hour! And insisted I turn around and go home or maybe go somewhere else like the library. (He only insisted because he didn’t want me to waste my time and gas; my SUV is a major gas sucker, which… sucks)

All I was thinking as he told me I wouldn’t be able to make it was, “Challenge Accepted!!” I told him I’d go somewhere else with no intention of doing so. haha. And sure enough I made it right on time. I did run to the front door (carrying my bag and Ember with Payson running alongside me!) to make sure I got there right at 9:50 and not a second later. I got up to the counter and rang up for our tickets and it’s then I realized my wallet wasn’t in my purse.

Before getting out of the car I’d made sure to check my wallet and toss it in my purse so I knew it’d fallen out of my purse as we ran in! I told the cashier that and ran outside to find my wallet! Sure enough it had fallen out outside! We made it back inside a minute later, paid, and went and found seats. There weren’t too many people there and it was another ten minutes before the show started. Wheeeew! (Payson thought this entire ordeal was hilarious and a lot of fun, btw! I’m glad that kid loves going on errands!)

The show was a lot of fun. Payson was cracking up all through it! Ember enjoyed it too, and giggled a few times when the mice would fall.

Two little kids are chosen from the audience to name the dolls in the show and Payson got picked. He’d been raising his hand hopefully but when he was called on he froze and got shy and couldn’t think of a name for the doll. I suggested some family names (just to hurry him along and not hold up the show for longer) and he picked Sierra. It was fun watching the show and hearing Sierra’s name. She would’ve loved that if she’d been there.

The pink doll was the one named Sierra.

We spent a long time in the gift shop/store part of the theater. Like always *sigh*
Payson and Ember asked for pretty much every puppet, coloring book, and toy in the place. lol. They each got a set of these little peepers things. Eyes that you put on your hand. They were SO cute playing with them!

We took our time walking back to the car. It was rainy and cool and just like the most amazing weather ever!

I like the building the theater is in. I took a few pictures of it while the kids ran around playing.

I needed to stop at the mall on the way home but by then the kids were hungry so we went to Five Guys for lunch first.

Payson loved it there.

Both kids were in the best moods having lunch. It was a lot of fun.

I don’t normally take a lot of pictures in a restaurant but they were being so cute I couldn’t resist!

After Five Guys we went to the mall and shopped around. I didn’t find what I was looking for (bummer) but we did buy some candies at See’s and I did agree to let them ride the carousel. The carousel used to only accept cash for tickets but they got a brand new machine that accepts cards. I put my debit card in and it got stuck! I was trying as hard as I could to pull it out but I couldn’t! Only a small part of my card was sticking out and I just couldn’t get a good enough grip on it. I asked the employee working there if she was able to open the machine but she wasn’t. She called her manager to ask but from the sound of her side of the conversation the manager wasn’t interested in coming over to fix the problem. haha.

In a moment of brilliance I asked to use her hole punch (I’d noticed it on her table) and using the hole punch I could grab my card and pull it right out. After my card was free I tried again to pay with my card (but not pushing it in this time like an idiot! ha) and it just wouldn’t work! She said that machine has a lot of problems and said, “Just come ride” I thanked her but said, let me just try again. (Because I felt wrong just going for free!) so I tried a couple more times with my card but it wouldn’t work at all. She offered again and this time I just thanked her a lot and we went on!

I think you can tell by their faces, it was a lot of fun!

I told the kids as they were climbing off to thank the employee as we were leaving. They didn’t disappoint, smiling and saying, “Thank you!!” as we left.

I gave them each a lollipop as we were leaving to avoid any fits Ember might throw about not spending a million hours at the water fountain there. haha! I was ready to go home at this point 😉

Payson wouldn’t stop rubbing his sucker all over his mouth and nose! I told him not to because he was going to be a sticky mess but he ignored me.

Is it just me or can you not say or think “Subway” without adding Eat Fresh to the end?

The guy making sandwiches looked at me funny when I said I wanted a 6 inch sandwich with no bread. Ordering for Payson always initiates the most interesting conversations in restaurants. Just once I’d like to order and just have them say, “okay.” haha. Really it’s not that bad, it’s just funny that I can’t even remember the last time I ordered and didn’t have it be a thing. I’d love to go back in time to when I just ordered and that’s it, no conversation about what I was ordering and why and raised eyebrows. haha

Ember was being so adorable while I ordered. She kept walking up to the counter and pretending to eat all the veggies in the picture. She’d either put her face right up to it and make little gobbling sounds or she pretend to grab a veggie and put it in her mouth. Payson quickly started doing the same when he saw me and everyone else in the store reacting with smiles and giggles.

Her favorite to pretend to eat was the apple. Which yes, was actually a tomato 🙂

We ate outside because it was full inside but mostly because the weather here has been perfection.

Payson never even bats an eye at the “weird” food placed in front of him. Why/how could he? His entire life he’s known nothing but his modified dishes. Having a wrapper filled with meat, cheese, and veggies with no bread doesn’t seem at all weird to him! Not that it should, that’s a pretty good meal! (At home I’d add potatoes or rice to his meal)

We walked just around the corner to Basha’s. I can’t even remember what I bought there… I remember something snacky and then some oranges. haha

Ember caught sight of this inflated football player and started cheering and saying, “Go BYU!!” which I thought was just the cutest and so I took a picture to show and tell Allan about. When I snapped she was saying, “football!”

The kids finished up their chips while I shopped.

And on the way out we got toys from the quarter machines. Which we do every single time I have quarters because these two little kids are pretty dang good in every store we go to!

As we left the store the little kids noticed an older man waiting outside with a little dog on a leash. This was the highlight of their day. Ember stayed at a distance (she both loves and fears dogs) yelling things to the dog. (BTW, do you love her stylish outfit? She insisted on dressing herself. haha)

She wanted to stay there a lot longer squealing at the “puppy” and showing it her toys. The little dog was laying down and looked completely not interested in children, especially children yelling things at it, so I left pretty quickly. Ember was heartbroken over that.

And that great big outing wore her right out. She was beyond cranky when we got home.