Surprise Day

Today we surprised the kids by inventing a new thing called, of all things, SURPRISE DAY! Here is how it works: I take one of the kids for the first part of surprise day to do something fun, while Ashley (yes, that is her name; ANNOUNCEMENT: we will be getting married someday, unless she dumps me first; that is all I am going to say for now; more details will come one day in the future) takes the other one. We tell the kids nothing of what is going on, or where we are going, or what we are doing. We simply drive, and they find out when we get there. We then do our activity, meet together for ice cream, and then switch kids. So, here is what we did:

At first, Ashley took Tinkerbell to get her nails painted. They also picked out some new earrings and even a cute little toe ring. Then, they walked around and shopped and looked through all of the stores together.

MEANWHILE.......

I took McQueen and we headed to the Nickelcade (think arcade, but with nickels instead of quarters). We had a great time playing a ton of games. His favorites by far were a boat racing game, and this motorcycle game. He even kept winning so much that he unlocked a bunch of new tracks on the boating game. A kid after my own heart.

After we met up for ice cream, we swapped kids.

THEN.......

Ashley took McQueen to the bowling alley and they had a great time bowling. Afterwards, she took him to the toy store and he was able to pick out a toy.

IN ANOTHER PART OF TOWN.......

Tinkerbell and I went to a place where you can pick out a ceramic item. You then get to use their paints and brushes to paint it however you want. You leave it with them, and then come back a couple of days later after it has been fired. Above are pictures of the pre-fired and post-fired artwork. Tinkerbell really did an amazing job. Just a thought: I wonder if the employee that operates the kiln is a big "The Apprentice" fan. They probably get this sick little laugh as they close the door, turn the switch, and then, in their very best Donald Trump impersonation say: "You're Fired."

To end the evening, we went to a church BBQ at Ashley's stake center. What a great day surprise day turned out to be. It was a really fun to spend one on one time with the kids, and also to make them feel special in their own unique way. We have plans to do surprise day periodically, but not so often that our time is not meaningful.