Tax Free, Stress Free, Oodles of Fun!

Whew!  This was a busy weekend.  We started off with a birthday party on Saturday for a friend from Mary's class.  It was crazy chaos at Fire Station #3 with about 15 5 yr olds and younger.  One of my favorite parts of the tour was when Firefighter Jeff asked the kids what 3 special numbers do you call when there's an emergency and a little boy yelled, "666!"  LOL!  Then Firefighter Jeff told the kids to call 911 whenever there is an emergency like "something wrong with your mommy or daddy or you fall down..."  I immediately looked at Mary and said, "Don't you dare call 911 if you fall down."  Thank goodness Adam stayed home with Doug.  If he had heard that, he would be calling 2-3 times a day!

Mommy fail:  Accidentally snapping the rubber band that holds the hat in place.  Little girl was NOT happy with me.  Luckily I snapped this picture first...and her second.



Today, I took the kids to the mall for their annual Tax Free kids weekend.  They offered 5 different bouncers, face painting, balloon animals and of course, presents galore. The kids walked away with free t-shirts, a pack of bracelets, a new backpack (for Adam), a toy car and a plastic fish. I know it's a way to get the parents to the mall to spend money, but since I don't like being too stressed, I did my school shopping early.  I thought it was worth the few bucks I would have saved if I had waited for the tax free weekend.  Besides, we got to relax and play and not worry about trying on shoes.

Little man was a sweaty mess within minutes.

Both kids LOVED the gymnastics area.  The staff member showed Adam how to do a somersault down the wedge and he was hooked.  So was Mary.

Yes, we signed Mary up for gymnastics this week.  She'll start in September and she's so excited.

And is there a better end to all the excitement than face painting and balloons?  No, I thought not!

For the first time, she was excited about getting a big design on her face and wasn't scared at all.

 Oh wait!  There is a better end to this fun filled weekend...the kids going to bed at 7:45pm!  Ahhhhhh......