Sunday, February 8, 2009

Day o' Fun

M2 and her hubby are off on a romantic getaway*, and we've had her kids (in one combination or another) for the weekend. Yesterday they all had various musical lessons in town, so we decided we'd spend the whole day hanging out and having fun.

We started out our day at group Suzuki violin lessons. These kids are mostly four or five years old, and watching them standing in little rows with their tiny violins was about the cutest thing I've ever seen. I also got to see my old Chemistry professor, which was fun. Right up until we were leaving and the kids overheard him speaking in his native tongue to his family. They then debated (loudly and within what had to have been his earshot) his nationality, all the way back to the car.

We had a quick snack, and then headed over to another lesson. After that was over, we had lunch at an Indian place, and then went to this great park. It's like an old west town and it's awesome. MM and the kids have so much fun goofing off on the swings, and playing tag and hide and seek. It's free and probably one of my favorite places to go.

After having our fill of fresh air and exercise, we headed to one of those obnoxious video game restaurant places. After an hour or two, we took our $20 whoopee cushions** and headed for the drive-in.

I love our drive-in. The closest one to us in Phoenix was in a creepy neighborhood, and I was always afraid of being caught in the crossfire of some sort of gang altercation. Here, there's a nice playground and lots of families with kids running around. We always park way in the back so everyone can easily get to the bathroom, which is clean and contains many, many stalls. And the cost - kids five and under are free, and it's six bucks for two movies for the rest of us. A playground, clean bathrooms, and family and budget friendly. What more could you ask for in a drive-in?

The movies*** we saw were mediocre at best and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. Well, I take that back. If you're not expecting much, and you want something mildly amusing that the kids will enjoy, they were OK. They weren't horribly offensive. No more suggestive than your average animated movie.****

Today, once the kids all get up, we're heading to the park to play some more. I've got some photos I still need to shoot for my class, and then it's back to town again for Youth Orchestra. For M2's kids. Because mine? Mine wants to be a rock star and has ditched the violin for drums. Yippy.

*I found this great place, picked a spa package, booked it, found local restaurants to try, prepared a power point presentation explaining it all, and put together a little gift bag of goodies. Would this not be a great business idea? Personalized romantic weekend planning. Like a super specialized travel agent for people who either don't know what to plan or don't have the time to plan it. And did I mention I provide babysitting services as well? But only if I know you. And like your kids.

**Sorry, M2....I know how you feel about those types of things.

***Pink Panther II and Paul Blart: Mall Cop. I give them an eh. As in, "How were they?" "Eh."

****I'll never forget Shrek and Donkey discussing whether or not the Prince (King? I don't remember) was trying to compensate for something with the size of his tower. And, seriously, Donkey singing Baby Got Back at the end? Fantastic. But explaining why I found that so funny to a child kinda took the wind out of my sails.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your ***ps' are the best part of your posts! :P

Hubby and Daughter went to see Pink Panther 2 on the weekend.

I opted out for obvious reasons...three hours in the house by myself or listen to Steve Martin mispronounce "hamburger" for twenty minutes.

And hehehehehe on the Shrek reference.

Anonymous said...

Glad you like the ***'s!

"Hamburger. Hahmburger. Hahhhhmburgler. Ahhhmmmburger. Aaaahhhmburgler."

I thought I'd re-enact it for you. You know, in case you feel like you missed out. ;)