Facing Fears!!

Maggie has a huge fear of water slides - I am so proud of you for facing your fears!!

I cannot tell you how much I enjoy when Maggie has a day out of school. I always feel like we have to plan the day with something fun and exciting to do and today was no exception. Erica and I had been throwing around several ideas and while I was reading the sunday paper yesterday morning, the idea was right there in front of me. Westgate Resort was running their $99 special again and I knew that the Pack kids hadn't been to the water park yet. I called Erica to see if she was interested and then I called to see if they had any rooms available. They told me they didn't have any rooms, but to call back later and they may have some. Erica called the number and they said they did have a room, so she reserved it!! The girls were still at Cacki's, so Mike and I went to see Fools Gold before we went to get them. I had everything packed and ready to go when we got back home from picking them up. We picked the Pack family up around 4:00 and we arrived around 6:00. Traffic was a little congested and the rain made for not so fun driving conditions. We made it to the water park around 6:30 and we played until they closed at 8:00. I am a big fan of bribing. Whatever it takes to convince Maggie to try something new. She has a huge fear of rides (land or water). I promised her a Webkinz if she would go down the red slide (which is a tube slide). I went up with her and she went first, so I wasn't able to see her reaction at the end, but the whole time I could see her she was all smiles. By the time I got the bottom, she was ready to go back up with Sydney and Brandon by herself. I coulnd't convince her to try the yellow last night, but finally she broke down and gave it a shot today and once again, she LOVED it!! They spent the majority of the time on the slides. Erica, Molly and myself spent the majority of the time in the indoor/outdoor hottub (which felt more like a heated pool). We were able to watch the older kids on the slides from there and Molly was too short to ride the slides. Last night we got back to our room a little after 8:00 and it was 84 degrees in our room. We tried opening the window to let some air in, but we weren't getting much relief. They finally sent us a technician to our room around 9:00 and it turned out that our air compressor was broken, so they sent us to a new room next door. We had to pack everything up and move to a new room and get resettled. We pulled the mattress out and put it on the floor so Maggie, Sydney and Brandon could sleep together and then I put the cushions back on the couch so Molly could sleep there. All of the kids were finally asleep by 10:30. Erica and I had a few more laughs before falling asleep. Everyone slept great until Molly felt like she was stuck in the corner of the couch aroun 6:00 and I had to put her in bed with me. Maggie was the first to wake up at 8:30 and I told her she had to lay still and quiet until 9:00. We made it until Brandon woke up at 8:50, then it was time to get up and get started. We were back at the water park at 10:00 and we stayed until 2:00. We are all exhausted to say the least.

Saturday started with my hair cut appointment at 11:00. Cacki agreed to meet me at Sprout Studio to watch the girls while I got my hair cut. When I went to pick them up, Molly threw one of her temper tantrums that is completely uncontrollable. I was actually thankful that Cacki got to witness it. Sometimes I feel like I over-exaggerate the intensity of her really bad fits, but this time I have a witness. We had to be at Cameron's party at 2:00 and it lasted until 4:00. He got his Wii that we had been searching all over town for. Then we dropped the girls off to spend the night with Cacki because it was Mike's surprise birthday dinner with surprise guests. This year, we invited RoseAnne, Debbie & Melissa to meet us at Connor's Steakhouse. We had a great dinner and fun conversations.. I wish we were able to spend more time with their family. Their knowledge of international stuff is amazing.. Thanks Cacki for making the dinner possible!!

Tomorrow is Mike's birthday!! I will be making a shopping trip after my Pep Mom meeting. I have not had any time to shop for him..