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Sunday, April 30, 2017

Hershey Park

A couple of months ago my work announced they were having a day at Hershey Park before the park was open to the public for the season AND the tickets were discounted. I have wanted to go since we moved up here and now that Mason was tall enough to ride some of the rides I bought us tickets to go. Even Uncle Ryan joined in and got one to go with is.

I packed the bags the night before to include plenty of snacks for Mason, 5 night time diapers, 2 changes of clothes for Mason, and my smaller purse (which included taking my license and debit card out of my wallet to put in a smaller change purse).
- Yes, I needed to list these things for the rest of the blog....

Saturday morning I made Mason a PB&J for lunch and grabbed us 3 water bottles that the park allows you to bring in. We left at 7:30, stopped and got breakfast, picked up Ryan, and hit the road. About half way there we stopped at a rest area. Mason had already soaked his diaper so I changed him then air dried his shorts the rest of the way up so we wouldn't be on outfit #2 before we even got to the park. Since apparently everyone else was going to Hershey too, we finally arrived at the park around 10:30.

The weather was yucky going up, with chances of thunderstorms but the sun came out when we got there and now I am a slight shade of red... Mason had went through another diaper at this point so now I was down to 3 for the rest of the day. He wasn't drinking more than normal. I guess he was holding it for the car ride... stinker...

As we walked towards the gate I started doing a mental check to make sure we didn't leave anything in the car. At that point I stopped dead in my tracks and started crying. I had left the tickets that could only be purchased at work and that were sold out at home in my wallet. I was sooo upset. I wanted to go back to the car and go home but Doug insisted we go to the gate and ask for help.

When we got to guest services I showed them my online statement to verify I had bought the ticket. Unfortunately, since they were not purchased through the park itself they couldn't do anything but sell me full price tickets. I was kicking myself as I handed over my credit card (which thank the heavens I DID bring). Thankfully the lady gave me instructions on how I could submit the tickets I left at home with my stubs from today and get a refund for the ones I bought today. Even after we had the tickets and we're going through the gate I was still crying. I was so mad at myself for doing something so stupid. I even looked at the tickets last night and had my wallet in the smaller purse. I can't believe I forgot them! We were so lucky they let us in. I couldn't stop thinking about it all day. I tried to keep reminding myself that we got in and we're having fun but every time I remembered my mistake my stomach dropped lower than the coasters made it go.

Once we got the lay of the land we started riding rides. Mason was able to ride some without us but I rode most with him. My two husbands switched out riding roller coasters with me. Neither prefer to ride them but both didn't want me riding by myself. None of the water rides were open and the small water park was also closed off. I am sure Mason would have enjoyed that. My favorite ride was the first one we road, Fahrenheit. I only got to ride a few but Sky Rush was my least favorite. I think I will have bruises on my legs from the lap bar and I didn't like how it didn't have anything over your shoulders. It goes so fast I got slung everywhere and for a steel coaster it shook worse than wood coaster.

Mason loved all the rides we put him on. I wanted him to go on more but we ran out of time. Plus, Mr Cranky Pants didn't take a nap while we were there so he was becoming unpleasant. He did sleep about half an hour in the car on the way up but I was still surprised he made it through the whole afternoon. He only made it about 15 mins in the car on the way home before he passed out.

We may get to go again but I would prefer not to pay full price or go during the regular season where you have to wait in line for forever. We didn't wait more than a half hour today but it would be nice to have the water park section open. Plus, I could not imagine tromping around all day in the sun and heat. We had a nice cool breeze blowing but my white skin is HOT!  Gotta get use to being out in the sun all day. I know my little daredevil is going to want season passes when he gets older.


 Getting measured to see what rides he could go on. He was just barely a Hershey Mini.

Group photo



First ride; a bee!

He really liked this one. It went fast, up & down, all around!

Choo Choo!

Watching the bigger choo choo go by

Getting ready to ride another coaster

A mini scrambler

He hung on to the bar and screamed when we had to get off :(

These airplanes went round and round REALLY fast. I have a bruise on my arm from being smushed between him and the side of the space shuttle. 

Wearing Uncle Ryan's sunglasses while they waited on Doug and I to get off a ride.

Exhausted!

Monday, April 24, 2017

Star Wars Karma

For years I refused to watch Star Wars with Doug. He loves the movies and would ask me all the time to watch them with him. He is the guy that stands in line for hours to see the movies and collects all the "toys". I knew if I said yes he would want to watch them all the time so I said no each time and expressed my disinterest in the movies. For a while it was easier because the movies were not coming out so he asked less.

Well, karma is a b!

Guess who L-O-V-E-S Star Wars!?! MASON!!! He saw Rogue One one time and he was hooked. He sits, in silence, and watches the movies all the way through; he reads his Star books; he knows all the character's names (before he was 2 yrs old!!!); his favorite toys are Star Wars toys; he breathes like Darth Vader; he makes sounds and acts like he is swinging a lightsaber. Just today his teacher said he was playing "Star Wars" and had his lightsaber out at daycare...

So now I get asked, "Watch Star Wars?" or "Star books?" a million times a day. We watch parts of at least one of the movies everyday and we read the books every night before bed. I can say "no" to Doug no problem but even though I tell Mason "no" we somehow end up watching it every day...

Sunday, April 23, 2017

It's been a while...

It has been a while since I last blogged. And when I say blogged I mean sat and actually typed words. My last posts were mostly just pictures and of course all were of Mason since that is all I have to talk about right now. I am actually hiding in a little nook in the kitchen while Mason destroys the living room just so I can get some words typed. He will make me pay for my lack of attention to him.

And he just said, "I poop, Momma" so be right back...

Ok. Now that his a$$ is no longer dirty & stinky... :)

So, why haven't I blogged lately. Well, besides Mason there has not been much to talk about. What little I have can be summed up in a quick status update on Facebook.

Here is my life:
5:30 am - get up, get ready
7:00 am - drop Mason off at daycare & go to work
5:00 pm (give or take) - get off & pick Mason up
6:00 pm (give or take) - finally get home (gotta love traffic), unpack lunch bags, take Auburn out, and start cooking dinner
6:30 pm - eat dinner, clean up kitchen, & pack lunches
7:00 pm - play with Mason
7:30 pm - give Mason a bath & put him to bed
8:30 pm - watch the O's, catch up on a TV show, say hello to my husband, or pass out

Rinse & repeat. Exciting right?

In a life with little to no time for yourself it is so very hard to take a minute to stare at a computer (especially after you have been doing it for 9+ hours at work) and type some story that is important to you but absolutely not to others. Especially when that time could be spent with your child, husband, asleep, or shaving your legs... And let's not even get me started on the pounds of fat that have taken up residency on my EVERYTHING because I am too exhausted at 8:30 pm or at 4:30 am to get up and work out for an hour.

So why blog?

My main purpose of the blog has always been to give my parents who were not on Facebook and all of my family a  more detailed glimpse into our life without taking up hours of their time on the phone. I love talking to everyone but now and days it is hard to find time to sit down and catch everyone up.

After some time, all my blogs became about Mason because that is all I "did". I figured that is all my family wanted to read about anyways. Then I got to thinking, well who reads this thing anyways? Now that most everyone was on Facebook I could just post quick status updates and pictures of Mason on there.

Well, yesterday was the 2 year anniversary of Mason being put on a ventilator and medivac'ed to Children's Hospital in DC. Of course, the memories pop up on Facebook and the links to the blogs are in there. Reading through them, it reminded me of why I wanted to blog. No offense, but it is not for you. It is for me. I will not remember every day of my life or the small details of the big events. Memories fade and, for some, are lost forever. I take thousands of pictures so that one day I can look back at them and, God willing, remember the story behind the picture. The blog is another way to remind me of all the amazing and horrible days my life has had in it.

Maybe Mason or his wife or his children or their children will read these precious memories one day and will cherish them as I will.

So if you are still out there, reading our memories as we make them, I hope you will find them as beautiful as I do.