I have B.O., which brings me to my first question: Can someone recommend a deodorant that works and doesn't cost more than 4 dollars? Thank you.
Anyway, I spent today in the sun, walking and walking and it wasn't too hot, but yet, my underarm deodorant has failed me.
Why was I in the sun? Let's start there. Well, let's start with this morning.
My friend Jessica invited me to go to a local Storyland and Playland with her, and Quinten was invited. We have tried to go to Storyland before, but were forced to cancel due to a last minute situation with tires that is too boring to recount here.
This morning, in the spirit of adventure, I made pancakes. No one ate them. Everyone cried. Everyone fought. Both kids wiped boogers on me, because they were crying. I thought that Q would be on his best behavior, seeing that I made him pancakes and informed him that I was taking him to play at a fun "land".
He was cranky. He was rude, and moody and generally made me want to put him back to bed. However, Storyland had become this elusive goal, and there was no way I was cancelling my plans due to a disgruntled two year old.
Grandma came to watch Shel and Q and I left, to go to Target. I had just gotten back from Target, and spent a fortune on diapers and paper towels. I think someone is going to cry when he finds out how much I spent at Target the first time, in the name of diapers...
But, because I love seeing his "angry eyes" I immediately returned to Target to do some more damage...and the fact that I had left Q's only-pair-of-shoes-that-we-can-find-at-this-time in Daddy's car contributed to the return visit.
We finally made it out and arrived at Storyland. As we pulled into the park like setting, the ancient trees stood serenely, the leaves rustled in the breeze and the late morning sun glistened.
Q spoke through the silence and said, "I not like dis place. I want to go home."
"HOW do you KNOW you don't LIKE this place? You have never been to this place! It is a FUN place."
"I don't like dis place because...it's different dan us."
What?
Luckily he saw the duck pond. He wanted to get out and see the geese. Seeing an opportunity I told him he had to have fun or else he couldn't go. He promised to have fun.
Here are some pictures of Q having fun at Storyland:
I know. Obviously he was having a ridiculously fun time. His lack of enthusiasm...annoyed me. It made me want to leave him with the Three Bears.
I'm thinking some of you may not know what a Storyland is. It is a "land" that has nursery rhyme characters, and if you turn a plastic key in different boxes near the characters, the boxes talk. Sadly, the boxes didn't just tell nursery rhymes, they told entire stories that lasted longer than we could stand, and we didn't make it through any of the tales. It didn't help things that the voice that was telling the story was warbled. "The princess was playing with her golden ball when it wabheowhawbled into the well and a frog noticed warblewhoarmels".
Also, there were two key holes on each box, one in Spanish and one in English. Since we had two two year-olds, and two key holes, it ended up being a language war, and the story kept starting over.
What does this look like to you?
It called itself a "caterpillar" but Jessica and I are convinced it is really a giant cactus.
Thanks to our two boys, it kept saying, "Hello. Whooooo are yoooou?" "Hola. Eres tuuuuuu" "Hello. Hola. Eres. Hello. Hola. Hello. Whoooo are yooou? HOla."
We wandered around fairy land with Mr. Unimpressed and hopped on the train. The people who invited us were having a good time despite the rain cloud I brought with me. The train took us away from Storyland to Playland.
As soon as it stopped, Mr. Gloomy Gus leaped out of his seat and ran to the racetrack. He wanted the black car, got it, and it was all sunshine and roses after that.
So, in conclusion, I need new deodorant, my feet hurt, and the day was awesome! Q even rode a Ferris wheel, which is a Christmas miracle considering I practically threw him down a slide at Storyland, because he's afraid of heights and I'm mean.
I loved the cactus, the key wars, I was minimally annoyed, but in the end, fun was had by all
...and Q concluded the afternoon with a 3 minute nap in the car, not to be repeated when we got home.
