May 13th proved to be a busy day for us. It wasn't originally planned that way, but that's how it went.
Shaylyn had a field trip to the Planetarium and had asked her Dad to go. So, we paid for him and we were all set on Daddy going on the field trip with Shaylyn while I stayed home with the little kids.
However, Eric double scheduled himself for that day. His work had a bonding type activity where they were going shooting scheduled the same day. After talking with Shaylyn he decided to go shooting, which meant I was going to go on the Field Trip - if we found a sitter. Luckily a lady in the neighborhood willingly watched Nate and Ailey. I'm still not positive it all went okay, but that's what I'm told.
So, Friday morning I got up early and got dressed. Shaylyn had to be to school at 8:00, which is an hour earlier than most days and most days I don't have to be ready. It was crazy! I was running short on time, so I wrote a check for school lunches for all the kids and Shaylyn and I headed out the door.
Eric had to get Nate & Ailey ready for me. Ailey hadn't even woke up by the time I left. I missed her all day!
Shaylyn and I got to the school and it was discovered that there were enough parents going that we each only needed to keep track of our kid and one other kid. It worked out - though the kid that we took with us was very quiet and didn't say a word to me or Shaylyn the entire time. Oh well.
We got to the Planetarium and our first show was in the Dome theater. It was a star show where they pointed out the stars, showed some constellations and told a story about a cluster of constellations based on a story in Greek Mythology...And for the life of me I can't remember who the story was about. I think it was Perseus...I'm gonna google stuff for a sec...Yay, it was Perseus! Anyway, there is a cluster of stars, based on the whole story of Perseus rescuing Andromeda from the wrath of the sea monster. Eh, look it up - it's kind of an interesting story.
After the story, we saw the comparison of Earth to other planets, then to the sun. Then the sun in comparison to some stars out there and WOW, we are a tiny little object out there in space. After the comparisons it was time for a space roller coaster. This was cool because it felt as if you were moving, when in fact it was just the screen. It was real enough that I got dizzy and had to close my eyes for a bit, but it was still AWESOME!
After the Dome show, we had some down time. They have some mock ups of the surface of the moon and one other planet. I didn't bring my camera because I didn't think there'd be any chances for pictures, so I was kind of sad that there was some chances. I brought out my phone that was on limited battery and got these few pics:
After the down time we saw a 3D video of Undersea life. This was THE BEST 3D show I've ever seen. Also informative. Learned about a bunch of creatures that I didn't even know existed. Plus, this video was voiced by Jim Carrey and it was odd to hear him tell small tiny jokes rather than these loud and crazy ones. Still enjoyable though.
After the movie we got back on the bus and headed to the park for lunch. We just happened to have lunch at a park by my Grandma's and it made me wish I would've driven so that I could've gone to see my Grandma. Oh well. It was a nice day to be outside and the kids had a fun time.
We got back on the bus and headed back. I ended up with a headache. 150 or so 3rd Graders on a bus will do that to you.
We got back just in time to catch the last few minutes of Lex's jump-a-thon. Which really means, we got to see the kids goofing off until the teachers said it was time to go in. I had Lex jump a few times for me so that I could snap a quick picture. I still don't know why the school plans events on the same day for different grades. It makes it difficult as a parent to support each kid. Thankfully Lex was happy just to see me for that quick minute.
I went home and cleaned the house. I was having a Mary Kay color party that night and wanted a clean house. Ailey took a late nap which allowed me to finish cleaning.
When Ailey woke up we had her open her birthday presents! That's right, this day was also her 1st birthday!!! Crazy how time flies. We didn't do much to celebrate this night as we'll do a big family party in the next week or so. It was a good thing anyway because she felt a little overwhelmed by what we did do for her, but I think she still had a fun time. I'll let the pictures spell it out.
Anyway, I then had my Mary Kay party (which I felt slightly guilty about seeing as how my mom and cousin do Mary Kay, so I usually buy from them.... but this girl has more info on what works for certain people than my mom does) and it went off pretty well. Because it was a color party, I learned quite a few tricks...which will come in quite handy now that I look at one of those last pictures of Ailey's birthday and I look like a frieking ghost! Eric wins that fight!!! ;)
And for the record, I wasn't originally planning the Mary Kay party on Ailey's birthday. That happened as a matter of necessity. Eric was supposed to go to Idaho for a meeting with some people for a side project he is working on Saturday morning, and we were all going to road trip it with him, so I had to switch my party for Friday night. And of course, as fate would have it his trip got cancelled, so I could've still done it on Saturday. Oh well. Such is life.
