Getting Around...

This is more of a catch-up post, so please pardon the jumping around.  These all interweave into the last week and a half of posts, time-wise.  I came across some stuff--mostly from my phone--that I hadn't transferred over to my computer, and hence I had not posted them.  It's funny how time gets away from you sometimes!

Craig also sent me a couple more from Carter's birthday trip to Chuck E. Cheese.  Here we are on the motion simulator ride, going through a mine shaft roller coaster ride!

Carter loved it!

Craig liked this picture because you can see our reflections!

Two Sundays ago, when we came back from my parents' house, we went right to an event at church.  They had a giant inflatable, a bunch of crafts, and one station where you could decorate graham crackers with frosting, sprinkles, and a few different kinds of candy.  We got there with only about 45 minutes left, but it was enough to do the obstacle course inflatable a bunch of times, have a snack, and decorate the graham crackers.  I won't lie--his disinterest in the crafts was just fine with me!  Less for me to carry and/or dispose of later!  He loved the obstacle course, though!  The first picture is blurry, but it was fun walking around the side of the inflatable to catch him going through the obstacles.  There were walls to climb, barriers to dodge, and a big slide at the end.

Peeking at me before he hit the "rock wall"

This past Friday we went to an Amerks game.  We figure it's been at least a couple years since we've gone to one.  I got free tickets through work, and since Craig was home (and the Knighthawks were on the road the next night--meaning I didn't have to do back-to-back arena nights), we went.  It was definitely weird being back for the first time in so long.  The PA announcer was different, the in-game host was new, most of the promotions were different (but yet a couple were still the same!), and even the mascot has a new look.  It was the first time in the 12 years I've been gone that it all really felt completely foreign to me, almost like we could be at some other team's arena.  We still had a good time despite a last-few-minutes loss, but all in all I'll call it a win.  Even Carter seemed to enjoy it for most of the night.  It's so rare we get to watch a sporting event besides baseball together, so it made for a fun family evening!

We also sat on the other side of the rink where I've almost never sat for hockey.  I've mostly sat somewhere near the corner out of the picture to my right.

On Saturday, Craig and Jacob left first thing in the morning to go to Buffalo for a Knighthawks' game that night.  Jacob did his usual ball boy duties and Craig snapped this shot of him.  Such a big kid.

Meanwhile, Carter and I were back at home.  He was pretty patient with me all day as I did a ton of prep work for his party.  After a lazy enough morning, we headed out around 11:30 to pick up all the party food at Wegmans.  We hit up a bunch of samples, loaded up the cart, and headed home for lunch and lots of cleaning.  I got a good amount of work done before allowing myself to sit down and play for a while, but Carter did a great job keeping himself occupied.  Then we headed out for dinner, and his choice was Taco Bell.  He totally cracked me up as he ate his taco, because he folded it in half in a way where both ends could be upright and spillproof!  It was almost like a cone, with a point at the bottom.  I posted this photo with the hashtag #gamechanger because I seriously never thought of that, and it totally worked.

We made a quick stop at Payless on the way home--it was across the parking lot and I hadn't been there in ages, and I knew it was prime clearance time and I had a 20% coupon, so I had to look.  And before Carter complained he had to pee, I picked out two pairs of very basic, very useful shoes--patent black pointy toed heels and a beige patent wedge--that I got for a grand total of $15!  Score!  I don't even need the heels right now, but when I can get basic shoes I will definitely use when my current ones bite the dust, and can get them cheap, I do it!  It's the little things sometimes.

Back home, we watched the last night of Olympic competition and happened to catch bobsledding.  Carter remembered that he had a Hot Wheels bobsled vehicle, so he pulled out some track and started running it down.  Then I suggested we get more track and make a real run of it, and this was the result...

We had track going down the chaise end of the couch, down to the floor, and running into a barrier to stop it before it hit the bricks near the fireplace.  We had a blast sending it down over and over again!  He is such a fun little buddy most of the time!

After all of the fun Sunday, Monday night was a mess of presents all over the living room.  Two Lego creations to be built, and Imaginext and Lego guys everywhere!  I was doing more research on the new magnetic tiles, and while I'm still not thrilled with how some of them stick, I did find some ways to use them.  Consider it a work in progress, but I seriously love using them--maybe even more than him right now!  Our free idea book is coming soon, so hopefully that will give us cool things to do together!

We have a busy week ahead, and I can't believe March is nearly upon us!  Hurry up, spring!