Check in was super quick. We were excited because we got to stay on a building that we had yet to say in, the Pilot House. I swear, the resort has so many building and accommodations, that we could stay at a new place every night of the month and not hit the same place twice!
C had to get his booth set up ASAP, so the kids and I did the only reasonable thing, we went shopping! We spent the afternoon at the Silver Sands Outlet Mall. This time of year is awesome because the stores have tons of clearance merchandise on top of all their regular stuff. I managed to score big time at Ann Taylor. There I purchased 4 skirts and 2 pairs of pants for $44 total. Even the sales girls said, "WOW!" You know you done good when the sales staff compliments ya!
The kids know the routine by now. If they let me do my shopping, they will be reward in three ways. The first is they get to play on the playground in the center of the complex. It's not much of a playground to speak of, but they seem to enjoy it. their second treat is they each get a cookie at Mrs. Field's cookies. I was a little worried that Mrs. Field's would no longer be open, due to their declaration of bankruptcy, but the retail gods still hold me in high esteem and the store was still there, allowing my bribery to continue! Their last little treat is a stop into Harry and David's. yup, free samples are hard to beat. The day we went in we each were given a peanut butter truffle. "Yummo!" H said, as he popped it in his mouth. For the next few minutes he wasn't able to say anything else. Yummo, indeed!
After a long day of shopping, we went back to the hotel for a little rest. Not too long after, C came back up to the room and we went around the corner to P.F. Chang's for dinner. I just learned that there is no "Mr. Chang." Not that I really thought there someone by that name, but P.F. stands for Paul Fleming, the dude who created Fleming's Steakhouse. Another note, after eating at the restaurant once, my Mom forever referred to the place as "B.J. Chang's." Anyway, we had a great meal and stuffed our bellies. I laugh, because my kids would rather gobble up salmon than noodles-good kids. As we were leaving the restaurant, we ran into some ladies from our church waiting to be seated. They were out on a ladies only weekend. It's always strange, but fun, to see people you know while you're far from home.
We all went back to the room. C helped me get the kids settled in bed and he went out with some of the other guys who were there for the Beer Fest.
The next morning, as it has become our tradition, we went to brunch at the local IHOP. It's become so ingrained in the kids that when we drive past an IHOP, some one always mentions it's where we eat when we go to the beach! Both of the kids ordered the super sized "create-yer-own funny face" pancakes. Check out their creations:
E doesn't eat bananas so you guess who's is who's.
After breakfast, we dropped C back off at the Fest and the kids and I hopped over to Jolee Island. I had read that there was a letterbox located there and we were going to go hunting for pirate treasure! We first crossed over the pee-inducing bridge to get to the island. For whatever reason, every time we cross this bridge, halfway over, H announces that he really, really has to pee. Thankfully, the island is full of little bushes!
We had a great time reading off the the letterbox clues and we're very excited as we neared the hidden location. Unfortunately, when we found the place where the box was supposed to be hidden, it wasn't there. Oh, well, that's one of the hazards of the sport. We managed to have a fun time on our journey anyway. We explored the rest of the island and stopped to play on the pirate's roost and the pirate's ship as always.
We still had a bit of time before it would be time to pick up C, so the kids and I did the only reasonable thing we could think of, we went to Target! They're always game for an Icee and popcorn.
When we were done shopping, we headed over to The Villages of Baytowne Wharf where c was working to let him know we were back at the resort. the kids and I went to go over to the playground but got sidetracked by the toy store and the always popular "big" chair:
By the time we were done messing around, C found us and let us know he was about done with the Fest and would meet us at the entrance after we picked up the car. Sure enough, 15 minutes later, he was where he was supposed to be and back home we went.
It was a nice weekend, especially as a bit of a stress reliever, as it took our minds off the M-C joint venture happenings for a while. If C is going to lose his job this coming week, at least we had one last nice weekend on the company's dime.
No comments:
Post a Comment