Thank Heaven for Big Brothers :)

I completely dreaded the days of kindergarten after two years of preschool and having to wake Sofia up. She is not a morning person. Her hair was a mess, she wouldn't wear socks, wouldn't wear panties. It was basically a total nightmare. I dreaded it the 3 days a week that I actually had to get her ready. So, all I could think about was the fact that at the start of kindergarten, I would have to do it 5 days a week!

Luckily, the Happy Morning Gods have shined upon us. Everyone wakes up without a fight. The braid has kept me sane. Undo it in the morning, no tangles, beautiful hair. Thank you Lord.

Despite the few tears at school at the end of the last two days, Sofia is really enjoying it. I have gotten two different stories from two different kids, trying to explain why these tears occur. Apparently, Sofia thinks the school day is just a little too long. When they are getting rounded up to head in the gym to get on the bus, Sofia breaks down and is ready to go. But, never fear, Big Brother to the rescue! Mrs. Switzky goes to get Darius to come stand by his sister. He really is a great brother. On the first day of school, they were eating breakfast and out of the blue, Darius patted Sofia on the head and said, "Have a great first day of school Sofie." It was so sweet. No one was talking and that's what he had to say. He really does love her, even though he chooses to "beat" her up sometimes, or take her things.

So far, the start of the 2010 school year seems to be a success. Only two days down. We'll see where this new adventure in life takes us!

Have a Schlitterific Day!

Okay, so the Negative Nancy attitude that some people have about Schlitterbahn can just stay home. There's a reason that I only have pictures from our mini-vaca include everything BUT Schlitterbahn....we were too busy having fun!

Friday night started off at the Holiday Inn Express, where we discussed what would be served at the complimentary breakfast, where Kids Eat Free. Hmm. Does that make sense to you? I am not even a breakfast person, but was fascinated with what stuff they might have. I knew there would be no bacon and waffles, and Ewan was convinced there would be. No bacon. No waffles.

We went to the T-Rex cafe on Friday night. Been there before, but Janel hadn't and it's kid-friendly. Sort-of. Unless you're Sofia and you're afraid of everything but water. It was delicious and we ended up celebrating Sofia's birthday there. Why not? I mean, give the girl a cookie and some ice cream. Fun times.

Walked around Legends for awhile and got the kids some shoes at the only store that was open at this time. Played in the fountains. All around, a great time. But, still just leading up to the point of the trip....SchlittTrip 2010!

Long story short, I bought our tickets on ebay (Thank you Stacy!) and the deal was too good to be true. I was just sure we would get to the gate and have to slap down the credit card and pay another $130 on top of the $58 that I got 4 tickets for. Yes, 4 tickets for $58.00. Total. So, we paid less than $15 bucks a head. But, after actually going to Schlitterbahn and experiencing the most awesome attraction...

The "Wavy River" (that's what we renamed it) and, the Shawnee North "Lazy River" is now renamed Lamo River. Things will never look the same there again. It can't be called Lazy River anymore because you can't be lazy there, you actually have to do some work to get yourself going. The "Wavy River" (actually called the Torrent River) will do all the work for you, however, it is fun to position yourself against the outside wall in order to catch the full height of the wave. I could go on and on about this, but I will stop. Just go experience it for yourself.

And, if this day wasn't already amazing, Shelly and Nelly took us to an amazing Jamaican restaurant, G's Jamaican Cuisine.Un-believeable. I like food and all, but when I take a bite and start making noises, it's pretty darn good. Brown Stew Chicken. Out of this world. Sofia of course got chicken tenders and fries, but those things were awesome too. So, she says she's going back and getting the same thing. Whatever. Suit yourself, I will be branching out and trying some more Caribbean food. I told Ewan on the way home that regular food just doesn't taste good anymore. There's no flavor explosion. These island people know how to cook. No air conditioning in the restaurant. You walk in and feel like you walked straight into a place on the actual island. You can't beat that. Darius just walked in from riding his bike and randomly started talking about G's. We had authentic Jamaican "pop," Kola Champagne and Cream Soda and they loved it. Obviously. They can't stop talking about it.

So, 11pm and we roll into the driveway. A fantastic time had by all and SchlittTrip 2010 was a HUGE success. We missed the rest of our Caribbean Crew, but we're not leaving you behind next time. No crew member, or wife or kid left behind!