He Said:First, let me say we're ok. We're alive. That's the main thing. We're alive. With counselling, someday, maybe we'll even be ok. But I'm getting ahead of myself - I spent some time mapping out a series of short drives today and overall it went well. It was raining in the morning which kept the temp down, and wasn't hot. It stayed overcast, but man did it get muggy. Anyway. We went to the historic first McDonald's museum which is basically the offices of Pollo Loco. Half of the room is cubicles and people working, the other half is people like me looking at donated memorabilia and toys. Ever throw the kids in a warehouse full of McDonald's Happy Meal toys and say "Don't Touch"? Eh. For some reason I was reminded of Mac the Knife and could not find mention of him anywhere, so - B Minus on that place. Then we went to a factory outlet where the girls got a ton of clothes and we bought some discount Disney toys and souvenirs in advance (but if you're reading this and holding a souvenir we bought you, trust me - yours was full price. Premium, even). If I could have bought them without the kids seeing and hauled them out when we were at Disney, I would've. In theory it saves us money, but $50 says we'll be buying them something there too.
Then it was off to Sonic to try a genuine old fashioned drive-in. You order from a pull in parking spot, and the waitresses had roller blades and those metal change makers on their belt, but we ate at a table in front of the car. Felt like they deserved a tip, all that running around. We were attacked by some giant killer mutant beetle bee. It was horrifying. Some sort of hallucinogenic shapeshifter; we all had different recollections of it. I still see it when I close my eyes. And that buzzing. That hypnotic, dentist drill, teeth rattling, spine itching drone.
Then...we did mini golf. Genuine windmill, genuine castle, can't complain. Ryan seems good. I really, really, don't want to sound sexist, but there's something to his gender, I think. The girls at that age never hit that far. I'd always teach them the right way to hold the club, but follow up with "that's ok, takes practice" sort of thing. Ryan made it into a couple of the buildings. Again, I don't think he has any natural talent, I'm not saying he's a natural athlete. I just think he, at 3 and a half, has more strength than the girls did at 3 and a half. Or maybe it's just more aggression. Same with how he walks all over without the stroller, or how he knocks teeth out with a Frisbee. The girls, when they were that age, I would show the right way to do it, then have fun and not worry about it. Ryan could hurt somebody and probably will.
Then we swung by some kind of weird dinosaur museum with giant sculptures that was closing/closed, tried in vain to find a grocery store, tried in vain to get a free 7-11 slurpee, and home to supper and bed.
No plans for tomor - AHH! It's back Ahh! get away! shoo! oh, wait...just hearing the electric toothbrush.
She Said: Not much to add. The beetle thing made the girls run hysterically into the parking lot. I yelled at them and rhetorically asked "Would you rather be hit by a car or stung by a bee?" ... When you were a kid what would your answer be? You guessed right, they both said "Hit by a car!" (Duh, Mom).