It has been a very busy weekend and I haven't had the chance to post prior to now. Every time I say we "had the best weekend ever" and think that nothing could ever surpass that moment, I'm totally proven wrong. Happily so, I must add. Mike and I, as everyone lead such busy lives and at times it's difficult to find the time to make plans and carry them out. For months we have attempted to plan a family day. We have failed so many times with this, that I wasn't sure if it would ever happen. I'm sure anyone who reads this and has children knows where I'm coming from. There is always some obstacle, unexpected, invading, and at times never ending "block" that just puts an end to all your planning. Well I'm happy to announce that Mike and I decided that no matter what, NOTHING was going to keep us from having our family day! And nothing did.
We took our boys out to eat at IHOP. Mikey of course recognized exactly where we were upon pulling into the parking lot. Important note though, according to Mikey we were going to China. Eating out is rare for us, for many reasons. One there isn't many places to eat out where we live, and two we have children who don't always like the places we eat at. There is a Waffle House near our home, but honestly the food is really bad there. IHOP has always been a treat for us, and most likely more so for me than anyone else. However, I've come to the conclusion that when you take small children out to eat there are some things that you should never do.
RULES OF ESTABLISHMENT WITH IHOP (The simple guide to parents with little ones)
1. Never go to IHOP on the weekend, at peak hours, as you will be placed in a booth, in a heavy traffic area where your children will be too distracted to enjoy your meal.
2. Never take your children out to eat at IHOP if they had oatmeal for breakfast before you left.
These are my two rules to live by, the next time we happen to get to go to IHOP. Brian of course ate his food till he couldn't eat anymore, and then wanted to climb down so that he could find something else to climb up on. While Mikey didn't want to eat anything at all. We had ordered pancakes with banana toppings for the boys, in hopes they wouldn't make a mess. Mike however, had strawberrys (with glaze) on his pancakes and Mikey only wanted those. Mike shared with Mikey but then with all the traffic going back and forth while we attempted to eat, had totally distracted Mikey to where he just didn't eat. He wanted to go to China and the playground. He was ready to go right then. Brian, was still trying to get out of his booster seat even though his Daddy was quick with the arm of "you can't go anywhere". Brian is extremely persistent. Needless to say, we took home 3 take out trays and tried to leave as quickly as we had arrived. Please refer to the rules of establishment when it comes to taking little ones out to eat at IHOP.
After leaving IHOP, we headed for the Aquarium located on Fort Fisher. This is a place that Mike and I hold dear to our hearts. We have enjoyed visiting this place many times, and even shared it with other family members. It's a must see thing if you happen to visit our area. Mikey was convinced we were going to China, and we kept trying to explain to him that we were going to the aquarium. About a mile from the place, his Dad asked "Mikey, do you want to go see some fish?" Mikey responded with "yessssssss" and that "s" was carried out very long too. We told him we were going to find Nemo, and he said he wanted to see a "shark". Brian at that time had already racked out and was sawing logs.
We made it to the aquarium and when we first went in, we met up with that same stuffed alligator that has become a symbol of a family portrait. Although, we didn't get a family portrait I did get a few "snaps" of Mike and the boys. Then we went through the aquarium. Brian thought that he could get into every glass window we came across. He attempted to walk into them, push them, press them, shove them, head butt them and my personal favorite a swift hit with the hip (as if that would do it). Mikey saw the gators and nearly became upset when he found out that we would NOT let him go swimming in the tank with them. Then we came across the stairs. All the fish in the world, was not going to keep our boys from wanting to climb up and back down again on the stairs. I think it was their favorite exhibit. Needless to say, we had a wonderful time. When we walked out onto the planks to exit the aquarium we came across a trail that was designed for children to explore. Mike took the boys out on to the trail as I stayed behind. Of course, I took the time to hide behind a few trees nearby and make what I thought might be some type of animal sound, although looking back on it now I think I probably sounded like an owl in heat. Mike recognized my failed attempts and knew he needed to direct the boys in that direction. Carefully they trudged through the tree roots and thousands of autumn fallen leaves that caressed the ground, working their way closer to the animal calling sounds from their silly Mother. As they got closer, I jumped out and startled them. Mikey was completely astonished and screamed for about 30 seconds before stating "Run it's Mommy!" as if I was some wild animal getting ready to crush them at any second. I don't think Brian was startled at all. Mike and I laughed so hard, as we gathered our boys and headed back to the main trail.
It was time to go home, something we both dreaded so very much. Back to our busy lives. Back to that dreaded Monday where Mike would go to work, and I would go back to being home alone with our boys till 4. Deep down, we both know that we just got 20 points each on the parenting scoreboard, and we marked in history a moment in time that was simply just ours and nobody or anything could strip us from that. It was our trip to China, with our boys, our family. A true Fishburn moment!
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