Black Friday

Andrew and Felix have been planning all week how to get a Nintendo 360 from Walmart's Black Friday sale at 5:00AM. They decided that they would spend the night at Walmart, so at 11:00 we took the boys to Walmart found where the Nintendo 360's were and gave the boys, "THE LECTURE" on how to behave, be polite, and be safe. They were so excited to be able to be there all night. (Andrew has Basketball practice Friday morning at 9:00am) But, they were determined to get a 360. We figured it was a good life experience, and there was a very nice older gentleman in line ahead of the boys who said he would watch out for them.
So, I gave them my list and figured then I could skip the Walmart portion of my black Friday shopping that was going to begin at 3:30am. At least I could get three hours of sleep before having to get up.
Megan slept on the couch all ready to go. When I woke her up at 3:30, she bounced right up and was ready to fly. This was her first Black Friday shopping, I have always gone by myself, so I was looking forward to having some company. As we went over the 42nd Avenue bridge and saw JCPenny's I couldn't believe all the cars that were outside of Penny's (Our 1st stop) I almost decided to skip Penny's because I only needed one item, but Megan talked me out of it (Could it be because it was a Birthday present for her that was on my list????) So, we went in and got her karoke machine (Yes, she knew what she was getting) and checked out. We didn't wait in any lines, which is so unusual. Then we hit Kohl's, Macy's, Gordmans, BurgerKing, and finally JoAnn Fabrics.

We picked up the boys in between Macy's and Gordmans (Doug was in line at Herbergers). The boys were successful (Ninetendo 360, 2 games, and another controller). Andrew was so excited. He said he couldn't believe how people were acting, but the guy in front of him and the boys came up with a plan so that they could get everything that they wanted. Andrew got the games, Felix got the camera (which was for me) and the guy got the 360's. It worked because they were all successful. Felix was totally amazed. He said he had never seen anything like this before (Never in Switzerland). But, the boys also said they had the best time and ended up playing guitar hero all night. From 4-5 am was the longest because the lines were growing and everyone was getting excited.

Doug took the boys home from Gordman's. Andrew called me shortly after leaving me, because Doug told him since the 360 was a Christmas present we should wrap it and he couldn't play with it. (He was kidding of course) But take a 15 year old, who has not slept all night, gets a new toy, and then can't play with it. Andrew didn't take it well and called me. (Hmmm...just two weeks ago, Doug found out about the watch I bought him for Christmas and bugged me for days for it as an early Christmas present). Like father...Like son!

I must be getting older, because by 7:00am, I was done shopping and home sleeping. I slept for a few hours and then spent the rest of the day doing nothing but watching t.v. Megan tried to get me to go out again, but I just didn't have the energy. The boys left with Doug to go to Bismarck and spend Saturday hunting, my guess is that the boys slept the whole way there.

Gobble! Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
We had a quiet Thanksgiving at our house.

We spent the morning putting up Christmas decorations and the stockings that I made everyone. All of our Christmas lights were broken, so we only have the tree up without the lights on it.

Last night I had the boys peel 10 pounds of potatoes while we made trip after trip to the grocery store and then to Walmart getting the ingredients. I have always used Grandma's recipe, but I couldn't find it. I found a good recipe for Lefsa at: http://www.cybershingle.com/recipes/pages/lefse/lefse1.htm Then this afternoon we made 5 dozen lefsa. Megan rolled the lefsa dough into balls, Andrew and Felix did the rolling, and I did the frying of the lefsa, while Doug went to Gander Mountain to try to get a couple of Thanksgiving deals. (He said that within 15 minutes everything was gone~ I love to shop, but not on a holiday, I think that's a time to stay home and do things you wouldn't normally do)

It was the first time Felix had lefsa, so we had to show him how to put butter and sugar on it. He must of have liked it because he had quite a few and was very surprised that it was made from the potatoes that Andrew and him had peeled the night before.

Our turkey dinner included all of the trimmings and of course pie. Andrew had his pumpkin pie, Doug had his banana cream (which I made by the way-no really!!) and Megan, Felix and I had our Chocolate cream pie (which I also made-yes I really did bake!) I was a cooking machine, something I don't normally like to do, but I have been doing it quite a bit lately, which might account for the 3 pounds I have gained back.

After dinner we decided to go to a Movie: The Black Knight. Andrew passed and went over to Conner's house to hang out with him, so Doug, Felix, Megan and I went. Since, we had just eaten an hour before we decided to skip the popcorn. Well, 1/2 way through the movie, I just couldn't take it and I had to go and get a popcorn. Doug thought I was nuts, but I think movie theater popcorn is better than the movie itself, so I got a large popcorn. Neither Megan or I could eat very much of it, but Felix took care of that for us. He finished off the container (which was the largest he had ever seen).

What Children look like at 4:00am

We had to be at the airport by 4:00am. The picture below shows what children look like that early in the morning.

Discovery Cove on Monday

On Monday we went to Discovery Cove to Swim with the Dolphins. This is always my favorite place.

Universal and SeaWorld on Sunday

We went back to Universal on Sunday. The boys again rode the Hulk, then we went over to the Studio side. The best ride was the Mummy. Megan was so scared of the girl that played the "evil Egyptian that she would keep running away. At one point Megan was talking to Doug and I and she was right behind Megan. Megan just ran when she finally noticed her. Andrew heard the Blues Band playing and wondered off to listen. Some woman came up and started dancing with Andrew. Music is such a part of him and we realize it more every day. He knew all of the words to each song they sang and was singing along with them.
Later in the afternoon we went over to SeaWorld so the boys could ride on the Krakken Rollercoaster. Megan and I waited for them for an hour. We were so mad, somehow they slipped through us. Felix and Andrew finally found us and we went and saw the Shamu Show. The whales were not behaving, so the show didn't go as well as it usually does. We didn't see too much of SeaWorld, but there really isn't that much to see there. We stayed at SeaWorld until it closed and then went out for Italian food. Felix can eat so much. He is like a bottomless pit. He eats more than Andrew, I don't know how he stays so skinny.

Universal on Saturday

This morning we went to Universal. We went over to the Adventures Park first. The first ride the boys went on was the Hulk Rollercoaster. Megan and I chose not to do that ride because it is such a winding rollercoaster, but the boys thought it was great. Then we went on SuperMan. That's always a fun ride. My favorite is the Water Rollercoaster. Felix ended up in the front of the boat the first time and was totally soaked. Then in the afternoon we went on it again, Felix was suppose to be in the front, but he switched right as the gates went open, so I ended up in the front and totally soaked. Megan and I lost the boys went they went on another rollercoaster, but eventually they found us.

We bought Thing 1, 2, 3, 4 t-shirts for Christmas pictures, they should turn out very cute. The lines were so short at the park that the boys rode the Hulk at least 5 times. In the afternoon we went over to the studio side, we didn't get through too many of the places, but Twister was a great ride and so was Jaws. I think the Kids liked MIA the best because they got to ride a rollercoaster as they were shooting aliens with a laser gun.


Saturday night we took the kids to BlueMan. Both Andrew and Felix got BlueMan drum sticks. Felix said it was on his list of things to do in his lifetime, so it was great we got to share this with him. All of the kids said that BlueMan was a FAVORITE!

Florida- Ready or Not Here we come!

Doug and the kids met me in Florida. They had to drive to Minneapolis, then they flew from Minneapolis to Detroit Michigan and then flew to Orlando Florida. They started the trip at 8:00 in the morning and finally arrived at the hotel at 2:30am. The boys were so wired by the time they got to the room, I didn’t think they would sleep. My conference ended today at 12:00, the kids pretty much slept until 12:00. Then we went and got some lunch and headed to Aquatica (Water Park) There are so many slides the boys went down each one, with Doug tagging behind. Felix wanted to race down one of the slides, so we walked up and got ready. But, I chickened out it was a steep drop. So at the bottom, they were looking for me, but I never came down. They finally looked up and I waved. They came back up and we got set to go down again, but again, I chickened out. Finally, after the third time, I went down the slide. Then we had races down one of the slides to see who could reach the bottom first. Doug always won and the boys kept saying he cheated. Everyone had a great time at the water park this afternoon.

We took the kids to a 5 Star Restaurant tonight, called the Japenese Steak House. They cook the dinner at your table. The boys were rolling they were laughing so hard at what the chef was doing. He made a volcano out of onions and was throwing his knives up in the air. Everyone had Filet Migon Steak and LOVED it! Felix finished his plate and then he finished my plate. Andrew finished his plate and then Megan’s plate.

The kids are down swimming now at the pool. They are very hyper! Tomorrow we are going to Universal Studios. I will write more tomorrow, the pictures for our trip won’t get uploaded until we get home.