Friday, April 10, 2009

Jam-packed Weekend

This past weekend was jam-packed fun for John--just the way he likes it. Rob likes to go-go-go too, but I'm a homebody, so it's taken me a while to recover!

Friday we went to visit the Easter Bunny, for the sole purpose of telling him that John NEEDS a chocolate bunny for Easter. We had written a letter to the Easter Bunny, asking for the Wall-E movie, after John saw clips of it on Oscar-night and insisted on having that movie. He wanted that movie. Needed it. Now. And Daddy-genius halted the tears with a letter-writing project. (Yay, Daddy--Mommy had no idea how to stop the sudden tear-fest!)

But, I could not convince John to ask for that. He must have figured the letter had done its job, and now was the time to express his need for a chocolate bunny. I promise, folks, that was not my idea. (Really, it wasn't... I know some of you don't believe me, but the sweet-tooth is hereditary.) John discovered chocolate bunnies on one of our many trips to Wal-mart. It was sort of a choir-singing-Hallelujah moment--think Confessions of a Shopaholic, Rebecca Bloomwood/Isla Fisher breaking into her iced-over credit cards. Yeah, John was totally in awe of the row of chocolate bunnies. Anyhoo, here he is with his lollipop from the Easter Bunny, finally soothed into liking our giant, floppy-eared friend (all prior pictures were of John sitting in Bunny's lap while holding Mema's hand, which is exactly why Mema came with us!):

Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early for a 45 minute drive to Calera, AL and the Heart of Dixie Railroad to see... well, just see for yourself:




John had tons of fun climbing on and around the old trains, investigating their hugeness.




Of course, there were more than just trains there. My previous putt-putt post was actually a piece of the Thomas Adventure. There were also inflatables (which John surprisingly ignored), a tent full of train tables (where we spent the bulk of our time), a Thomas Temp-Tattoo stand, a balloon animal stand, a story-time area (puh-leeze, did you think I could get him to sit down with everything else going on?), and a gift shop. Oh, and did I mention the petting zoo? John enjoyed feeding the goats.




When our time came to board Thomas, John was very enthusiastic. He immediately poked his head out the window, which I later found out was a no-no. At least I got a pic first! When our journey was almost over, John said, "I not want to get off; I want to ride again." But, he went willingly enough--at least he wasn't kicking and screaming like some kiddos whose parents were dragging them off!


Thank you DeDe and Pop for a fun time at Thomas the Train! We left there and grabbed a quick picnic lunch before heading home for a nap. The nap was very important, because we had an Easter Egg Hunt that night. The City of Trussville has a Flashlight Egg Hunt where the kids come out and bring their flashlight to hunt eggs after dark. We had a while to wait, and the face-painting and pictures with Bunny only lasted so long, so John whiled away the minutes by...



Climbing a 6-foot fence. He was already several feet up by the time we realized it, so Rob rushed over to make sure he didn't fall as he finished his climb. John has turned into a real monkey lately--everything is his jungle gym.

I didn't get a pic of the egg hunt, because I was too busy trying to make sure the other parents were not snatching eggs out from under my child. Oh, yes!!! Other parents of 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds were snatching up the eggs and putting them in their children's baskets. It's not like they were competing with 8-year-olds! So, John walked away with 5 eggs, while other kiddos had 20. At least I know my child did it on his own. John was a bit upset that he only had 5 eggs while other baskets were overflowing, so we treated him to a cone at The Moo Place (a.k.a. Chick-Fil-A).


I know that this is only my first run-in with overprotective parents... In a few years, it will be the Biochemist completing his son's science project or the Court-lawyer preparing her daughter's speech. But it's really frustrating! So, tell me, has anyone else had a run-in with helicopter parents (who hover over everything their children do and don't let the kids figure it out themselves)? Please vent, so I don't feel so alone in my exasperation.

2 comments:

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  2. Okay, the pic of John sticking his head out cracks me up. That boy is going to have some personality. :)

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