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Friday, June 29, 2012

Vacation Day 4

Yeah, I'm a little late finishing this series since it was 3 weeks ago but I needed the computer to do so & I can only get it out when Nolin is sleeping since its broken :( You MAY get the rest of the posts by the end of the year haha!

Anyway...This was the one day we had playdates scheduled. We had one for each morning & afternoon but end up only having one. Ahem Nikki...Distracted by Phoenix's birthday party that weekend haha! Oh well, we'll catch up another time! Our afternoon playdate was with an old high school friend who happens to have an absolutely adorable little girl Lucy.

Isn't she beautiful?!


After discussing several possible options my friend Sarah & I finally settled on meeting at Puzzles Fun Dome. We thought this would be a good place for the kids to run & jump around while we caught up on some Mommy conversation. We could not have been more wrong...

While Lucy was an absolute ANGEL, Nolin decided to play DEMON. I should've known when Nolin refused a morning nap & only slept for 20mins on the way there. Once we were there he had no desire to eat lunch despite starving. I strapped Mason to my chest & headed in to find Sarah & Lucy. As soon as we entered the building his eyes went wild & he tried to rip free from my grip & take off. We were warned that there was a HUGE group of kids from the YMCA there that would be leaving within the hour...But things were loud. And crazy. I was immediately concerned that Nolin would soon be over-stimulated.

Things were fine for about 30mins. They happily bounced around together in the Mickey Bounce House (which came complete with inflatables for Nolin to tackle) & attempted to play in the soft play area but they were both too short to climb on it & reach the slide.

Nolin attempting to climb up the soft play while Lucy thinks thinks he's nuts lol.


They both quickly became bored & headed back to the bounce houses. Lucy was content to go back into the Mickey one but Nolin was determined to explore. The problem was that with so many kids there, most bounce houses had a line. Nolin has never had to stand in line or wait his turn for anything so he had no concept of this & immediately tried to just crawl in. Several older kids protested, one tried to shove him down & before I could make it over there a YMCA camp leader had picked him up & removed him from the line...Which of course cause Nolin to freak. Note to others: Don't pick up a child you don't know. Unless they're in immediate danger. Just explain to older kids that he's younger, doesn't understand & then find the mother. Otherwise, don't get pissed when the kid you don't know & picked up freaks out & kicks the piss out of you. Use common sense people.

Then he spotted it. The giant bouncy slide...This was the beginning of the end. He had a hard time climbing up the inflatable ladder since it was so steep which held up the line. Once at the top, the look of pure JOY on his face was undeniable!! But once he came down...He realized it would be easier to just keep climbing back up the slide to come down lol. So while the attendant (a funny, patient young guy) & I both tried to coax him to come down & wait his turn to go back up, the kids waiting to come down the slide are yelling at him which pisses him off. Finally, the attendant has to go fetch him & drag him back down (with my permission of course since I can't with Mason strapped to me). That was it. Nolin lost it. It was non stop kicking & screaming as I dragged him across the floor. At that point I knew he was hungry, over-stimulated & pissed off so all I wanted was to calm him down. And all he wanted was either to go back on the slide or be held by me. Without Mason being there. Which was not an option lol.

I take him over to the food stand & stand there FOREVER with a screaming, hysterical toddler while the guy behind the counter ignores me & goes on to prepare his own lunch. All I want are some freaking mini corn dogs!!! While waiting for our order Nolin spots the candy, which of course I won't allow. It all has food coloring & his hysterical rage induced tantrum is evidence that he has already consumed something within the last 24hrs that contained dye. Once we get his food & head back to the table he starts to calm down. Meanwhile, Lucy is staring at him like he's possessed hahaha! Thank God Sarah was so sweet & level-headed since I was about to lose it. And of course, as soon as Nolin calms down Mason wakes up & wants to eat. Good. Grief.

The rest of our time there was a little better. The YMCA kids left which made everything more bearable. Nolin & Lucy found a bounce house with a slide inside & had a blast! But after chasing each other around for awhile they each wanted to do their own thing: Lucy wanted to play games, Nolin wanted to conquer the big slide again.

This was the best Sarah could capture of them since Nolin never stopped moving haha!
Nolin was cracking me up on the slide!! The fact that 1/2 the time he rolled head over heels down the slide made no difference to him (which I had a great video of but its only the 1st 4sec of a minute long video of some one's leg...Yeah, I won't be winning any contests any time soon lol). I just prayed he didn't break his neck!! He was able to play on the slide for a good 20mins before other kids (bigger kids) started bullying him & we had a repeat of our earlier episode. But thankfully he just got pissed & walked off...

lol!
Once he walked away he found an empty bounce house to go nuts in while we waited for Lucy to finish playing games.

Kinda resembling a blurry demon-possessed kid here. Not too inaccurate lol.
Afterwards they played together a little more until Nolin kept getting bored & walking off while Lucy complained that he wasn't playing with her lol. Sorry Lucy...Next time we'll go somewhere you pick so that you guys can actually play together!

2 comments:

Sarah

I think that it was an "experience"! Most play dates we have been on have been similar so don't think that your child is wild, bad, or defiant. He's just "2"!
Like I said, it does get easier. One day you will wake up and things will be easier. Then you will look back and laugh at what it once was. Your a great mom who obviously looks out for every aspect of your kids lives. I enjoyed the conversations we were able to have and hope to get together either up there or when your back down here. In the mean time, I continue to enjoy talking to you on facebook and text!

Lindsey

Really?! Most of them have been like that? Well like I said, next time we'll have to find something to do 1:1. That way we can actually have a conversation & they can actually play together! Thanks for the compliment though...You're also a great Mom! You were fantastic with Nolin during his meltdown lol! Most people would've just walked away! Thank God for FB & texting :)

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