We took the kids to Sea World yesterday for our last hurrah of the year. Our tickets expire the 31st. Of course the day didn't go completely as planned. Does it ever? About 1:45 Nathan and I got into battle of the wills. I wish I had a video camera. I'm sure the gift shop camera got a hilarious taping of our little rumble. Hind sight is 20/20 and at the time I thought he was being naughty. Later I realized why we got into the wrestling match. Regardless, his heart was in the wrong place. It was the attitude that was the bigger problem at that moment.
So, you are asking what happened, right? Well, Mark took Madison and Alex on the Atlantis water ride, since Nathan is too small we were going to wait for them at the aquarium/gift shop. All was fine until Mark came back bone dry. They waited in line and got all the way to the front next in line and the gate opened and Alex got scared. I told him to leave her with me and get in line again with Madison. Madison want to go on the ride in October but the ride was broken when we where leaving. Typical!
That is when the fun began. Nathan started to cry because daddy was leaving. I tried to bribe him with the idea of candy. My mistake! I found Jelly Belly jelly beans and for a little bitty bag (that I can get at the dollar store, same size and brand) that cost $3.99! I thought candy was going to be the least expensive bribe. Well, I couldn't spend the $4 plus tax for candy. Not knowing that they same size bag at the dollar store is well, a dollar. I talked them into looking around hoping to find a less expensive bribe. We did find a cool sword for the same price but what happens next ruins it for Nathan.
He plays with the sword for a bit. Alex and Nathan started sword fighting and then I realized that there was a display of glass and breakables right behind them. I decided to try and direct them somewhere else. Nathan headed right for the jelly beans and picked them up and tucked them under his arm. I tried to get them away from him and he stiffened up like a board. The battle had begun. I finally got the jelly beans away from him and put him in his stroller. He immediately got up and ran to the jelly beans and tucking them under his arm again. He had that look of determination. At that point I just couldn't justify rewarding him for his bad behavior. Then when I started to walk toward him to get the jelly beans he started to yell, "no mama, no!", not what you want your kid to scream in public. So again we wrestled over the jelly beans and this time I buckled him into his stroller. Trick me once, but not twice! Then the screaming and tears started. I was so embarrassed! He cried the whole time Mark was gone and all the way out of the park to the van.
Once we got him into his car seat he said he wanted a cheese burger. Let me now rewind. At lunch Nathan refused to eat anything but french fries so by 1:45 he was hungry but didn't know how to tell me. It wasn't until we got to the car I realized why we had the wrestle mania in the gift shop. The kid was hungry! Not my fault he refused to eat. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. So, off to McD's for a $1 double cheese burger. He ate the whole thing. Not sure who learned the lesson here.
The year passes were fun while it lasted. Overall we had a great day. It was probably the best time to go to a theme park. A week before kids get out of school for winter break and right before Christmas.
There was hardly a soul in sight. We got to see a lot in the short time we were there. They had a special ride just for Christmas. The Polar Express motion ride. At the end was SANTA! He looked just like the santa in the movie. I wish I hadn't made all my Christmas cards this year. This picture would have made a perfect card. We also got to visit with family in Orlando Sunday afternoon. It was nice to see Aunt Ruth, Uncle Frank, Dave and Susan and the kids. Thanks Scott and Natalie for having us over to stay the night. Your daughter is beautiful!
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