Adventuring in Seattle and Free Food!

The kids didn't have school on Monday so we went to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle to use our family membership for the last time before it expired.  We also used our free movie passes that came with our membership to see a 3-D movie for free.  (Are you seeing a theme yet?) The museum wasn't crowded at all, Henry loved growling at the dinosaurs, and our friends randomly joined up with us as well so we had some good times.  Henry lasted about five minutes in the movie theater but other than that, the day was successful, including finding cheap street parking.  I love that!

You wouldn't believe how difficult it was to get all the kids to look at me with their 3D glasses on.  Clearly the girls cooperated.

Free food always tastes best!

I told the boys I'd take them out to lunch and my friend couldn't believe we'd never tried Shake Shack.  So away we went and we scored great parking there too.  Truly it was a good day to find parking in Seattle.
We went inside the restaurant only to see a long line of customers and absolutely nowhere to sit.  A very friendly worker saw my herd of boys and offered to bring us some fries while we waited in line.  Minutes later she returned with a tray full of fries, different dipping sauces, and the best fried chicken bites I've ever had.  We were in heaven and honestly could've gotten by with just that tray of food.  Landon and Ethan kept saying, "I can't believe this is all free!"  I'm sure all the people in line behind us were wondering why we got such royal treatment but I was the only person in that packed place that had kids with me so I guess that's why.  And I didn't even have Marcus with me so our circus show wasn't nearly as impressive.  Eventually we did get some food that I actually paid for and it was delicious and the shakes were yummy and now the boys say the Shake Shack is their favorite place to eat and can we eat there on their birthday?  Good times.

Landon flossing on the streets of Seattle

 Two thumbs up for Shake Shack.  But if you don't get any free food you'll probably think it's good but not that good, however, the Ball family will always love it tremendously. 

Not your Typical Sunday Afternoon

Some things are too good to go unmentioned so I must share this fantastic experience I had with my boys.  It was a Sunday afternoon which I typically don't love.  Usually all I want to do is take a nap and all they want to do is watch TV.  If I let them watch TV then eventually they go stir-crazy and need to burn off some energy and if the weather doesn't allow them to go outside things get really crazy really fast.  So I dread Sunday afternoons.  Well, this particular Sunday was like all the others.  Randy was working on scout stuff, we had just finished our 1-hour of Quiet Time (boys have to stay in their rooms for one hour doing whatever they want that doesn't involve technology while I read/nap) and I was trying to come up with something we could do.  I was inspired.  Seriously pure divine inspiration gave me the idea to watch the old musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers with my boys.  It's not something they would ever choose to watch but because it was a Sunday I could make them do it because they were just happy I was letting them watch TV.  And the musical is wholesome and perfect for a quiet Sunday afternoon.  Also, I've only seen it once years ago but I told the boys it's about a bunch of brothers who kidnap girls so they can get married.  That got their attention fast!  Well, we watched it and all the boys loved it.  Marcus was slightly disturbed/surprised by the things that were allowed back then (ie wholesome people offering passersby tobacco and finding a wife just to be used as a housekeeper), and the other boys loved all the dancing and fighting scenes.  It was so fun to laugh together as we watched it.  Eventually Randy joined us too.  I love that I found a way to watch something unmanly with them.  Their wives will thank me one day.  Talk about well-rounded young men!

Landon didn't even know I was taking his picture and you can just barely see Ethan grinning away at the screen

Not to Be Forgotten- A Sledding Adventure and the Pinewood Derby

A few things came and went and I need to post about them so when I look back on this year it won't look as horrible as it feels.  OK, horrible is a bad word.  Stressful is probably a better way to describe our lives.
Anyway, winter break came and went.  Technically it's mid-winter break just because Christmas break is now called winter break so we don't offend anyone.  Calling Christmas break winter break offends me and I'm not doing that.  So for our winter break back in February we had a whole week of not much to do.  I tried to come up with some things that would interest the boys but then Landon got sick with double ear infections and the fun was over. 
However, we did manage to go up into the mountains, a short 40-minute drive away to play in the snow and sled.  We met up with our next door neighbor and her six kids so there were plenty of kids to go around.  Luckily my friend came prepared with an extra snow suit because I had nothing for Henry but a couple of blankets.  I knew he was toasty warm because he spent most of the time sleeping on my back.

 Our mountains covered in snow are a sight to behold

Marcus helped the boys cross a log to get to an igloo.  Luckily no one fell in!

It's hard to tell but this is the igloo that was missing the roof.  Someone worked really hard on it and it was pretty cool even if it wasn't complete.

The sledding hill we had to pay to use was ok.  The rude rule-follower guy running the thing kind of took away the fun

Henry in his giant girlie snow suit.  If you could see his toes they would barely be poking out from under Marcus's arms.  But he was warm so major fist bump.

 By the end of the week we had done nothing fun so I surprised the boys with lunch at McDonald's.  They were thrilled and I took them to a newly remodeled one which has an amazing play place.  Marcus said, "Some day I'm going to come here and eat all the Big Macs I can until I almost throw up." So that was our winter break.  so much fun.

Landon competed in his first Pinewood Derby.  There were a few dads who worked really hard to make a good car and of course some that barely held up on the track.  One car was weighted with quarters on the back and they kept falling off.

This year the wood shop teacher at the middle school let us come in and cut out our cars.  Landon was excited to use a shape other than the traditional and easy wedge that Randy prefers to work with.

Landon and Parker were excited to put on their aprons to paint the car

 Landon won first place fore his age group and 2nd over all.  He and Randy were quite proud!

The stickers were a big deal.  I keep trying to tell the boys they don't even need to paint their cars but they want them to look awesome. 

I think this was the 7th car Randy has had to build.  Every year he spends way too much time on it and every year he says "Next year I'm letting the boy do all the work!"  But as they get older the boys help more and more.  I'm just happy to be uninvolved!