Chill @ Queen Mary

My sister surprised us with a trip to Long Beach to check out Chill a few days before Christmas.
First of all… Brrrrrrrrr!

After cruising around outside, we walked into the dome where the Spruce Goose used to be to check out The Ice Kingdom. 13,000 square feet of stuff make out of ice. And you better be wearing a parka because it’s 9 degrees. NINE!


Look at that Rudolph nose and rosy cheeks! That’s not Photoshop! It’s dang cold in here!
  


Thank goodness we didn’t get to find out if his tongue would stick to the ice…

Towards the end of the icy dome tour, Will was at the end of his rope with the coldness. We went back out, ditched the parkas, and did a little Ice Tubing. I couldn’t get a good pic of the 2 story tall, 100 feet long slide made of ice… but Will can show you that it wasn’t fun at all…


Then we headed outside where they had an ice rink set up right in front of the Queen Mary.

Ice skates for everyone! They were really cool because the straps were like roller blade straps. Awesomesauce! Now… back in the 90s, I was quite the roller-blader, so ice skating is a pretty easy transition. I know… you can’t even begin to wrap your head around how cool I am.
  

 
That’s my dad out there on skates! He did pretty good! He just needs to bend his knees. Ha! My sister and I are clowns… clearly.

Despite Hubby’s reservations about ice skating, especially since our crazy child just had staples removed from his noggin, no one fell! Hubby has only been ice skating one other time in his life… with me! Ha Ha! We went on a date to the Disney Skating Rink, but that was 8 or 9 years ago. Yikes!

We all had a blast! They even offer free admission aboard The Queen Mary! Too cool! Chill runs until January 6th, so you better hurry your booty over there, so you can freeze it off!



**We didn’t get any perks from The Chill or any of their affiliates. This was a trip we took all on our own and my opinions are mine… all mine!**

Medieval Times–East Coast

It’s like an old skool coastal rival….Knight style!  Whhhaat….
Like Heather told you all on Tuesday, we were fortunate enough to be contacted by the folks at Medieval Times to be their guests to experience a show “together.”  It’s really actually very awesome that our families were able to do this together and talk about the show and who’s knight won and all that while being so far away.  I’ve been to the show in California when I was a senior in high school, so it was fun going to a different castle and seeing it there.

The castle in NJ is about a 2 hour drive from out house, so we were a little worried with naps in the car some attitude when we got there….but the boys didn’t disappoint. They were ooo-ing and ahh-in at the castle from the outside, but right when you go in the first thing you do is take a picture with the king and Hunter wanted no part of it. He’s not the best picture taker ever, always looks down or away, but this picture he had his full back to the camera….WOULD NOT TURN. Fine, just take the pic. Those poor people tried to do everything possible to get him to turn around…but no dice. Stubborn like his momma.


And like Heather said before, the food is a part of the experience as much as the show. Being that my kids (Hunter again) is not the BEST eater ever…I was a bit nervous and ended up packing little snack boxes with cheese, crackers, grapes, and turkey pepperoni…just in case. Lo and behold…he didn’t disappoint again. I take that back…a little. The kids cups (which were shaped like knights helmets) were a big hit. My kids do like kitsch. He loved the focaccia bread, tried just a little of the soup, took one bit of chicken, but wouldn’t touch the rib. I don’t blame you really, Hunter, I’m not the biggest fan of “bone in” meats….but the food was gooooood. Jagger ate a little better, and fully dived right in with the non use of utensils. That child embraces mess.


Once the show started….the attitudes of the kids TOTALLY changed. Meaning…everyone was smiling and laughing and enthralled with the horses. Hunter finally put on his crown and really enjoyed chanting with everyone for the green knight. I even got a flower….apparently because I am a pretty fair maiden. Not sure if that’s pretty fair….or pretty and fair. Either way. Flower was thrown to me (in no way did I push a young girl out of the way and dive into the aisle to catch it ala wedding bouquet style.) Both boys enjoyed my little snack packs halfway through the show, so I was quite glad I planned ahead for that, which was fine by me because the show lets you take home your leftovers and I made a delectable chicken salad the next night from uneaten bone meat.

Jagger had a little trouble sitting still after our green knight died….booo….so I took him out to the lobby to run around. It was actually great because nobody was there and he could look at all the little tchotskys in the display case. Like the good sales people they are trained to be…one lady let him hold a light up magic wand….so you know I was “forced” to buy 2 because Jagger didn’t want to let it go and I couldn’t get him something and not Hunter. S’okay…I would have probably bought one anyway. Attention all retailers everywhere….I’m a sucker for souvenirs. Put something in my hand or my kids', and I’ll probably get it…just and FYI. And you know it’s a good time when the kiddies fall asleep in the car…still clutching their new toy.





It really was a fantastic time and Craig and I were already saying that we cant wait to go back in a few years!  This is something that will definitely be on our do again list!  Thank you for having us Medieval Times!

The Circle S Ranch

Long ass vacation post ahead….grab a coffee and settle into your butt groove on your couch….

So, do you know how much a vacation without kids can rejuvenate you??  A lot, let me tell you…..a lot.  The hubo and I decided to take a long weekend away and found an awesome deal through Groupon for the Circle S Ranch in Kansas.  That’s right…we wanted to go AWAY away.  And it was glorious…GLORIOUS!!!!!  (much like Heather…picture me, arms spread out, twirling away with my face up to the heavens…….).

We flew into Kansas City, Missouri….which is right next to Kansas City, Kansas.  I’m sorry, Midwest, but that was the most confusing thing in the world.  I fully thought our GPS was broken because it kept telling me we were in Kansas when I could have sworn we were in Missouri.  Anyway….we knew….despite which Kansas City we were in that we had to stop for some BBQ.  We always like to do an “ask the local” about where to eat because they know the best places.  Our local was the guy who helped us with our rental car.  As good as this place was…it looked a little commercial for me.  But what can I say…a cute local boy with the sweetest accent suggested it and we couldn’t refuse.

After noshing we were headed on our way to the ranch.  Can we say gravel roads???  Barely, because those things just don’t exist in New Jersey, at least not where I live in NJ.  And they certainly don’t exist in California.  I was a bit frightened I’ll tell you what.  I thought Kansas was flat.  Not so.  There were some SCARY steepness on some of these roads.  I almost regretted getting the $15 a day Yaris instead of springing for the $35 a day 4x4.

But we got there.  And again….GLORIOUS!!!!  This place is a 12 room B&B that does lots and lots and LOTS of weddings…but we were the ONLY people there the whole weekend.  And not just alone in the fact that we were the only patrons….the STAFF LEAVES at 7….so we were literally ALONE in this huge place.  In a way, it was awesome.  It also scared the living chizz out of me the first night (that story is a completely different post.  I thought I was going to die all horror movie style).  Anyway, the good part was we totally got catered to!  We arrived to Linda and her 2 adorable boys serving us THE BEST lemonade I’ve ever had and some homemade hummus with a southwestern twist.  Delicious.  I question if that was a lemonade mix or homemade…but it was outstanding either way.

Then we had dinner there our first night (the Groupon included this.  We could have picked between spa treatment and dinner….of course I chose food!).  Linda made us Southern fried chicken with a pan gravy that I could have eaten with a spoon, fantastic and fully loaded mashed potatoes, and green beans.  And you have to love that everything had some bacon in it.  Mmmmmmmm….hard to believe there was a time when bacon made me literally throw up.

The Ranch itself is just gorgeous.  So much open space, and so much to do, even though it seems like there is nothing to do!  We rocked on the porch for hours, stared at the roaming bison, watched the cattle come in, played chess every night, swung on the swing, drank coffee on the porch….I mean, I cannot even tell you how relaxing this place was.  It was really like all my stress and the hustle and bustle of life just melted away.  Except for the barn.  Beware the barn.  Especially right before sundown unless you want to spend the night thinking that you are going to die.  Again…that story deserves its own post.  Oh yeah….cliffhanger….

A fishing trip or a horseback riding trip was also included in part of the Groupon deal, and even though I probably would have chosen the horsies, I knew Craig would love to fish so that is what we chose.  Ok…not only were the poles and the gear all ready for us, but they packed us a darned cute picnic lunch too!  In a darned cute picnic basket!!  I was throwing up from the cutness.  Just over the moon.  Really.  And fishing was a blast.  I haven’t been since I was little and it was like riding a bike.  Even though Craig thought it was funny that I didn’t want to touch the fish.  Hey…that’s what my dad was there for when I was little.  I just reeled them in.  I guess it’s not EXACTLY like riding a bike, considering I didn’t hook a fish, but caught a nice frog instead.  Seriously, I don’t know how I did it, but there he is.  Poor guy…He looks like he’s saying “just take the damn picture and let me go you crazy tourists.”  Aw.  Craig caught a nice looking fish though!  Dinner!!  Just kidding…we let him go…we are so animal friendly like that.

The ranch is also right outside of the town of Lawrence, KS…which is home to the University of Kansas…so it’s really NOT a small town.  But it’s fantastic!  This is where we went to dinner the second night.  There are so many cute shops and restaurant there, and if my camera battery hadn’t died I would have taken many pictures of it.  All the more reason for you to go and check it out yourself!  But in accordance with our “ask the locals” policy…we went to Free State Brewery (which is where the cute young girls that worked at the ranch told us to go) and had some good brew and beef.  Mmm..the steak was deeeeelish!  And the owner of the little quilt shop that I had to pop into and grab some fabrics told us to definitely try Sylas and Maddy’s ice cream shop.  OOHHHH….key lime pie ice cream is HIGHLY recommended!

This trip really was just the refresher that Craig and I needed.  I felt so relaxed, and was actually desperately searching for a pen and paper to write down all the ideas I had for the house, for my shop, for the summer to do with the boys.  I wanted to get home to get started, and I guess that’s a good sign!  If anyone wants someplace to go to realize what is needed to get a fresh jumpstart to your otherwise monotonous life…I TOTALLY suggest the Circle S Ranch!  It’s really amazing and really a trip that I’m never going to forget.