So my sister Lori drove Bella to our house on Friday night (she's been babysitting Bella, Tess and Megan all week). Bella and Whitney got busy playing right away, which is always so sweet to see. I took them to dinner later in the evening at The Purple Turtle (which Whitney always calls Purple Turtles). It was busy in there and we've never really gone there for official meals, just for a shake every now and then, so I'm not familiar with the menu. I ordered Chicken Tenders for both of the girls, a hamburger for myself, and a shake for the three of us to share. I almost passed out when the total came to $18.75!! Good grief, they're just little girls and my burger was only a $1.49. Apparently the chicken tenders and fries (no drink) are $5.99 each and the shake was $3.49. Go figure. It took me awhile to shake that off, but the girls were so happy with their food and actually ate every little bit of it and were expressing delight with every bite.
So Saturday morning we decided to go the movies to see "Flicka" at Thanksgiving Point. I was keen on this idea because it involved buttery popcorn and sitting. The movie was pretty good, the horses were stunning, and I even cried twice. Whitney got a little bored towards the 3/4 point, but still watched the movie and said she liked it (Bella seemed mesmerized, but she may have been in a popcorn trance of sorts.)
After the movie, we drove over to the other side of Thanksgiving Point to check out Cornbelly's. It looked like there was a lot of fun stuff, so the girls were super excited to go in. We were standing in line for awhile so I had been calculating costs (assuming it would be $5 to get in) and our time table because I needed to get Bella back home by 4:45. Anyway, when it was our turn to pay I couldn't believe my ears when the girls said it was $30! I actually said, "Are you kidding me?" Of course, I paid it because the girls were so excited about it and because that covered all the things to do once inside the place. I was still a little in shock about it and kept thinking how next year Whitney can have her $25 birthday party and I'll keep my mouth shut instead spewing forth my "good" suggestions.
We ended up having a good time, so I suppose it was worth the money. We wandered around the huge corn maze and for awhile there thought we were really lost. It was kind of funny, but kind of not. I can't imagine going through the corn maze at night, that would be frightening. At least during the day I could see the mountains and knew what direction we needed to go toward.
This gynormous jumping pillow was the main thing that lured us into this activity in the first place. We ended up waiting in line for over 20 minutes, but the girls loved it. I had never seen anything like it before. It could hold like 20 people at a time. Crazy.
We left right on time at 4:00 and had time to drive thru Iceberg for ice cream cones. These are the smalls! It literally took them the entire 30 minute car ride to eat them, and they still didn't finish! It was nice though, they were quiet and happy.
We ended up staying at Bella's house and hanging out with Lori for 4 hours. The girls still played together and watched a show. I found this note Bella had written Whitney, and thought it was so cute and definitely made all of the expense and effort worth it. I'm so glad they have each other as Best Cousins. Click here to see the rest of the photos.
**Were you ever close with one of your cousins?
Are your kids good friends with their cousins?
Would you have paid the $30 for Cornbellys?**
Are your kids good friends with their cousins?
Would you have paid the $30 for Cornbellys?**
21 comments:
Finally blogger is letting me post...It has been kicking me off for the last couple of days...bug!
The pictures are fantastic! I want one of those ice cream cones, yumm...I love soft serve. What a fantastic birthday for Whitney. Brandon and I have already decided to be really strict with sleepovers (there won't be any for our girls) and the only exception I would make would be with cousins...which breaks my heart that Jessica and James are in Utah. That is so special for Whitney that she has cousins close by and that they are such great friends! What a blessing for her!
I just wanted to mention that I LOVED your Sunday post yesterday...I read it before church yesterday (wouldn't let me post!!) and it just put me in a great Sunday mood!
I have spent $30 for far more ridiculous things, and OF COURSE!
hmm. i am so cheap really I am, I don't know what i would have done.
love the photos and whitney is stinkin cute. that blonde hair is so dreamy!
What a great weekend. I love what a cool mom and aunt you are. Sorry it ended up being so expensive. Seeing how happy the girls look in the pictures makes it seem like it was worth it though.
All of Kira and Josh's cousins live far away. I hope someday we can live closer so they can have good friendships with their cousins.
I love the photos of Bella and Whitney in the car -- they look so happy!
My cousin Ashley was my best friend for as long as I can remember. We never lived in the same state, but we lived to get together in the summers, and as you know we were roommates at BYU for one semester.
My kids love to get together with their cousins. There is just something special about cousins, like an immediate bond. Your kids are lucky to have cousins that they get to see frequently.
That sounds like a heavenly birthday. I'm glad everyone had a good time despite the amount of money spent.
My dad (well of course my mom too) and his two siblings all had girls in a span of two years, so I've been very lucky. My cousin Lauren and I were super close when we were younger, I'd walk the 5 miles to her house so we could play even when we couldn't catch a ride. Now I live in the same vicinity as my other cousin Betsy (who lived in Michigan until college) so i've always been lucky to have my cousins in my life, throughout my life.
I am still really close with one of my cousins and think of her more as a sister. I hope once Mya gets cousins that they will all be close. Right now, she kinda is the loner.
I am cheap and probably wouldn't have paid the $30 and would have tried to bribe them away with promises of ice cream and a park or something. I can't believe it was $30! You are way cool to go through all that with them too! Purple Turtle is pricey but I really like their shakes and Mya calls it the Purple Ice Cream Store, so you gotta love that.
Those pictures are darling of the two of them. When they are adults they will treasure them!
It would have depended on whether or not that was W's present, if I paid the 30$.
I am still basking in the fact that Evie doesn't know anything about that kind of stuff, and watching to see what all of you do, then when I need to decide, I'll know what to do.
I am torn with the cornbellys. I am cheap but when it comes to bdays and such I tend to give in. My kids were close with cousins until they moved to CO. I am sad they are not here anymore. We did everything together.
I was never close with cousins cause we lived in CA and everyon else in UT and they would never come to visit. We saw they only when we could come to UT and that was once a year.
Love the pictures of the girls. They are really cute.
I'm impressed you can do a bday party for $25. That's not bad. I guess I would have figured I couldn't have done a party for cheaper than $50 between food and everything else (but that's me).
I'm glad we are going to have so many cousins close in age on my husband's side. It's fun for them. I was close with my cousins when we were young. Not anymore. It's not really sad for me b/c I don't think I'm missing out w/ these cousins, and I have four sibs.
I have always been really close with one of my cousins - as a matter of fact, I'm going to be her "matron of honor" at her wedding in Dec. "matron"...now there's a word that makes me feel like, 50 years older than I really am.
I honestly probably would have paid out the $30 bucks at Cornbelly's. That maze and the amazing jumping pillow of glory would have been too much fun for me to pass up.
That sounds like it was one rockin' birthday for Whitney! Birthday parties can be expensive too! I look forward to hearing how next year's party goes!
I'm with Becca on the sleepovers. Lindsey is bugging for a sleepover with a friend, and we have said no sleepovers. But, we would allow it with cousins, since they have nearly the same rules/expectations we do.
I remember going to that corn maze at Thanksgiving Point, it is hard to do in the dark! That bouncy thing looks like fun too!
What a grand day in my book. That is my favorite way of doing birthdays. I always try and convince my kids to pick one friend and do a fun day or activity with them.
Despite the price-it was probably worth it since Whitney had such a great time as did Bella.
I am sad to say I only have 2 cousins total! Crazy. One is my sisters age whom she was very close to and the other is Taylor's age. Go figure.
On the other hand, my kids are great friends with their cousins. I love that they are the same age..and can't wait until they live closer to one another.
What a great thing for these cousins to have each other. Bella is such a little mimi-me Amy. $30 for the corn maze is pretty steep- eeeks. However, I got snookered into buying a $65 birthday gift for my 2 nieces a few days ago, so I have no room to talk. I wish I was a brave enought person to say to the sales person 'that's too pricey. how 'bout something under $20' What's wrong with me!!!??!!!
I think the memories of that huge bouncy ball would be worth the money! I would pay $30 for fun...but I learned that from my dad. When we were on vacation we could do anything we wanted (rent boogie boards, pay and extra $20 in Lagoon to ride the slingshot, quarters for videogames)it made some great memories. My husband on the other hand...no way. Which then puts me in a predicament I haven't learned to deal with. Love the pictures!!
As a side note. When we turned 8 I think it was, my parents said we could have a big party or a big gift but not both. I don't think any of us ever had a party again.
**Were you ever close with one of your cousins? yes (susana-still are! WAZZZUPPP suzie!)
Are your kids good friends with their cousins? TOTALLY! there are 5 on my side (all younger though) and 15 on jons side(all same ages)
Would you have paid the $30 for Cornbellys?**NO! im with kristi- im too cheap-no matter how much i love my kids- but i LOVED that ice cream cone -im in the mood for one of those babies!!
i do like they idea of a cousin invite..im also with becca..no friend sleep overs at our house or someone else's house..but they can stay till 1030pm..the older the girls get no more parties..
"That maze and the amazing jumping pillow of glory would have been too much fun for me to pass up." Well, Robin, when you put it that way, maybe I would be willing to spring for the big bucks!
I was best friends with my second cousins (you know how spread out ages can be in big mormon families!) Those pictures are very, very sweet.
My sister has 3 boys as well and all of our kids have a great time together. It's harder when they get into school to connect often but it's just a big holiday when the cousins are around.
Jill I am so glad they have each other. Bella just adores Whitney and when I asked her last night about it should wouldn't stop. She had the best time. I love the little note she made...it just melts my heart. We have to make sure to keep them together. I just know how hard it will be once school takes over...it already has.
I love the photos of the two of them. I'm going to have to make some copies. Would you burn them to a disc for me?
I'm really glad you came over and hung out with Lori. I must say I was a bit nervous for her, not that I didn't think she could do it, but it's tough turning into a mother of 3 over night. Glad you guys had fun.
I'm one of Robyn's friends and I occasionally read your blog. (Hope you don't mind!) I just had to comment on this post to say: You are a genius! What a great idea! I have two sons and both of their bdays are in October. We are just now ending the "birthday season" at our house. It is so hard to have 2 bday parties. It is even harder to have one giant, combined party. I love the idea of having them choose one cousin/friend and have one big day doing something out-of-the-ordinary. THANKS!
I would pay the $30 dollars and I have. At least you probably got a lot more for your money than we did. Kaitlin was afraid of everything! How did I raise such a timid little girl? You're a very nice mom, though, to not freak out in front of Whitney about the high cost of enjoying the local Halloween attractions.
It is surprising how much The Purple Turlet cost you. I'm always amazed at how much it costs to eat at places like that. We can eat at a place like California Pizza Kitchen (much tastier and dare I say healthier) for almost the same--including tip!
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