Chuck E. Cheese's

So yesterday we went to Chuck E. Cheese's with our neighbor, Julia, and her kids. There is one that just opened up by our house and we thought we'd check it out. No driving down to Salt Lake! :) And let me just tell you, we had a blast! A Blast! Everyone. I haven't been to a Chuck E. Cheese's since I was little and then as I got older and after having kids I heard about those nasty ball pits that have really gross stuff in them. So I was a little leary to go, but Julia assured me that there were no ball pits in the new ones - so, phew!

We got there a little after 10am, so there was hardly anyone in the place. So that was really nice. And the set up just makes sense and works awesome for younger kids. I had a coupon (love coupons) for 100 tokens for $10. Not bad. Abbi and Josh each got 50 tokens each and that lasted us almost 2 1/2 hours! The kids had so much fun just running around and playing the little games. Josh was so excited about a helicopter game, there was a big jeep that he could ride on, and he loved the bouncy ball game. And this was before he even knew he won tickets. He was really excited about that part. And it's nice too because, well for one it's brand new - so everything is super clean; the set up of the place - I just love; and they have ticket counting machines, so you don't have to do it yourself. I know, like I've said before, the little things get me going! So at the end of our time, we cashed in the tickets (250 mind you) and Josh got a little frog, a big bouncy ball (like a 4-square, that's right I said 4-square, ball), and a lollipop. Just little things, but I think it's a good deal for 10 bucks. So here are a few pics from our day. Fun, fun, fun! We can't wait to go back. Thanks Julia!

Here is Josh riding the big horse! He loved it!

Josh playing with the big bouncy ball game. Abbi was really lucky on this game!

Josh on the safari jeep and then below, taking Abbi out for a spin. I love that they're both dressed in yellow! Too cute!

Brad Passed His Test

Happy, happy. Joy, joy. Brad passed his journeyman lineman test! I'm still in so much shock that I couldn't even keep my head on straight yesterday to write anything. This just opens up so many more possibilities for us - it's unreal. I am so happy. He took his test yesterday and I (well, we) had been on pins and needles the entire night. I know he didn't sleep very well, and I woke up when he did and couldn't get back to sleep. So the day dragged on and I was a nervous wreck - I couldn't eat anything, I felt sick to my stomach, etc. And when my phone rang at 11:30, I was really nervous. I almost didn't answer. But I'm glad that I did.

I'm so proud of him and he is such a good husband and father to our kids. He did an awesome job by passing this test. So now he is a journeyman lineman instead of an apprentice. He apprenticeship is finally complete. There will be no more training on Sundays and no more feeling like he has to work. It's awesome. It's a completely freeing feeling. He even gets a pay raise - which always helps! We went out to dinner last night to celebrate. It's wonderful! So here, here to Brad.

Maddie is 9 Months

Time flies so fast when you have kids. I mean, the day by day grind gets old and some days feel like they're never going to end. And I mean never - minutes are like hours! But then there are other days that seem to just fly by. And as my kids get older and older, time feels like it just keeps going by even faster than it did before. So yesterday was one of those days. Maddie was 9 months old yesterday and I can't believe it. She's definitely not a little baby any more and is becoming and acting more and more like a toddler every day. So far she's done almost everything sooner than Josh. Here is a little breakdown of everything:

• rolling over: Josh - 3 1/2 months, Maddie - 3 months
• sitting up: Josh - 7 months, Maddie - 8 months
• crawling: Josh - 8 months, Maddie - 7 months
• teeth: Josh - 10 months, Maddie - 7 1/2 months
• standing up: Josh - 10 months, Maddie - 8 months
• walking: Josh - 13 months, Maddie - we'll see??

So here are a few pictures of my big girl. Her hair is getting longer and she's starting to crawl just as fast as Josh did. Hope everyone enjoys the pics.

Here she is enjoying her favorite past time - eating.

Having fun with bubbles.

My little princess.

One of the few pictures of me and the kids.

Our Next President

So after watching this presidential debate, I must say that I'm more likely than ever to vote. I know, it's awful that I haven't registered to vote yet - but I haven't really paid much attention to what was going to happen to our country or what kind of president would impact my life. I was only 25 during the last election, had only been married for a year, and had just started my career. I didn't really know what I cared about, what was important to me, and what all of that meant. That was, until I had kids. Now that I have kids, I feel that I view the world in an entirely different way. I feel that I know who I am a little bit more and that I know what important to me and my life.

I want to know that our next president is going to make this world a better place for my children and for me. I know now how important it is to register to vote, because (and I know this is going to sound cliche) every vote counts. Now this is just my opinion - but if you want this country to be run the same way that it has the last 8 (count them, eight) years, then vote for McCain. But if you're looking for change and in a good way, then vote for Obama. All I kept hearing during the debate was how McCain thinks Obama is so inexperienced and that he (McCain) has the experience that the country needs. Experience isn't everything! And yes, we know he is a POW, we know, we know, we know. That's another thing that we hear about all of the time from him. What about those issues?

Please vote. Vote for change. We need a democrat as president!

The Newest Happenings

Well I haven't posted any pictures of the kids lately, so I thought I'd do that on this post. The newest happenings in our lives are that Josh is doing really well in school. His teachers keep saying that he is listening very well to directions and does everything that they ask - oh, I wish that would happen at home, but at least he's good at school. He has done many art projects and loves going "over the bridge and down the slide" in the playground. He is learning so many new things, I know it was the right decision to put him in preschool this year. He loves going, and asks about school all weekend long!

Here's Josh laying on the futon. He was being so silly that day!

Here Josh is showing me is "morocykil" shirt. That's the best way I know how to pronounce it like he does. He was very proud of this picture today.

Here he is showing me his mad face. He is going through another one of his "I hate to have my picture taken" phases. When I showed him this picture after I'd taken it, he said to me "Josh is sad" - oh my heart!

Maddie just keeps standing. Up and down, up and down. Crawling everywhere and getting into all of her brothers toys and stuff she's not supposed to. She just wore some little shoes for the first time the other day, and if I do say so myself - so pretty stinkin' cute! I had to put some shoes on her because she won't leave her socks on. She's constantly taking them off, and with the weather turning a little colder - it's my only option. And this kid loves to eat - awe, one good eater - oops, I just jinxed myself. No, but she loves to eat. She'll eat anything and I mean - anything. She tries to eat rocks if she's outside! So far there is nothing that I've found that she won't eat. She's eaten avocados, pasta, carrots, zucchini, oranges, little meat sticks, tortillas, peas, olives, I mean - a lot of stuff. So hopefully this eating trend continues. It's hard to have a picky eater.

She's still not used to the shoes, but they'll have to do for now.

The Zoo

Well we finally made it back to the zoo today. We've been wanting go since it has gotten a little cooler out (and I mean, a little). The last time we went was when our friends Corbin & Amy came to visit and it was like 100 degrees outside. But today was the perfect day to go. There were some clouds, but some sun as well, and it was cool enough where we could walk around and not get hot. It gets hot really fast when you're pushing a baby around in a stroller.

Josh loves going to the zoo, and the only animal that he wants to see are the Lions - even though they don't have lions at this zoo. But we got up close and personal with the tiger and I guess that was good enough for Josh. He also loves the monkeys, elephants, and rhinos. Those are just a few of his favorites. He kept saying to the animals "get out of there" and then he wanted to "get in there". My child is like a wild animal at times :) Maddie loved tagging along - even though she doesn't really look at any of the animals. She's just as content as can be being pushed around in the stroller watching Josh.

But there are two things that I'm really bummed about. One is that I forgot our camera yet again! I asked Brad if we could buy one of those disposable ones, but that idea was nixed! Boo. I wish that I had some pictures of Josh at the zoo because he looks so cute watching all of the animals. This is the second time I've forgotten it, and I'm really bummed! And the second is, is that I really love going to the zoo. I love the whole experience of it - getting the food, staying for hours, buying at least one little thing at the gift shop. But it's totally different for Brad. He doesn't mind going to the zoo, but he could do without all of that other stuff. So maybe if I get brave, I'll take the kids myself before it's gets too cold out - or maybe we'll go when his parents are here (that's a whole story in itself, so I'll post sometime later about that). But we'll see. That's just how I am I guess, I want the full experience! I'm like that with the fair, zoos, baseball games, etc. So hopefully we'll be able to make it back one more time before it gets too cold - even though we're crazy busy in October! If not, there's always next year.

Love the Rain

Ahhh, it's raining today (well a little rain anyways). I love this weather. Not every day, but I like it from time to time. Moving from the Oregon area to Utah has been pretty hard to adjust to. I'm not used it (it's only been 4 years now - ha) being really hot in the summer and really cold in winter months. It's nice to actually live in an area that has a spring and a fall. My ideal weather would be 65-70 degrees, just enough to wear jeans and a t-shirt!

What is nice here are the thunderstorms. I love hearing the thunder, and have never heard thunder as loud and as long, as it is here. When we lived in Oregon, we lived near the coast - so it rained all of the time. I'm not joking. All the time. I used to joke with Brad that they didn't really ever need to do a weather report, because it was always rain. Rain in the morning, rain in the evening. Rain. Rain is nice and it makes trees and plants really, really green - but it gets a little depressing after a while. I really do miss the green trees. But you take what you can get. Just missing the rain.

Helping Others

First off, I'm not writing this post as a way of saying - oh, look at me and tell me what a great job I did. I'm not doing that. I'm writing this because of how good it made me feel and I want to share that with everyone I know. I joined a MOMs (meeting other mothers) group a while ago - before Maddie was born, and they have what is called the Sunshine club - thanks to Heidi :) This is where people bring food or whatever else the person needs if they have a baby, or someone close to them dies, etc. When I had Madison, Heidi was the one who arranged for people to bring me food (for an entire week no less), even though I hadn't done anything with the MOMs club for quite some time. Which I don't think I ever really thanked her - so THANK YOU Heidi!

Well, off the subject again. So there is a mom that is on bedrest and she needed some Sunshine. It was my turn to bring her dinner last night and even though it was a little hectic trying to get her the dinner, it was well worth it. It was such a great feeling to help someone else out, to give back in a way. I remember when all of those sweet, sweet souls brought our family dinner after Brad's mom left and I was so appreciative. It was nice to be able to do that for someone else, and I know how much she appreciated it because I was the same way. It just feels great to do some good in this crazy world (I know, it's cliche) - but I know I want to do more.

I've signed up to do some mailings for kids with autism - and I really hope it's not a scam, for the kids' sake. I haven't gotten anything in the mail yet - but all I have to do is supply the stamps, put together the paperwork, and set up some donations (hint, hint). So hopefully this all works out. But I'm craving more. Right now it's a little harder to do stuff for the community, but once Maddie gets a little older, I know that I'm going to be doing more. I want to do more. There are so many kids that need help out there, it's a little overwhelming, but they need help. So if anyone knows of any charities or things I can do to help out, please let me know.

STILL Cleaning

Well we're STILL cleaning up the baby powder. I did a thorough vaccum yesterday, cleaned up what I could from Josh's dresser, bed, and the wipe container. But little did I know, that was just the beginning. I had forgotten that there was a pile of clothes on the floor, which he had completely covered - so I just threw them in his hamper so as to not further the spread of the baby powder. The only problem was that I forgot all of that stuff was in there and that I needed to wash it.

So of course he was really stuffy last night and ended up coming into our room so we could air out his. Let's just say it was a really long night! But it was kind of nice to snuggle up all three of us in bed. Cute, but no sleep. Okay, off track. So Brad and I get up this morning to tackle his room and the vacuum cleaner since it was jam packed with baby power.

We go into Josh's room - it still stinks (and I only say stinks because I've been smelling this for 2 days now), his ceiling fan is completely covered - it's on the lights, on the covers to the lights, on all of the blades. It's all over his curtains, all over his sheets (I know, duh), still in 2 huge spots on his carpet, plus all of his clothes. So needless to say, I did a lot of laundry today - bedding (which I hate), curtains, clothes. I cleaned out the vacuum cleaner, which has never been cleaner than the day we bought it - I had to remove the hoses, rinse those out, rinse out the container that collects the dust, and remove the filter. Oh, what a hassle. It's not as funny today.

Josh is still a little stuffy and all of us have been sneezing because there is so much dang powder floating through the house. But we'll survive. The baby powder bottle is empty, and we've removed the lotion from his room - so hopefully we won't have any more incidents. For the next couple of days, anyways.

You Gotta Love Kids

So we had another incident today - one that will go down in the history book of having kids. I've posted before about Josh getting into some lotion and pouring it all over our family room carpet - see past post. But I must say this takes the cake - but is SO much easier to clean up! I tried to take some pictures and I will post those - but they just don't do this justice :) It made me laugh my butt off, so no getting mad this time.

So I had put Josh to bed, fed Maddie, and then put her to bed - so I thought I was in the clear to make myself some lunch. Well, I'm sitting there eating my sandwich and all of a sudden I taste baby powder in my mouth. And I'm like, ok - baby powder - where is this coming from. Why do I taste baby powder. Not even 5 minutes later, Josh is pounding on his door and I'm thinking ok, he's supposed to be sleeping, what in the world is he doing in there? So, I go to investigate. And let's just say I know what my son wants to be for Halloween! A ghost.

He was covered in baby powder! Covered. I walked in, and he says to me "mom (he says mom now, not mommy) I cleaning, I wiping, I cleaning" and all I see is baby powder. The air is thick with baby powder! There was baby powder all over the floor, his bed, his dresser, everywhere. Everywhere. And I'm not talking a light dusting - I'm talking an inch (or what seemed like) an inch thick.

Here are a few of the pictures before I tried cleaning this mess up. His belt is brown, but looks tan. And it's hard to see, but it's all over his walls and his bed. But this definitely does not compare to Julia's story with Abbi and the vasoline :)


Update:
After I started cleaning this mess up, I realized that it's harder to clean baby powder up than I thought. There were huge piles in the carpet - I had to put the vacuum cleaner on it's lowest setting to get most of it up. Josh actually put the powder in his wipe container - which I just threw away because it was all garbage. The wipes combined with the powder made this white goop. Yes, goop. I also had to take a picture of the vacuum, and I have no idea how I'm going to get all of the baby powder out of it. Brad said that when I was vacuuming it was a white dust cloud in all of our rooms. Yuck. And now Josh is all stuffy and it's probably due to all of this powder. Powder. Powder. Powder.

Men

Last night was a pretty interesting night at our house, and it made me start thinking about a lot of things and just men in general. I guess I should explain what happened first before delving into my thoughts. This week Brad has "school" and he sees a couple of guys he normally doesn't see because they are not on his dock, but they do see each other at school. So anyways...he was telling me earlier this week that a couple of the guys and him wanted to go shooting and this is their last school and the last time they'd all be together - blah, blah, blah if you ask me. But Brad is into guns and loves to go shooting, and really hasn't gone that often since we moved to Utah, but it is what it is.

So last night, he tells me that he is definitely going shooting tomorrow (tonight) after his classes. And I was like, wait a minute - I don't quite remember our conversation going the way that he thinks it did. Last I remember, he was just telling me that he wanted to go and what night would be a good night for me. And I jokingly said - oh Wednesday night would be good because I knew that he couldn't go due to a Union meeting. But we never officially decided on a day and he didn't tell me until I saw all of his gear out by the bed, which was about 10:30 last night. Oh, men.

I mean, I know that he has to have time to himself too and that he has hobbies and would love to spend more time enjoying his hobbies - but I also think too, what about us. I love spending time with Brad - and I always have. I want to spend time with him, and would rather spend time with him than with anybody else (besides my kids). So I actually like hanging out with him, but also - don't get me wrong, he does get on my nerves from time to time - but who doesn't (have that happen to them, that is). And he doesn't get the fact that he gets to go to work everyday (granted, he might want to do other stuff at times) - but he gets to get away from us - from me, the kids, the responsibilities at home. And do I get to do that? No! I stay home almost every day - cleaning, cooking, taking care of the kids, etc. I'm not complaining, really, I'm just stating a fact. I'm not resentful (even though it might sound like that). I do enjoy staying home - but it would be nice every once in a while to get away or go to work and have adult conversations.

And what goes through their heads after a conversation? I mean, I know men and women think totally different - but we didn't decide on a day (or so I thought) and then last night - it just felt like he sprung it on me. He probably already had it decided in his head, and then just didn't communicate that to me. And now he thinks and said - "oh, I never get to go do anything fun, what about my hobbies, etc." - which I totally get. I do, I get it. I'm not mad that he's going, and I guess it's not really a big deal. My point is that I just wonder what he is thinking. I don't think I'm saying this right, but what do men think about? It's just curious to me how we have a conversation and we think in two completely different circles.

Oh, and by the way. All of his gear is still sitting by the bed. So we'll see tonight what happens. I'm not really sure if he's going or not. This might be interesting.

9.11

First off, I can't believe it's been 7 years since 9.11. Seven years. It's sad to say that when I woke up today, I didn't even think of the date. I didn't think of the date yesterday or the day before that. It's depressing to think that this date can be so easily forgotten. I think it's harder for people that weren't directly effected (and when I say directly, I mean actually losing someone you know personally - because we were all directly effected by this) to forget. And writing the word forget seems so harsh. It's not that I've forgotten, I will never forget that this horrid event occurred. But forget as in, I don't think about it everyday and haven't for years now. It's sad to think about it - the forgetting part.

I do still remember where and what I was doing when it happened. I was a nanny for the triplets and I came upstairs to eat breakfast. D was out of town and P just kept staring at the TV and saying - "a plane (at the time) just flew into one of the towers at the WTC" - and I was thinking, "what?" It was horrific to see a plane fly into one of the towers, let alone people jumping out of them, and the towers falling - actual buildings falling due to terrorists. Terrorists!When it happened, I was in complete shock and couldn't grasp what was happening and how much it was going to effect the world. At the time I was only 22 years old, I hadn't lived my life (still haven't) and it's just amazing how much has changed in the last seven years. I mean - I graduated from nursing school, got married, have moved 3 times, have had 2 kids, and that's just the big stuff. I can't even begin to imagine what is was like for anyone that knew someone that died, if that makes any sense. Well none of it makes any sense really.

We Painted Josh's Room

So I've been meaning to write a post about this for a while now, but we've finally painted Josh's room. Brad did it on Labor Day weekend, I just hadn't taken any pictures of it. I wanted to wait until I got a couple of things hung on the walls, his letters back up, etc. - but who knows when that is going to happen. We still haven't even finished Maddie's room yet - and she's 8 months. Oh well. It will happen, sometime.

I must admit, I really love the color blue that we painted in Josh's room. I love it more than the blue that is in our room. And I am a little jealous of Josh's room because I think it looks so much better than ours, so Brad came up with a suggestion only he and his dad would think of (since they hate painting so much) - that we'll just switch rooms. Josh could have our room, and Brad and I could be in his - which was shortly thereafter shot down. But maybe I'll get in a wacky mood and just repaint our room myself - ha, yeah right! But I love his blue - it's not a baby blue, but not a primary blue, but a blue/gray and it looks really good. And I don't know if you can tell by the pictures, but the top is blue and the bottom is a medium gray. I really like it, and it reminds us of the Seattle Seahawks colors - so now all we need is a little green in the room to make it complete. Brad wanted to get one of those huge FatHead stickers that you plaster on the wall (it's a sports thing), but they are too expensive - so we'll just stick with the original plan.

So for now, we have all of the rooms painted that we wanted to paint. We would love to have some of our kitchen painted or our living room - but we have those darn vaulted ceilings and it makes it hard to paint. We actually did have a couple people come out and give us a bid - but seeing as how we still have white walls, it was obviously too expensive! So now that we've completed our painting experiments on this house - we'll definitely know what to do and what not to do next time. But for our first painting experiences, I think everything has turned out pretty good.

Here are a few pictures of Josh's room and a few of Maddie's - for those of you who haven't seen it yet. And yes people, I know, it's pink. We're eventually (who knows when it's going to happen due to my husband) going to put up a chair rail in the kids' bedrooms (that's why we did the half wall thing) and if Brad gets a wild hair - he might do crown molding, but I'm not holding my breath!

Stress

Well we're finally in the home stretch of Brad's apprenticeship. He is an apprentice lineman, which most of you already know. His apprenticeship has lasted for 3 1/2 years now and the end is in sight. He will take his journeyman test sometime soon and it's coming right around the corner. It feels kind of weird for him to almost be done with this thing. I mean, we've been waiting for what feels like forever for him to be done, and now that he is (almost), it's like another chapter in our lives is closing. Which, it's been a good chapter, but I'm glad that it is finally closing! After he takes this test he will be a journeyman lineman, he'll get a pay raise, and he can work for whoever/where ever he wants. It's kind of like after I became and RN.

At the beginning of his apprenticeship, it felt like 3 1/2 years would be forever - but looking back (probably because we're at the end of it), it's gone by pretty fast. I guess having 2 kids, moving, and buying a house helps time pass as well. We were living in Oregon before we moved to Salt Lake, and I was happy right where I was. I had a good job, great coworkers, and I did NOT want to move here. I didn't want to leave everything that I had just established and that was where I had my first RN job - so I did NOT want to move (here to be exact). But Brad was pretty unhappy in Oregon. He hated his job, wanted to make something more of his life, and didn't want to move there in the first place - but did so, for me. So I guess it was my turn to follow him here, and the first couple of years, I must admit, were pretty darn rough. I hated living so far away from our families - especially since I found out that I was pregnant with Josh almost right after I moved here. So being a stay-at-home mom for the 1st time, away from family, and not really knowing anyone was harder and lonelier than I thought.

But now, it's not AS bad - I know that I can do this. I've been doing it for 3 1/2 years now. I complain a lot that it's so hard and I don't want to live here anymore (mainly for the fact that we're so far away from family) - but I know that I can do it. I can survive raising two kids without any help from our families, and I guess that's a great feeling. Sure, it would be nice to have our families here to help out from time to time and give Brad and I a break to go on a date. But we can do it. I think we've grown closer as a couple and I know that I can count on him, and he knows that he can count on me.

Back to the subject of this post - the stress. It's going to get more and more stressful for Brad and all of us, I guess, the closer his test gets. But that probably comes with all life changing events, and this IS a life changing event. It tells us what lies ahead for us in the future. So I know I got off topic, but the main reason why I wrote this post is because I am trying to get myself prepared for the more stressful days that lie ahead. But, as the saying goes, this too shall pass.

Blah

Well I haven't had much to write about these days. We're just in the grind of things, and not too much that is really exciting. Josh is going to school, Maddie is standing more and more, Brad is working, and I'm cleaning, cooking, and trying to stay on a steady schedule of working out. Pretty boring, but busy at the same time. With Josh going to school 3 days a week, things can get kind of hectic and we haven't even had a full week of school yet. This next week is going to be busy as well, and I have a whole list of things to do when Josh is in school. I think that I'm trying to cram everything into 2 weeks, and I need to slow down or I'm not going to have anything to do but run to Starbucks (which isn't a bad thing, it just gets expensive).

The only exciting thing today was that I was able to buy a few shirts at Old Navy since they are having a sale and I had a 40% off coupon. Whoo, hoo - really exciting, right? I also got some shirts for Josh for school, so I think he's set. It would be so nice to get a new wardrobe every 6 months, wouldn't it? Kids come first and parents always come last, and that's the way it should be. I'd rather my kids have new clothes than me, but sometimes it would be nice if it were the other way around every once and a while.

1st Day of School

My little man is growing up so fast. Today was his first day of preschool (well sort of - he did go to school last school year, but only for 3 months - so I'm not really counting that). I thought he was going to cry, I thought I was going to cry, and maybe even Maddie (no, I'm just kidding) - but I thought Josh or I would cry. But we didn't. I dropped him off this morning and the teacher's assistant asked him to come over to the circle where some of the other kids were sitting already, and he did. He was a little shy at first, but did exactly and she said and didn't even look back! He looked so grown up and got a little misty-eyed, but I didn't cry. I lingered for a little while, just to make sure he didn't get upset. And of course, he didn't. He didn't even know I was gone - which is probably a good thing, but it's always nice to be needed.

After being in a cast and having to stay inside for 3-3 1/2 weeks, I think we were both ready for him to go to school. He needs it, and I need it. He needs more things to keep him occupied during the day, and I need a little bit of a break. So it works out both ways. He is going to go Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9-11am. It's only 2 hours, but when I went to go pick him up - he ran to me saying, "mommy, mommy" with a huge smile on his face and gave me a great big bear hug.

29th Birthday

Well yesterday was my birthday. At first it started out like every other day. Get up, feed the kids, do a little cleaning, take a shower, etc. But it was a really good day! Not that those other days are horrible, they're just normal - nothing eventful, unless Josh decides to get near the lotion again - ha! So Brad kept asking me, "what do you want to do? what do you want to do?" and I replied by saying, "oh, I don't know." And what we did end up doing is not huge, but it was big for us because we haven't it done this for a long time. No it's not sex. Ha.

We went out to dinner...with the kids. Josh can be, well a kid, and it is hard for us to enjoy our meal. But Brad said that we should try it again, and I'm so glad that we did. We had a great time, good conversation, and an excellent meal. Both kids (especially Maddie - which I never have to worry about her) did really well. We got to the restaraunt early enough, that there was hardly anyone there - perfect! Our waitress was really nice and fast, and the food - oh the food. We went to Red Lobster and I had a nice pasta dish - it's my new favorite and a Sangria. Oh, it was so good. I've been craving fried zucchini (from Red Robin) and this pasta dish. We actually got to enjoy our meal, and then Brad got me a birthday cake! Oh, how I love cake. It was so sweet and I just had a really awesome day.