Thankful Thursday

1. We had a safe trip out here to Massachusetts on Saturday and Oliver didn't cry for very long (just one bad tantrum).

2. The kids enjoyed playing soccer outside at their homeschool gym class last Friday.

3. We enjoyed visiting Mystic Seaport (CT) on Saturday and listening to a book on CD from the library during our drive.

4. The indoor (heated) swimming pool has been enjoyable. In hindsight we should have brought a pool noodle for Oliver and tennis rackets and tennis balls for Nadia, Ian, Paul, and I. The resort has outdoor and indoor tennis courts. The kids also played on the playground at the resort and enjoyed a little shuffleboard.

5. We enjoyed visiting Plimoth Plantation, Boston Children's Museum, Museum of Science, Tea Party Ships Museum, Plimoth Grist Mill, Plymouth rock, Mayflower II, and the Cape Cod Children's Museum.

6. It was delightful to spend time at two beaches and enjoy the sand, ocean, flying a kite, collecting shells, eating salt water taffy, and seeing a variety of fish and crabs at the beach.

7. We had a fabulous day at Edaville today, which is an amusement park featuring Thomas the Train. We arrived a little after 10:00, and at 11:00 we were enjoying a 20 minute ride (courtesy of Thomas) around the park. The weather this week has been gorgeous, but it was a little cooler today. In the morning we were wishing we had brought our jackets, but thankfully once it warmed up a little we were comfortable without them. I was very glad we weren't at the beach today! The park had a very low attendance today, which meant no lines for the rides. The kids could stay on a ride as many times as they wanted to ride it. Nadia and Ian rode one spinning lady bug roller coaster at least 13 times. Nadia also rode the tilt-a-whirl many times. The last time the operator asked me how long she was allowed to ride because he could make the ride either 2, 5, or 10 minutes long

I was surprised because Oliver loved the dinosaur area of the park. He was terrified of the animatronic dinosaurs at Reptiland a few months ago, and today he asked to go through it a second time! The ride I thought was the most creative was one in which the riders were squirting water (to put out a "fire") while riding on fire engines (and they were going up because they were on the ladder). One of Ian's favorites was a drop ride (which we think of as a "Frogger") called Cranky. Oliver loved a roller coaster in Thomas Land. There were only two rides Oliver couldn't ride - Cranky and the Scrambler. There was only one ride Ian couldn't ride - the Scrambler. Nadia could ride everything by herself except for the Scrambler, which she had to ride with an adult. Oliver had to have an adult for many rides, and the same was true for Ian although there were fewer that he needed an adult. They were generous with Oliver's measurements because he's 41 inches tall. His sandals made him a little taller than 41 inches, but all the ride operators let him ride the rides that you had to be 42 inches tall to ride.

It still amazes me how drastically different height requirements are from one amusement park to the next. Knoebels and Del Grossos are definitely the most generous of the parks we've been to. Six Flags is the worst for those under 48 inches. I was pleased that here at Edaville even Oliver could ride a bumper car with an adult. Ian can't even ride a bumper car at some amuseument parks (even with an adult).

8. We found a fast food restaurant for dinner tonight! There are a MILLION Dunkin Donuts around here. I wish we had actually counted. It's mind boggling how many there are. There are also Subway restaurants, but until today that's all we've seen in terms of fast food. Today we actually drove through a town that had McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, KFC, etc. It was nice to have dinner at McD's tonight because we only spent about $15. The pizza is more expensive around here. $15 seems to be about the average price for a large cheese pizza. Last night we ended up with a better deal than expected because we bought an XL pizza and they were having a special that if you got one of those then you also got a large pizza for free which meant we got 2 pizzas for less than $20.

9. We finally went miniature golfing tonight! We happened to pass one (and it was open) on our way home from Edaville. It was a bit pricey, but considering we only go miniature golfing on average once a year, we decided to splurge. That's one more thing off the bucket list. Now we just need to go bowling as we haven't gone bowling yet in 2016, which means Paul has yet to use the bowling shoes I got him for his birthday in January.

10. It has worked out well for Nadia to sleep in the second bedroom in Paul's parents' unit. She'll be spending the night with us tomorrow night.

11. They had free pie (apple or blueberry) at the resort tonight. Yum!

12. I was able to run yesterday morning. I am planning to do so again tomorrow morning.

13. Thankful for our ASTC membership. It has saved us hundreds of dollars so far, and we only got it in May. I think we'll be maintaining this for years to come.

14. The Steelers and Giants both won their first games of the season, and I was able to watch my game on Monday night without staying up later than usual.

15. I like Nadia's new haircut!

16. We've been together as a family for six days thus far. Paul has been with us at meals, etc. Oliver is still very clingy towards his Daddy and shows favoritism toward him which he never did before. I don't take it personally. I know it's just because of him not seeing Paul very much over the past four months.

17. Ian's soccer game was cancelled tonight which means he only missed one game and one practice. Oliver and Nadia both missed two games and two practices.

18. I'm very thankful we could go on this vacation. I am not sure if we will be able to afford any vacation next year, but we were able to afford one this year thanks to Paul's double income for four months and the fact that this vacation has cost us 50% less than our vacations in Florida cost us the past two years. Hopefully I will be able to get a job in the future (at least part-time) so we can continue to be able to afford to go on vacations.

19. I am very glad I am participating in the Bible study on Hosea even though the homework is taking a LONG time for me to complete. Hopefully I will have it done by Tuesday night.

20. I'm still very thankful for my camera. I treasure pictures of my kiddos. That honestly is the high point for me at an amusement park these days - taking a picture I really love.

21. Paul is very thankful the price of gas is dropping. We saw it as low as $1.99 a gallon today.