Old Tucson

I returned from Chicago on Saturday night. The place basically looked like hurricane had come through it, but everyone was well. Henry and Miss R were asleep.

On Friday, the kids (minus Baby A) went to my parents' house after school. And on Saturday, my dad picked up the kids after their nap and took him to their place so that Jeff could get some reprieve from the toddlers.

On Sunday, Henry announced that he wanted to watch SpongeBob's Halloween. He was told no. We don't watch TV in the morning. He believes that if he makes a demand enough times, one of us will eventually give in. I'm the weak link, but I stayed strong today against Henry's persuasive power. A part of our conversation went as follows:

HENRY: I want to watch SpongeBob's Halloween.
KATE: Henry, I've already told you no. My answer is no.
HENRY: Your answer is yes. The answer is yes. The answer is not no. The answer is yes.

I was impressed with his use of the double negative, but still didn't give in.

We decided to take the kids to Old Tucson. We hadn't been there since we went with our friend Kelly in 2006. The kids had never been there before. We had a good time. As we pulled into the parking lot, Henry noticed a film camera that had two circles at its top that made it look like the Mickey Mouse symbol.

Our first stop was a can can show. We bought the kids popcorn and a strawberry slushie. Miss R loved the show but was shy around the actresses. During the show, one of the can can girls sang a song and sang part of it to Henry. She thought he was adorable. He enjoyed the attention. He said hello to the cast after the show.

I took Henry and Miss R on a walking tour of a "haunted iron mine." The leader of the tour warned me that it was scary. I was confident that the kids could handle it. Miss R was held throughout the tour. Henry walked on his own. It was significantly scarier than the haunted house at the spring fling, but Henry liked it well enough to go on it again with Jeff after lunch.

After our first visit to the iron mine, we went on the antique cars. Jeff took the kids first, and then I did. Although we made it to the stunt show before 12:30, they'd roped it off so that we and several other people couldn't make our way to the stands. So we used the opportunity to take the kids to the bathroom in shifts. While outside one building, Henry struck up a conversation with a cowboy. The cowboy said to me, "He's certainly not shy. A lot of kids are." Henry told the cowboy that he (Henry) was Buzz Lightyear. That's our Henry. He's no wall flower.

We visited the jail on the way to the gold panning area. Henry liked the jail cell but wouldn't go in it. He was happy to close me behind bars, however, which sent Miss R into a tizzy. I think that she thought that I was literally being locked in a cage, which she found upsetting. We then headed to the panning for gold area. That didn't go as planned. Henry kept trying to drink the water that held the sand and gold. The kids couldn't tell the gold flakes from the rocks. But we panned for a couple minutes before having some lunch.

After lunch, Jeff took Henry on the haunted iron mine tour again. The tour guide remembered Henry and said that many kids bigger than Henry get scared on it. After that, the kids went on the carousel. Miss R went on it three times, and Henry went on it twice. Then, we went on a train around the park. It was almost 3PM by that point, so it was time to head home. We decided to trade up our daily tickets for annual passes. The sign at the front desk said that ticket purchases could be applied toward annual passes. This proved incredibly complicated for the staff who couldn't figure it out. After a half hour of waiting and then nearly being overcharged, I got testy with the cashier who was supposedly the "experienced" one of the lot. She said, "Well, I need time to think about this or I'll have to get my supervisor." I said, "It's been a half hour, my husband and kids are waiting in the car, this isn't a complicated transaction, get the manager if you have but do it now because I'm not waiting any longer." Argh.

Baby A was screaming when I got to the car. She settled down once the car was in motion. Henry and Miss R were sacked out.

The kids took a nap when we got home. Jeff and I ordered 2012 on pay per view. It was a good day.

After dinner, Henry got to watch Aladdin, so he was very happy. Miss R had fun ruffling Henry's hair like I usually do. Henry got annoyed after awhile when it inferred with watching the TV.

That's all from here. Hoping for an uneventful week.