Ok, so the past couple days I took a short trip to Utah to get away from the stresses of life. It is nice to take a break from the hum drum of grownup life. This summer has been way too fast for my liking, but that is how it goes when it is your last taste of freedom. Tuesday morning, bright and early we took off for Lagoon. We being Amanda, Holly, and me.
Like all vacations we planned on leaving at 7:00AM (I planned on 7:30 knowing how I work haha) and we weren’t on the road till 7:45. But all was good because Lagoon didn’t officially open till 11. We drove partway and stopped at Denny’s for breakfast (a restaurant full of old people, but 100 times better than ours let me tell you). Twenty girls camps songs later we pulled into Farmington and made all the right turns to the park. The parking lot was empty for Lagoon standards so we had a promising day ahead of us. It was supposed to be in the low 90s too which is bonus. We sunscreened up, 70+ spf yay! And waited for Malissa to show up. It wasn’t long before we were in the park starting rides. We rode everything at least once (no rollercoasters for me, too scary O.o), played a few rounds of DDR (early in the afternoon because you can get sweaty gross playing that game … trust me), some relaxing stops for snacks and drinks, and off again chasing kids around. We had the perfect amount of adults and kids that no one had to be left out. My favorite ride this year was the OdySea. It is similar to the Dumbo ride in Disneyland where you can control if you go up or down but here they warn you that if you don’t go up you will get splashed. So we did the opposite we dove then it told us to go up and rose when it told us to go down. We got soaked it was blast on more ways than one. The dolphins on the side would spray water in your face, or the whale will sprinkle you in a gentle mist. Wonderful for the hot weather.
(These are pictures from the Lagoon website to show what it looks like. Malissa has all the pictures ^_^)
I got ice-cream, pretzels and cheese, soda, soda, and more soda. I bought a mug this year for $12 and was able to refill it all over the park for free. Good deal. The kids loved the mug. I filled it six times. We partied hard, with one casualty (Amanda got a little sun stroke), and left around 10PM. Right before they closed there was some light sprinkling, a blessing for me I LOVE the rain. We said out goodbyes and headed to the hotel. After a long night we were bright eyed and bushytailed and headed to Salt Lake City for some shopping. We hit The Gateway shopping district, I came out with only 2 books from Barns and Noble, good me and my strict spending habits (or my lack of money haha). I bought I’d Tell You I Love, but Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter and Night World Vol. 1 by L.J. Smith.
On our way home we decided to stop and get gas in a little town. It was eerie there. No one was outside. Amanda was craving some ice cream and after I drove around a bit we found a mom and pop shop. I think they lived there and just made their living room a store front. O.o. We ordered double scoops in a bowl and all together the price was the same as one scoop at Lagoon. A pleasant surprise for sure. It was a lot of ice cream too. We headed home and made it there by 7PM.
It was a nice break. Sad it was over too fast, but we already have plans for it again next year. Something I can look forward to!
My sister and her husband celebrated their wedding anniversary this week. Dinner, shopping, spending quality time together ... so what does this mean? Yup you guessed it, a babysitter! I was the lucky one to be chosen to spend time with their kids, who wouldn't love that? So around 5pm I clocked out at work and raced over to their house. And like most babysitting jobs, the parents didn't leave till close to 6pm (at least it was my sister and brother-in-law, I don't mind them being around :p).
There were tears shed at their parting, but nothing a 4 year nursery veteran can't handle. The second the car was out of sight the tears settled down and we got to eating. Pizza is a wonderful meal (or breadsticks if you're Emmy). We spent a good ten minutes working on filling our tummies before the games began. We raced around the house chasing each other (love the circle runway), stopped to dump out the kid's toy baskets, ran downstairs to catch the last part of Jungle Book II, went spider hunting in the computer room, and finally back upstairs for a short splash in the bath. Quickly after the bath we ate again (not in my ultimate plans but if they are hungry and the parents are away I say go for it). Once our tummies were full of pizza and apple juice we picked out our favorite stories, read them, said our nighttime prayers, and joined the other children in dreamland.
With all the fun we had there were some life lessons going on as well. I will list a few of the ones I picked up while there:
1. Pizza sauce can be spread all over your face (even up your nose O.o)
2. Chasing kids really doesn't tire them out
3. When a movie is on DO NOT get in a childs view (death to siblings that way)
4. When playing puppies it is considered rude to make your puppy walk down stairs
5. Ponies can never be clean enough, they always want to take baths
6. Buzz Lightyear can be a weapon (trust me)
7. Spiders make everyone shiver (except little boys who find it fun to poke them)
8. If it has a straw there will be fighting (even if there is only ice left)
9. Bath time is more fun if you get the person not intending to get wet, wet.
10. If what you are doing gets a gasp for a response do it again (i had wet hand prints all over me)
11. Catching freshly bathed kids is a slippery job
12. Trying to put diapers on them can result in a streaking chase
13. One story is NEVER enough (but its ok, I love princess stories ^_^)
14. Little boys require no convincing to go to bed (at least in my nephews case)
15. Little girls want to look at the stars all night (because her daddy put them there)
and finally
16. Kids are a blessing to everyone (but I suppose you already knew that :p)
Raise your hand if you like going to the dentist. What? No hands? Didn't think so. They poke, prod, hurt your mouth, and sadly we pay them for it. Every six months or so we get a little card in the mail, the front decorated in a calming picture or joke, the back written information on the doomed date. I remember being a child and seeing Snoopy on a postcard and feeling the dread trickle down my spine. Now ... I can't complain too much, I have only had a handful of cavities filled (4 maybe?) but that doesn't make me an exception to the fear of dentists.
I can hear you asking 'what is she rambling about?' or 'why start your blog talking about dentists?'. Let me explain.
Yesterday I had a dentist appointment. It was scheduled at 9am (on summer vacation that is considered way too early). I didn't get out of the house till around 9:10 haha they make us wait why can't I make them wait? The short drive there was filled with butterflies in my stomach and thoughts of 'what if I have a cavity? what if they tell me my teeth are all rotten? what if I really did crack my tooth on that jaw breaker last week.' And before you know it ... you arrive. My hygienist was waiting for me (as expected since I didn't walk into the building till 9:20) and I was escorted to room 7 promptly. She started right away getting the x-rays and asking how things were in my life. It makes me wonder if in our little charts they write things down to remember you. I mean they have a lot of customers, I have seen their wall of manila folders, so how do they remember I am going to ISU and will be graduated in the fall? Maybe they guess ... or they really do remember me. Who knows. Anyway, she notes from my paperwork I was in need of a full scan (the one where you stand and the thingy revolves around your head). So we walk down there, she sets me up and leaves me with the warning words "Stand still for 18 seconds or else." Ok, so she didn't add the last part. But she did sound serious.
As the x-ray machine rotated around me I had a strong desire to wiggle around just to see what it would look like. The little kid in me wanting to come out. After the x-ray we walked back to room 7 and she started the cleaning. I don't remember most of it but I do remember watching Good Morning America. Normally I don't watch tv, but it was on when I got there so I enjoyed a little morning news.
After the short cleaning she told me she would get the dentist to do the final check, handed me my little plastic bag of goodies, and left.
This is where karma kicks in. Remember what time I said I had arrived?
Anyway, the waiting began. But this time I got to wait with a green bib and Good Morning America, which turned into Regis and Kelly rather quickly.
I waited ...
And waitied ...
And waited ...
About 20 minutes later the dentist shows up all smiles ready with his cavity finding tool.
Let me rewind a bit in life.
About 2 years (3 dentist visits) ago I was told that between my two molars in the far back on the left side I had a soft spot. It wasn't a cavity ... yet. I still had a chance to turn it around. So when I got home i flossed everyday for about ... a week. Ha like I was going to keep that up. It took too long to floss really and when I was already 10 minutes late to my morning classes I couldn't spare the time. And when I got home at night it was so late. So I decided brushing would suffice.
(2 dentist visits ago) I heard again I had a soft spot, this time from both my hygienist and my dentist. I believed them, I could feel the twinge (I'm sure it was just me making things up. I usually didn't feel it unless I was thinking about it, or the dentist). So I decided to turn it around, I would floss every day and brush twice a day. And I did ... for about three weeks. Again I laughed and thought 'it takes too long' and moved on with life.
(1 dentist visit ago) I wasn't reminded about the soft spot. But I knew it was still there. The dentist clicked his tongue and shook his head, probably thinking 'silly girl why don't you fix this?' Still I went on my merry way.
This is where I formed my plan.
Around my second dentist visit I was booted off my dads insurance. Meaning from that point forward I was required to pay for my own dental visits. Which made me wonder about that little soft spot, but like all things that bother me I promptly forgot about it. That is until I was added back on his insurance due to some wonderful person out there who believes college students really are poor. Now being back on his insurance, and having a soft spot I tried to think of the only reasonable thing to do. I wanted that cavity to grow. I wanted to to get big so he had to fill it, I mean come on ... I have one just like it on the opposite side, so if it was filled my mouth would be symmetrical again, and I wouldn't have to worry about it turning into a cavity because it would no longer be a problem. Good plan. So after this last visit I didn't bother flossing, because I wanted it to turn into a cavity.
Now lets get back to the story.
The doctor is poking around looking for cavities, leaving the soft spot for last. I waited patiently listening to Regis butcher his own quote. When he finally got around to the left side he only poked it once and turned around to look at the x-rays.
I want to know if it is just me ... do dentists not like you looking at your x-rays? Every time I glanced over he would put himself between me and the screen. Very annoying. I want to see too. Even if I don't understand anything on it.
So after a failed attempt at looking at them I went back to my tv show and waited for the bad news of a cavity.
Here went out conversation:
Dentist: Well Ashley ... your teeth look good.
Me: Really?
Dentist: Yeah, except ... (here i waited for those four little words) there is a soft spot.
Me (thinking): WHY HAVEN'T YOU TURNED INTO A CAVITY! ITS BEEN TWO YEARS!
Dentist: It looks like it has spread to your other tooth and there might be a small cavity but it hasn't eaten through your enamel so you can still turn it around. I want you to buy ACT Restoring Mouthwash. If you do this and floss everyday you can turn that right around.
Me (defeated): Ok. Thanks.
Four dentist visits with the same soft spot. I have since changed my views on it. I ran out and bought the mouthwash, I floss, and I brush twice a day. We will see how that changes things.
But knowing my luck this will cause the cavity to grow and I will have wasted those precious minutes flossing. Oh well, life goes on right? At least I can say I fought a good fight this time.
Vida, Vini, Vici
