The Beeston Family

Amazing Jake's

It's still Fall Break, and William was post-call that day, so we decided to get out of the house and let him sleep quietly. The kids love Jake's. The laser tag is fun, the bowling is a blast, the rides are cool, but the arcade games are the best.We get the pass that lets them play the majority of the games as much as they want without earning tickets. The prizes are dumb anyways, and the games can get really expensive. William woke up late afternoon to join us, and he and the kids basically took over the Pac-man game for a really long time. And by the way, Alexis doesn't scare easily. She and William played a game of Jurassic Park and she didn't even flinch at the dinosaurs. Once again, we spent all day there, and the kids didn't even want to leave, but Alexis had only taken a 20 minute nap in my arms and it was already way past everyone's bedtime.

The Children's Museum

I wish the Children's Museum was cheaper! We only go once or twice a year because of how expensive it is. But the kids really do love it. They could spend hours in each room. I'm actually wondering how much longer the boys will enjoy it, because it involves a lot of role-play. From the climbing structure to the grocery store to the kitchen to the craft room and everything in between. This time they even had a special activity that we could purchase. I figured we'd give it a try since we don't come that often. I think they called it "The Mess" or something like that. I tried booking it early, but we ended up only being able to do it later, which actually turned out great because the kids got messy. Real messy! They got covered in paint and slime, from their toes (shoes off!) to the top of their head. The last picture is how they felt by the end of the day. Needless to say, they jumped straight into the shower after we got home.

The Big Bounce Experience

The Big Bounce Experience was fun! Honestly, I'm surprised it wasn't packed with a million people. We basically just let the older kids run wild in the bouncing castle, and William, Alexis, and I stayed in the little kid area, watching Alexis lose herself in the ballpit and going down the slide over and over again for nearly 90 minutes. She probably had the most fun because she giggled the whole time.

Schnepf's Farms with the cousins

Schnepf's Farms has become a Beeston tradition year after year. Some years, the heat is unbearable, and others are okay. We were lucky this year; the heat was tolerable. We met the Beeston cousins there and did everything the Farm had to offer... except the maze. The kids get too crazy around each other and we didn't want to lose someone. The zip lines were a huge hit and we spent a good amount of time watching the kids zip down over and over again. They all climbed up the rock climbing wall, and I think it wore them out, because they were all totally okay with going back home after that. Even Alexis hung in there and didn't nap the whole time we were there (she didn't want to miss out on all the fun). Schnepf's Farms in somewhere at the top of my Fall bucket list, for sure.

Camping in Flagstaff

William can't stay put very long. The day we got back from San Diego, he was itching to go somewhere else again. We settled on Flagstaff, because it isn't too far, the kids like camping, and we figured the weather would still be nice... but we didn't check the forecast... No surprise that we could rent out a teepee by just showing up. Nobody wanted them. It would rain for the next 2 days. In case you were wondering, they're not entirely waterproof. We had to be very careful about where we put our shoes, clothes, and electronics. William, Alexis, and I were lucky to sleep on the bottom bunker. The rest of the kids did get a little wet. Not that it kept them from sleeping. And with the winter sleeping bags that William got us, we actually got toasty.

But anyways... So the first day, we let the kids jump on the giant bag, then we went on a hike. When we got back to camp, we cooked up some food in the firepit. It was a good first day.

The next day, though, it rained all day! It had started in the night and didn't stop until the morning of the following day. Yeah, that's more that 24 hours. We were lucky it didn't flood. So we had breakfast at the camp, then we stayed in the teepee for a while, playing UNO. But even that game can get old, so we went to a hole-in-the-ground for lunch, and it was actually really good. We then decided to go on a hike, even though it was pouring. The kids didn't even complain, which shocked me. Upon arrival to the almost 3-mile hike, Alexis looked nervous and said, "Tigers". We reassured her that there were no tigers on this hike, to which she replied, "Tigers sleeping?". It cracked us up, and months later, it's still a funny joke we tell people. Alexis did awesome on the hike. She probably walked at least half of the way. The rest of the time, William and I held her. Good thing she's little and light. That night we went out to eat Italian at a restaurant that was featured on the Food Channel. Considering how small Flagstaff is, it's a pretty big deal. And they definitely lived up to their reputation. I was stuffed at the end of the night. It helped me get a good night sleep, even though it was still raining.

The next day, we were due to come back home... and that's when the rain decided to stop and the sun decided to come out. William and the kids had breakfast while I packed up almost everything, and William told me a few people walked up to him to tell him how well-behaved the kids were. Ha. That made me laugh a little.

Honestly, I kind of have a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to camping. It has the potential of creating amazing memories for our family, but the last time we went, it was freezing (like, actually freezing), and this time it rained 90% of the time. Eh... I guess it didn't suck. It could have been worse if we had decided to use our tents. That would have really sucked.