GO!

It all started this morning with a bit of misinformation.  On their website the YMCA announced that their water-park opened this Saturday.  As you can imagine this has been a date that the Wagner Z's have been frothing at the mouth to come.  While at child watch today (where, as I predicted when he demanded to put them on this morning, Zane pooped in his underwear; potty training is not coming easy to that one) we saw an ad flash on their big screen television that the Y water-park opened on Friday, May 29th.  This was confirmed by the front desk staffer that it did indeed open at 4pm.

Now this information was parenting gold.  Like finding the golden ticket in the last Wonka Bar we could muster up enough change for.  "Get in your seat or we won't got to the pool", "stop screaming or we won't go to the pool", "Zoe and Zack are listening well, so they get to go to the pool, Zane stays here", "the pool won't open unless you take a nap"; we got our money's worth out of this one.

Small problem (and if you are a detailed person you may have already picked up on this).  As Zoe and Zane sleep in their beds with visions of waterfalls and duck slides in their minds, their mother decided to confirm that indeed the pool did open today.  It did not.  The ad read Friday, May 29th.  May 29th is a Saturday.  No pool today.  Problem.

Zach was really disappointed.  We had to come up with something.  Earlier in the day we stopped in a video game store and Zach got really excited by the new Mario game, Mario Galaxy 2.  So Julie and I devised a way that he could use his savings ($24) dollars and some trade-ins to get close enough that Julie and felt comfortable making up the difference.  This did the trick.

When Zoe and Zane woke up and we told them the news that the pool was not open.  They took the news surprisingly well.  We piled in the car and head off to get Zach's video game.  We were about a quarter of a mile away from the house when the first drop hit the window.  Then another drop and another and by the time we traveled the mile and a half to the video game store the weather looked like something you see some poor, brave soul from the Weather Channel reporting from in the heart of hurricane season.

I dropped Julie and the kids off under cover that allowed them to walk to the store without getting wet.  I went to search for a parking spot in one of the most ill-conceived parking lots in America, too few spaces, blind spots and spaces that were seemingly built for the 1994 Mazda Miata.  By the time I found a spot the rain somehow was coming down even harder.

I took a deep breath, opened the door, hit the lock and started my daunting trip across the parking lot.  Despite dodging cars and cursing my decision to wear flip flops, I made it to the door and made my way to the counter where Julie and the kids were working out the details of the trade-ins.

Julie caught me up to speed with where they were in the process while keeping an eye on Zoe and Zane.  Then she looked at me and did a sort of double take.  She looked at me with a very puzzled and ever increasing concerned look and asked, "Where is Zadie."  I peered back, puzzled at first, but with growing recollection that Julie had the 3 older Z's and I was responsible for our youngest.  That's right, I left Zadie in the car.  I felt the need to reflect on the fact that I forgot that one of our kids was left in the car alone and what that represents for our life, but Julie's response of "GO!" led me to the conclusion that I should probably make haste in returning to check the status of our stranded infant.

Zadie, of course, was fine with the whole ordeal.  There was silence when I entered the car and when I peaked back over the seat, she gave me the biggest smile.  When I smiled back and told her, "Zadie, I left you in the car", and by the way she laughed and kicked her feet I think she thought it was all pretty funny.

Maybe all those random strangers I meet are right ... maybe I do have my hands full (well I guess the problem tonight was that I didn't have my hands full enough). (Hands Full?)

Apple Juice and Revenge... Two dishes best served cold

Zane has on two occasions (that we know about) pushed Zoe off of the bunk bed ladder backwards into the dresser below. The first being a few months ago, the second being this morning. The first was dealt with swiftly and firmly. The second was dealt with, but I can only assume, not to Zoe's satisfaction. Tonight, she tried to take matters into her own hands.

Zane was giving me a problem getting into bed (what else is new).  His choice of stalling tonight was climbing to the top bunk to be with Zach.  After three times of going up to pull him down, I threatened him with a spanking (that I really did not want to give).  I walked out of the room, but did not go down the stairs, I sat at the top.  What I heard was very funny, but also a bit disturbing.

Zoe immediately started telling Zane to "go up there".  After prodding him a few times, she escalated the prompting.  "Zach ... Zane come up there?"  No answer from Zach.  She asked a few more times and finally Zach says, "Zoe, it's not my decision.  Daddy said no."  At this point, and I am not exactly sure why, Zane began to cry, saying "Zoe, you make me cry."  Zoe's response to this, "Zane, Daddy not say no.  Daddy say yes. Go. Go."

This is when Zane got really upset.  Again, I don't know why, but I have a theory. First, Zane really, really wanted to be on the top bunk.  When Zane is tired he can get almost belligerently defiant.  Second, Zoe was pushing hard for him to go.  Third, he knew that if he was to go, it would most likely end with a spanking.  He was probably having a 'devil/angel on his shoulder confrontation' moment with himself about whether to go to the top bunk.  He also had the little 'devil princess' in his ear urging him to climb the ladder.  But he really did not want the punishment for the crime, so he could do nothing else but cry and blame the devils in his ear.

This is when I stepped in.  I moved over in front of their doorway, called Zane over to give him a hug and sent him back to bed.  Then I summoned for Princess Zoe, who skipped over smiling and proceeded to plop herself down into my lap.  I turned her around and had her sit in front of me.  Here is how the interaction unfolded:

Me:  Zoe, why were you trying to get Zane to go on the top bunk?
Zoe:  I don't know. (eyes to the floor)

Me:  Did you know that he would get in trouble if he went on the top bunk?

Zoe:  Yes

Me:  What was going to happen to him?

Zoe:  (No words, but she leaned to the side and swatted her behind)

Me:  Did you want Zane to get a spanking?

Zoe:  Yes.

Me:  Why.

Zoe:  Zane push me off the ladder.

Me:  When?

Zoe:  Earlier.

Me:  This morning?

Zoe:  Yes.

Me:  We dealt with that this morning.  Did you tell Zane that I said it was OK for him to go on the top bunk?

Zoe:  Well, Zane push me off the ladder.

Me:  Did you tell Zane that I said it was OK for him to go on the top bunk?

Zoe:  Yes.

Me:  That was a lie.

Zoe:  Zane push me off the ladder.

Me:  Lying is bad.  That was not nice

Zoe:  But Zane push me off ladder.

This is when I ended the interrogation and told her to get into bed.  I could see that I was not going to get much from the broken Zoe record.  And of course on the way to bed she stopped at the ladder and then the dresser telling me, "Zane push me and I fall into this."

So, if my analysis of Zane's crying is accurate, he is capable of feeling anguish over a decision of right and wrong. And Zoe is capable of concocting a plan of revenge against her brother and showing little to no remorse for doing so. These are two levels of reasoning that I did not know existed in my almost 3 year olds.  If this what they are capable at nearly 3, I am not sure I am ready for the teen years.  But, ready or not ...

Friday, concluded.

2:30 PM:  Leave for Old Navy

The plan - Drop Julie at Old Navy at Concord Mills.  We would wait in the car while she made the returns, then head over to Lowe's for mulch and flowers.  Head home and work in the yard for a little bit.  Simple.

It has been my experience that "Simple", is not, and "Quick" is a word slipping from the Wagner vocabulary.

2:45 PM:  Arrive at Old Navy, let Julie off.

Zoe and Zane wanted a drink.  Not usually a demand that would warrant an immediate response from us on a "quick" car trip, but it had been since somewhere in Carowinds that they had a drink.  They were due some nourishment.    I ran over to Burger King and got a couple of juice boxes and waters.  On the way back over to Old Navy, Zoe proclaimed, "I have to go pee-pee."  Zoe is potty training and with 3 kids in diapers, it is something that we are strongly encouraging.  So ... stroller out, Zadie out, Zane out, Zoe out, Zack out ... us in ... to Old Navy we go.

Old Navy was having a sale ... 30% off everything!  I realized it might be few minutes (hours) before we saw Julie again.  I was glad that we came in.  When we invade a store, it can be quite a scene.  And I am becoming one of "those" parents.  You know the ones that I am talking about.  You see them at the mall, at Chick-Fil-A, at church.  They seemingly have no control over their hootin' and hollering kids who are all over the place wreaking havoc and causing a big ruckus.

Then there are the collection of singles and parents of only children with looks of disdain and disgust that "those parents" refuse to control their children.  And further more, "if they couldn't control their children, why did they have so many?"

Believe me, I know, I used to be one of you.  I can assure you, it is an organized chaos and it is working for us.  Now I realize that it is a feat of sanity to let your kids run a little crazy, when there are so many. Anyway, I guarantee that my kids are having more fun than those kids that are tethered to their parents hip and really isn't that what matters.

But I digress.

3:45 PM:  Leave Old Navy - decide to see if we can find some work shoes for Julie

We started at the Sketcher store.  Couldn't find the right shoes in the right size.  Head over to The Shoe Dept.  Julie found some things she liked, but was having a tough time making decision.  The Shoe Dept., in their infinite wisdom, are trying to make a little profit by selling various type of balls, that reside in a bin in the center of the store.  I can tell you they might be rethinking that method at the Concord Mills location right now.  Zack thought it looked a lot like a basketball hoop and was seeing how far from the "hoop" he could be to make a shot.  He missed more than he made, so on top of having him running a jumping all over the store, you also had various types of balls bouncing this way and that.  Zane enjoyed basketball also, but him and Zack also had a side game of take-away going on.  So, Zane was running near Zack, Zack would try to take the ball, Zane would run away screaming.  Good family fun.

The kicker is, after about a half hour of this, we left the store, only purchasing about a dollars worth of caramel candies, after all, it was snack time.  Though the employees smiled as we left, I have a feeling we were talked about when we were gone.  

Back to the Sketcher store.  Turns out, that they will order shoes for you and send them directly to your house for no charge.  The shoes just have to be at another store and that was going to take some checking on the part of a store clerk.  

Did I mention that we bought some caramel candies?  They kids were now past the "wound up" phase and entering "crazy phase".  Before I could process what was happening, Zoe, Zane and Zack were running as fast they could, circling the store, playing tag, screaming in delight the entire time.  The Sketcher store has shelves and aisles that are about 4 feet tall and a few feet wide respectively, throughout the store.  This means it's like a maze and two of our children could not be seen (only heard!), unless they were in the same aisle.  As you can imagine, it took a few minutes to curtail the game.

Where's Zane?  Could not find him.  Looked all through the store, no sign of him.  Walked out into the mall.  There he was.  About fifty yards away, heading toward a "Deal or No Deal" video game.  I caught up to him, just before he got there.  Picked him up and brought him back to the store.  I looked away for a second and he was gone again.  This time he decided to run to the video game.  He made it before I could catch him and he thought that was hilarious.

Time to move them.

4:30 PM:  Take kids to Nascar Speedpark (an arcade, go-kart, mini-golf place)

I figured if they are running crazy anyway, why not take them to an appropriate place to do so.  We had been there for a little bit, when Zoe came up to me, crying, saying "me go pee-pee".  Notice that was not, "I have to go pee-pee."  I looked behind her and saw the trail running across the carpet that led to the conspicuous dark spot next to a flashing token game machine.  The kicker to this was that since we were just coming in for a "quick trip" (2 hours ago), I did not have the diaper bag.  No change of clothes, no panties, no diaper.  Luckily, my quick thinking bride remembers the tutu we had just bought for her at Old Navy.  And luckily the tutu came equipped with bloomers to act as underwear.  I even found an extra trash bag in the bathroom to put the wet clothes in.

To end the night we decided that it would be fun to ride some go-karts.  We needed to get some food first and surprisingly, there is nothing to report from dinner, except for the fact that Zadie is really craving some solid food at this point.

We head back to Nascar Speedpark and quite a line has formed for tickets to the attractions.  Lines?  Lines are not something we do well ... so we decide to split up.  Zach gets Zane.  Julie has the girls and I wait in line for tickets.  Now I am in line for 5, maybe ten minutes, when Julie comes up to me to check my progress.  A moment later I ask her if she has seen the boys and before she could answer I saw one of the funniest sites I have ever had the pleasure of seeing.  (There is no way I will be able to do the description justice, but here goes).  From somewhere in the rear of the arcade, I see Zane running as fast as he can, barefoot and red faced from laughing so hard, trailed by a determined Zach with Zane's shoes in his outstretched arms, trying to keep up with his little brother.  They came from behind a bank of skeeball machines and disappeared behind the front retail counter.  Turns out that Zane had been trying to lose Zachary for a few minutes and finally came up with the bright idea to take his shoes off and throw them in the opposite direction of where he was going to run. When Zach went to retrieve them, he took off.

Well, I finally got the tickets.  We rode some go-karts and then headed home.  We finally made it home at 8:53PM, over twelve hours from when we had left home.  We were totally exhausted, but made some great memories.  

Mother

While a seemingly simple word, with a simple definition, it can carry a multitude of meanings for the definer.  Ancestor, child-bearer, creator, forebearer, mom, mommy, origin, parent, predecessor, procreator, progenitor, source.  These are the synonyms that Thesaurus.com provides, but this is a little clinical for my taste.  Here is something I ran across on the internet while researching for this post:

What Is a Mother? A mother is someone to shelter and guide us, To love us, whatever we do, With a warm understanding and infinite patience, And wonderful gentleness, too. How often a mother means swift reassurance In soothing our small, childish fears, How tenderly mothers watch over their children And treasure them all through the years! The heart of a mother is full of forgiveness For any mistake, big or small, And generous always in helping her family Whose needs she has placed above all. A mother can utter a word of compassion And make all our cares fall away, She can brighten a home with the sound of her laughter And make life delightful and gay. A mother possesses incredible wisdom And wonderful insight and skill - In each human heart is that one special corner Which only a mother can fill! - Katherine Nelson Davis

Is this your definition?  

I have had two mothers.  The first, Nancy, gave birth to me, then seven years, ten months and ten days later committed suicide.  She was depressed for years.  She took medication, was hospitalized a few times and even went as far as trying electro-shock therapy to try and turn it around, but to no avail.  As you can probably imagine, I have moved through a number of stages of feelings after her death.  As I did, the definition of mother changed with the waves of emotion.  Its definition ranged from, mommy, confusion, betrayer, quitter, nobody, Dad, pitiful, troubled soul, ancestor, a piece of each of my children (for good or for bad).  

The second, Maria, came to me through marriage to my father when I was ten years and eight days old.  She was my Dad's high school sweetheart.  Now this transition was not easy for me.  I was not a fan of Maria at first, but would any kid really be in favor of someone taking their fathers attention away from them.  Turned out she was a pretty nice lady.  She never once treated me as a step child.  Never tried to push me away.  She loves me as though I was with her from the womb.  She and my father worked to make sure I had every opportunity and were checked in enough to notice when I was skewing from the straight and narrow.  She went to my games.  She saw me graduate high school and college.  She was at my wedding.  She is a wonderful grandmother to my children.  And she has taught me what it means to be generous and giving.  She has altered my definition of Mother; provider, caretaker, giver, protector, parent, Mom.

There is another mother that I know that is constantly altering my definition of what a being a mother can mean.  Julie (my wife) is a wonderful mother.  How do you want your kids to turn out?  Smart, talented, successful, etc.  Those things can be important, but what are the core traits we want our kids to portray?  Respect, caring, empathy, politeness, a servants heart.  This is at the core of Julie's heart.

Julie has a saying, "a hill to die on."  This has to with picking your battles with the kids.  You can bend or break on the small issues; snacks, bedtime, clothing, television time, etc.  But when it comes to character issues like mentioned before, those are battles worth fighting or "hills worth dying on".  Even though Julie and I are on the same page when it comes to character issues, I am amazed at the level of grace that she disciplines with.  I tend to react swiftly and strongly when it comes to discipline.  Julie reacts swiftly, but with an iron fist covered with a velvet glove.  They know she is serious, understands the severity, but are spared the tears and agony that a round with Dad may invoke.  I stand in awe.

But of course it is not just about discipline.  Julie walks the walk.  She truly cares for people and shares with people a level of empathy that simply confounds my mind.  She truly feels what others are feeling, understands and relates to others situations.  What a lesson our children are learning by being able to observe a person that is so in tune with people.

Julie has brought true faith into our house.  She is a constant teacher, finding the time and patience to make sure their questions do not go unanswered and are understood.  She works with the children to say please and thank you.  Demands they respect their parents, siblings, friends and strangers.  She has taught them how to care for one another.  How to be friends.  

She has shown me what it is to have a true friend.  Someone to share life with.  She has moved the meter on my definition of mother; gentle, patient, soothing, forgiving, compassionate, caring, friendly, respectful.  

And that is just the beginning.  Not a month goes by that I don't find a new word to add to the ever changing definition.  

What is your definition?  What would others definition of you be?  This doesn't just apply for mothers, but for all of us.  I have seen that definitions are ever moving and nothing, not even death can stop the fluidity of meaning.  

Finally ... how are you defining the world?  More importantly ... how do you want to define the world?  What will your children blog about you 23 years, 7 months and 17 days after you are gone?

Friday, cont'd

12:05 PM:  Lunch

Rather uneventful dining experience ... for us.

First off, Zadie is so ready for solid foods.  We have been giving her some rice cereal, but to watch her while we eat makes you feel a little sad for the girl.  She will watch the plate come to the table.  She fixates her gaze on the plate, only breaking the stare to watch expectantly as each bite of food is taken by the plate’s owner, wondering when one of the bites might head her way.  I am proud to announce that she now is the proud owner a variety of strained vegetables for her dining pleasure.

At one point during the buffet experience, Julie went to the buffet alone.  Doing something alone is not something that is usually well received in our family.  It was fine for a moment, but before I could realize it, Zane had dropped below the table and escaped past the high chair blocking the end of the booth.  Where Zane goes, typically Zoe follows, so she was down and gone now too.  I jumped up to grab them, but only got a hold of Zane before I heard the clank of silverware hitting the floor.  Zadie had reached a napkin that had a set of silverware on top, pulled it to her and was gnawing on the napkin as I returned to the table with Zane.  Zoe had successfully escaped.

As told by Julie, "I had my plate full of delicious meatballs, ready to race back to the table, as I am always in a race to eat before someone melts down.  And, in typical Julie fashion I didn't look where I was going, bumped into the bar and lost half my meatballs on the ground.  I saw a worker and started telling her that I made a mess and I was sorry.  I was interrupted by another worker saying with a panicked demeanor, "don't worry about that, is this your daughter?"  I quickly and with a dismissive tone replied 'No'.  But on further inspection, actually taking the time to look down replied rather sheepishly, "actually it is".  Then I turned around got more meatballs and went back to the table with Zoe in tow.

1:15PM:  Leave in the direction of home.  

Now, one thing that I left out was that on the way out of the park, Julie and I played through the charade for Zack's benefit, which we would possibly return after lunch.  We even had everyone get stamped for return.  Sometime during lunch, I broke it to him that we would not be returning to Carowinds today, but that we would come back again soon.  There was a little disappointment, but he took it fairly well.  A back story; Zack made up a song that he sings to Zadie when she is upset, "It's OK, It's alright, you will feel better in a minute."  It continues like that for a few verses, then it changes to, "It's OK, It's alright, you feel better, because a minute is over." (He is very literal)  Well yesterday, as we were leaving the restaurant, it was changed to, “It’s ok, it’s alright, we'll return to Carowinds in a minute."  I don't remember the exact words, but as he continued, it was pretty obvious the song was aimed at Julie and I, and it did not have the best of intentions.  We had a short talk on gratefulness.  It should have been longer, but I am getting ahead of myself. 

1:45 PM: Target stop (of course)

Diapers, baby food, paper towels, and chap stick/lip stick for Zoe (this is to stop her habit of using the sunscreen stick on her lips).  I went in by myself and it is amazing how fast I can move through that store without the brood in tow.  

2:15PM:  Pull into driveway

Old Navy was having a 30% off everything sale this weekend and we had just purchased some things there a few nights ago.  They said they would adjust our purchase for the sale and of course a few of the things had to be returned.  Julie was going to go alone but I suggested, in my infinite wisdom, that we should all go.  I would drop her at Old Navy and then we would run across the street to Lowe's and get the mulch to finish a landscaping project.  

Turns out, it wasn't quite that simple and the day was only just beginning ... 

Friday

Friday is a good word around our house.  Since Julie works weekends at the church, her primary day off is Friday.

Our Friday really started on Thursday night during a Dad and Zack flip-off on the trampoline.  This is where we make little bets; like first one to fall has to get the other persons' drinks for a week.  Well last night I told Zack that if he beats me at the flip-off that we would go to Carowinds on Friday. (Carowinds is an amusement park here in Charlotte that we got a great deal on seasons passes for)  Well he "beat" me. (He often does, but tonight I made sure that he did because Julie and I had earlier in the night decided to take them all to Carowinds regardless)  He was ecstatic and Julie and I had good bargaining power for the kids to get their baths and get into bed quickly, so they could be rested for the amusement park.

Friday, April 30, 8:34am: We left the house for Carowinds.

When we arrived at the park, we split up.  Zack wanted to try some of the larger roller coasters, while of course Zoe and Zane needed the smaller.  I took Zack first to a wooden coaster called "The Hurler".  Now to this point the largest coaster Zack had ever ridden was the "Woodstock Express", a wooden coaster in the children's area.  After the first drop on "The Hurler", Zack was a bit humbled by his roller coaster prowess.  He walked into the park ready to take on the biggest and fastest roller coaters they had and was now seemingly searching our map for the entrance to the kiddie park.  

Zach is big for his age, both in size and in aptitude, and it is easy to forget that he is only 7 and still a "little boy".  

After the initial shock wore off, I did convince him to ride the "Carolina Cyclone", a loop coaster, with me and he seemed to like that one better.  

Meanwhile, on the other side of the park, Julie was having quite a time with the twins.  Now, of course this is not a first hand account, so I will relay it as it was told to me.

First stop, the "Carolina Skytower", no problems.

Next stop "Charlie Brown's Wind-Up" (a kiddie swing ride).  Zane hopped right on, no problem.  Zoe cried.  Julie convinced Zoe to get on the ride.  Zane screemed.  Zane got off.  Zoe rode it ... wasn't thrilled.

"Character Carousel".  What kid doesn't love a good Carousel?  Evidentially, mine.  They waited in line once.  Got to the front.  Decided it wasn't for them.  Then they decided that they did indeed want to ride.  Waited in line again.  Zane climbed on his horse.  Zoe did not want to be on the horse next to Zane's because it was not "pink".  Ride started.  Too late for Zoe to get on a horse.  Zane loved it.  Zoe pouted.

"Snoopy vs. The Red Baron". (airplanes that go in a circle and move up and down about 5 feet) Both Zoe and Zane were in place, ready for the ride to start.  Both cried and screamed and were removed before the ride began.

"Snoopy's Space Race" (rocket ships that go in a circle and move up and down about 5 feet) Their experience? See "Snoopy vs. The Red Baron" above ... except TWICE.

This is when I received the text message "PLEASE CALL" followed by a phone call from Julie asking where Zack and I were.  We were not too far away and we started to head their way.

We found them near the "Space Race".  Zack wanted to ride "Woodstock Express", Zane wanted to ride the "race cars", and Zoe wanted to ride "the balloons".  We set the plan (aka brokered the deal to avoid the most whining and pouting), "Woodstock", balloons, then race cars.  Julie and Zack went to ride "Woodstock Express" while I kept the others.  While we were waiting, Zoe and Zane were watching the Carousel go around and at one point, Zane decided he was ready to ride the Carousel again.  He just walked away, me yelling for him to comeback, him, completely ignoring me.  So ... I did the first thing that came to mind, I left Zoe in charge of Zadie and ran to retrieve Zane ... vowing never to tell Julie that was what I did (whoops, I wonder if she reads this).

Everyone being corralled, Julie and Zack came off of the ride and we headed over to the "balloons" or "Flying Ace Balloon Race".  Now last time we were at the park,  I rode with Zoe, Zane and Zack.  Zack and Zoe loved it, Zane not so much.  This time Julie was going, with just Zoe and Zack.  At the last minute though Zane decided to go too.  I rolled over with Zadie and found a spot in the shade.  She was being awfully cute:

As I was snapping a few pictures of our cute little baby.  I heard "Stop, Stop the ride, Stop".  This was coming from my beautiful bride.  First thought, someone was hurt ... nope.  Someone threw up ... nope.  Someone is flipping out ... almost.  Two kids are flipping out ... Bingo.  The ride was stopped, Julie, Zoe and Zane came off.  Zack got a balloon all to himself.

Now, Julie has a lot more patience than I do.  She has a way of diffusing tense situations with the kids where I sometimes tend to exacerbate them.  Suffice it to say, it takes a good bit for the kids to get Julie riled up.  They succeeded today.  Zoe and Zane gave her such a fit about who was sitting where in the balloon, they ended up sitting on one side of the balloon, alone, with Zack and Julie across from them.  When the ride started and they were scared, they had no one to comfort them. Julie being totally over the situation, and who could blame her, couldn't handle being in the balloon with them anymore and had the ride stopped.

Well with the balloon ride, added to the swings, the Carousel, the planes and rocket ship, Julie had reached her tipping point.  And to add to the frustration, as Julie is talking to me about the events that transpired before Zack and I arrived, attempting to shed some light on her current state of being, Zane found what looked like a severed piece of sprinkler line and was beating it about a tree, narrowly missing the heads of the people sitting around the tree.  

After this we went to the race cars ... closed.  To the boats, the slowest and most boring ride in the entire park.  And of course Julie or I must ride with them because Zoe and Zane are not tall enough.  Then to the helicopters, which sounds cool, but it is only second to the boats for the slowest ride in the park and again must be ridden by either Julie or I.

12:05 PM, LUNCHTIME.

After experiencing the "quality" burgers last time at Carowinds, and with the line for the in-park Chick-fil-a looking a bit treacherous.  Julie and I used this as our time to escape the park and head to a nice little pizza buffet (not CiCi's) that is right out by the entrance to the park.

I'll pick up "Friday" here tomorrow ... or later today ... would you look at the time.