Macie's trip to Mimi's

I had to go back to school on Wednesday, August 12, but I had off on Friday the 14th. SO I decided that it was a perfect opportunity to head back to Mimi's house! And since she still wasn't feeling great, I decided to only take one kiddo with me again. Macie was excited that it was her turn!
Brenna asked her Aunt Kim if she could spend the weekend with her, and was so excited when Aunt Kim said yes! They spent the weekend taking Kyson to school in Lubbock. Brenna was excited to get to go with them to drop him off, and I was glad she got to go and do something by herself. It was a real treat for her! I wish I had pictures to share. :(
Macie was super excited to be on her Mommy and Macie trip since Brenna got to go last time. We headed out on Thursday as soon as I got done at work.

The trip went really well considering we took the new car that didn't have a dvd player. She played on her phone and watched a few cartoons on the laptop. She was a great traveler! We only stopped once to potty!
We got to Mimi's in time for dinner and were greeted by Kellye and Mimi! Aunt Susan arrived shortly after with Pizza for dinner. That made Macie's day! And after we ate, a mean game of cards erupted! I love playing cards with my Johnson family. It's my happy place. It's also pretty cut throat! Mimi plays to win, no matter what. About 2 years ago, we were playing cards at my house, and after a rather vicious play, I looked at Mimi and with my sweetest voice said "Miiiimiiiii, I thought you loved me! I'm your granddaughter" To which she replied "We aren't related at the card table." She has tried to pretend that she doesn't remember making this statement, but luckily there were about 8 others at the table that heard her say it! I have since joked that I was in therapy for months after that session of cards. My therapist reassures me that my Mimi still loves me. And just when I start to believe it.... we play cards again! So now, every time we sit down at the card table, I call her Mrs. Johnson. Because we aren't related at the card table.
There is another story I like to remind Mrs. Johnson of when we play cards. Last year when the girls and I went to Mimi's for our annual summer trip, Macie and Brenna wanted to play go fish (because apparently everyone likes the torture of playing cards with Mimi- it's a Johnson thing). And Macie, being 4 years old, would lay her cards down on the table for all to see since she couldn't hold them in her hand. MOST people would ask for a card that Macie did NOT have in her hand since they could see the innocent 4 year olds cards! Not Mimi! She always asked for a card that Macie did have! She's VISCOUS I tell you! No one is related in the card table. She will not play favorites. Even for her sweet and innocent little great granddaughter. Nope- each man for himself at the card table when you are playing with Mimi! hahaha! This is the kind of stuff that "Johnson family stories" are made of!

After our first game of hand and foot canasta (of which I lost), Taron arrived to spend the weekend and took Kellye's place as Mimi's partner. (Note- these two should never-Ever-Never be partners at the card table. They cheat I tell ya! CHEAT!) So as you can tell, Aunt Susan and I lost the second game as well. ha! But it was totally worth it! We had a blast and laughed until we cried. Macie flaked out before the second game ever started and was in bed asleep. The rest of us called it a night about 11:30. It was a great night!
Friday morning I got up and dressed to be ready for Mimi's furniture delivery. I enjoyed drinking my coffee from this cup...

It made me laugh and remember Papaw and his "lack of" direction! Mimi was always the driver, but was never behind the wheel. And if you ever took a trip with them, you often heard the words "Wrong way honey!" Sweet memories.
That morning, we got the front bedroom cleaned up and ready for the new bed Mimi bought. Josh joked and said that she had to buy a bed since I was apparently going to be visiting once a month! ha! I wish it could work out that way! :) Macie said that the bed was just for US, but that she would share with Aunt Bonnie if she was staying with Mimi.
After we got the furniture all set, we went out to lunch with Taron and "Uncle" Susan. I love that Macie calls her Uncle Susan! Something special that they share. 

We sent this to Aunt Bit..

While Macie and Taron napped that afternoon, I went with Mimi to WalMart. My goal while there was to help her get things done and ready for her upcoming surgery that Monday morning. WalMart was on her list of things she needed to do, so we tackled that!
After a long rest (that we all "claimed" was for Mimi) we had a great dinner that Taron fixed and got ready to "talk smack" at the card table again! This round we were lucky and were joined by Nolan! A great surprise!! We played two full rounds of cards, again. And, again, I got my tail handed to me. Macie tried to get a group shot of us all...

Nolan? Nolan who?

OH! There he is!
It was another late night..... but worth every second! Even if I do need therapy again.
Saturday was spent hanging at Mimi's getting some stuff done. Macie enjoyed playing and doing her own thing. Aunt Bonnie came over to deliver some bedding she purchased. And I met up with an old friend...

Mimi's ironing is my new task! And I love it! Do I love ironing? Probably not! (I won't lie though- there are lots of things I hate more than ironing) But I love that this is something I can do FOR her, to help. Since spending a whole day ironing was how she hurt her back the second time, it is my pleasure to do her ironing and keep her from re-injuring her back. We got all of the laundry and ironing done, and I was glad to leave her with that checked off of the list for recovery from surgery.
I bet you'll never guess what we did later that night...... Cards? YEP! We played cards again! Taron and Aunt Susan joined us for another round of butt kicking, I mean hand and foot canasta. This time, a little, OK- A LOT- of fun was had by myself, Taron and Aunt Susan! While Mimi made a trip to the restroom, we decided to "take care" of Mimi's foot hand! We all 3 went to work getting all of the red and black 3's (the worst cards to have in hand and foot canasta!) from all of the extra decks of cards in the drawer and placing them in Mimi's foot hand! It was all we could do to play that hand while we waited for Mimi to get into her foot hand! But she eventually did, and I got the whole thing on video!! I so wish I knew how to post it on here. But since I don't, I will share some of the still shots I captured from it...

Her initial reaction was "MY GOODNESS" then she looked a little shocked and couldn't figure out why some of the cards were large print when they weren't before (hey- we were in a hurry and couldn't be choosy in which cards we picked!) then she again said "My GOODNESS!" It was priceless!!!!

This was how I felt during that game...

Yes, I LOST. again. Oh well. I was just being nice to Mimi since her back was hurting so much. Yep. That's it. I lost on purpose. I did it for Mimi.
Macie once again took our picture...

Uncle Susan who????
And this is where Macie Claire sat during most of our games.

Oh- there's Uncle Susan! Well- it's her arm at least. 

She was a good little observer. I think she will be joining Mimi's team of CHEATERS soon! She took it all in. Reminded of me at her age. I was always just sitting and observing. Taking it all in.
But not to worry... she wasn't serious all the time...

And she eventually crashed.

Way before we did!
After yet another late bed time, Macie and I got up and got ready to rejoin Josh and Brenna back at home. We packed up, had breakfast, folded the last of the laundry, and waited for Mimi to get dressed.
Macie helped me make the bed. I think she's seen me put pillow cases on before..

I knew Mimi had to leave the house at 11:30 to meet Aunt Bonnie, and figured she was getting ready before she came out of her room..... NOPE! We wore her smooth out! She didn't wake up until after 10! So she was rushing a bit to get ready.
While she was getting dressed, I had an idea! We are always telling Mimi to stay away from the ironing board so that she can keep from hurting her back again. So I left this on her ironing board...

I laughed all the way back to Texas over that one!
After our good byes, Macie and I headed south.

We made one stop at the outlet mall in Yukon first though! I enjoyed shopping with my sweet girl. She was a great sport and only asked to leave like 2 times. That's a big deal for her!
The trip home was smooth! Macie was a great traveler. And I enjoyed my one on one time with her! I think she enjoyed being the only kiddo at Mimi's too. She got lots of attention!
It was another great weekend! I love that my girls are now old enough to go and do things like this and for me to enjoy it! Such a change from the days of diapers and bottles!

Six Flags

One of the number 1 things the girls had been asking to do this summer was go to Six Flags. Brenna was doing most of the asking, and some days Macie was on board with going and some days she wanted nothing to do with these roller coasters that her sister was describing. But Brenna was persistent in wanting to go and wanting Macie to be as excited as she was about it. I went back and forth on whether we should even waste the money on taking Macie since I had no idea how she would handle it. But in the end, we decided to take her since she was the same age as Brenna was the first time we took her.

Waiting on Daddy to get a shade for the new car at WalMart! The grind on their faces says it all! 
To say I was nervous as to how that first roller coaster would go was an understatement. I know Macie Claire well, and her first impression of things is how it is going to be- good or bad. And I knew that if that first one didn't go well, then my day was doomed and she and I would spend a lot of time sitting inside an air conditioned building waiting on her dare devil sister to enjoy her day and her rides. So we decided to do the bob sled first since it isn't too fast or scary.

Family selfie while we waited in line!
And as soon as the ride was over, I said "Well Macie? How was it?" To which she replied "That was awesome!!" Yep- she was hooked! So we headed over to the conquistador to ride the boat. And if I am being honest, this is my least favorite ride now that I am an adult. It totally takes my stomach away. And I was worried that it would do the same to Macie. The bob sled doesn't really do that, so I knew that this would be a whole new experience for her.

They waited patiently for our turn.
Josh and Brenna sat on one side at the top, and Macie and I sat across from them in the middle so that he could watch her face. And as soon as it was done, she looked at me with a huge grin on her face and said "let's do that again!!" Just like her sister... she's a roller coaster riding fool!
We rode every ride that Macie was tall enough to ride, and she and I rode a couple of different ones while Brenna and Josh rode the bigger ones that Macie wasn't tall enough for, such as the Texas Giant.
Both girls and I rode the swings. It is my favorite, and Josh conveniently has to go to the bathroom every year when we are ready to ride! I did a "no-no" and pulled my phone out on the ride to capture the pure delight on my girl's faces!

Brave little toots with their hands up in the air!
Next we rode the Shock Wave! Or the Loopty Loop. Macie wasn't too sure when we started, but after we rode it, she was SO proud of herself!
We sent this picture to the grandparents.

Josh talked Brenna into riding the Texas Giant for the first time. She was not thrilled at first, but finally agreed to do it. I was so proud of her!! I wanted to ride too, but since Macie wasn't tall enough I took her to ride the boat ride and the old fashion cars. She enjoyed driving me around in the car!

She had to keep her focus on the road of course. No time for Mama's selfies. 

So. Much. Focus. 

I think I was driving her nuts with my picture taking. She took her driving very seriously. 
And then we waited "not so patiently" for Josh and Brenna to finish. And when she rounded the corner, the look on her face said it all! She was so excited to tell me that she loved it!!

I love this little dare devil child! I even got to ride a couple of one on one rides with her while Daddy and Macie did their thing! We rode the inside roller coaster first. It's one of her favorites I think.

Then we rode the new swing ride. I had been really wanting to ride this one and was so excited that Brenna was tall enough to ride it with me! I'll be honest... it was a lot scarier than I thought! Being 50 stories in the air and the wind catching your swing definitely did a number on my stomach! But Brenna and I had so much fun. And Macie and Josh waved at us from the ground. I was a little too scared to take my phone out on this one to snap pictures! But I got this from the ground- LOL!

We let the girls ride one more little ride, then we were so HOT we had to call it a day. Everyone's feet hurt and we were DONE. I do think the kids would have ridden a dozen more rides though if we had let them! I love their love for adventure.
We finished our day with dinner at their favorite restaurant- Papasitos! It was so nice to go in and sit down and enjoy a meal in the air conditioning!

Crazy kid! Dough balls are their favorite part about Mexican food restaurants. It's my favorite part too, because it keeps them entertained!! (ok- ok- it's my 2nd most favorite part.... the margaritas are my most favorite part!)
It was a great day spent with the 3 people I love most in this world! We were HOT (it was ONLY 106 that day) and we were exhausted by the time it was over, but we all enjoyed each other! No one whined or cried or fought! Macie surprised us all by being a trooper and only had to be gotten on to because she insisted on holding my hand at all times while we were walking, which got pretty tiring since I was sweating. And Brenna was patient and rode with whomever and got even more brave than she was last year and tried new things! I was a proud Mom. They are already asking when we can go back.... but I'm not sure my feet have recovered from this trip yet....

The things my kids say....

I am interrupting my summer catch up to insert the latest edition of "The things my kids say".
Weekend before last, Maylee was staying with us, and from the back seat I could hear Macie and Maylee talking about Carter moving. I kind of thought that it was going to be a conversation about missing him.... until I heard Macie say "Maybe just Carter and Mr. Schaef and Mrs. Sarah can move and leave Mitzi Mae here with us! That would be great!" (She really does love the Riley's, I promise!!! But she MAY love Mitzi Mae more.)

On another note- Mitzi Mae might be the most excited member of the Riley family to be moving.... just to not be lugged around by these two all the time! Ha! 
On Saturday, after we left Brenna at Tia's house for her birthday sleep over, Macie asked from the back seat "Would you rather live with poisonous rats or with Brenna?" So I said "Ummmm, Definitely with Brenna!" And with the straightest face she said "I'd pick poisonous rats." (Sisterly love at it's finest!)

On Sunday night, Brenna looked at me with the most pitiful face and said "I hate it when we do lots of really fun stuff on the weekends!" I was puzzled, and asked why.... She replied "Because that makes the weekends go by too fast!" AWE! Poor kid! 3rd grade is tough. Really tough. And she hates to see the weekends end. But I've never seen any kid that was upset about doing fun stuff because it passed time too quickly. I guess next weekend, I'll pack it full of dull and boring! 

Never. A. Dull. Moment.

How time flies!

What a difference 3 years makes! 

I love these 3, and how much they love each other! 

Pump It Up and Nana's house!

As our summer was coming to a close, the girls and I were determined to make the most of our last few days. Aunt Emily invited us to join them at Pump It Up in Ft. Worth. The last time I was there was when Macie was little, and she HATED it. I mean pure HATE. She cried from the moment we walked in until the moment we left and wouldn't get down from my arms. I think the noise from the bounce houses was too much for her. Freaked her out. In fact, it scarred her from bounce houses for over a year. But eventually she overcame this fear, and her Aunt Emily eventually took her back to Pump It Up a while back and she loved it. Thank goodness!!!
So we met up with Emily, Wyatt, Stacy, Kinsley and baby Kaden as soon as it opened. The girls were so excited! Macie was especially excited that she got to play with Wyatt and Kinsley!!
The played on the slide..

And this cool thing where you jumped from ball to ball...

Aunt Emily even joined in on the fun!!

Wyatt and Macie climbed the steps to do another slide..

And of course my children try to climb the SAME set of steps. Because, if you can't fight over it... it's not worth doing!

Us Moms (and baby Kaden) found a good place to SIT!

The only problem is that it was at the end of the slide, so we had to watch pretty carefully to not get run over by flying children!

These 4 crazies had a blast and were hot and sweaty when we left! 1.5 hours worth of non stop bounce houses is hard work!

Next, Emily and I and the kiddos headed to Nana and Papa's house! I had been wanting to take the girls over there to hang out and spend some time with Nana and Papa, and this proved to be a great opportunity. SO we picked up some lunch and headed to Haltom City! Unfortunately Papa was at work, but we enjoyed our Nana time!!
In true Nana fashion, she stocked up on treats for the kiddos. She called and asked Becky what snacks the kids liked. Apparently Becky told her they like animal cookies, M&M's, chocolate chip cookies, gold fish, ice cream, popsicles, cheezits, and Dr. Peppers. SOoo- as any good Nana would do- she got it all!!! She had it all set out for them! (and my kids were sure to eat some of it ALL!)
Macie wasted no time digging into the huge bag of M&M's!

She appears to be very satisfied with herself. 

They found Candyland in one of the bedrooms and played it.

I use the term "played" very loosely. They got it out, made a mess, then lost interest! 
And I thought it would be so cute to get a picture of all three of them in Papa's barber chair that he always sits in during family gatherings. But GOOD pictures of these 3 are almost non existent these days.

I even thought that maybe if I tried one of just Brenna and Macie that it would work out better..... I was wrong.
P

This was the best one I got.

So I tried again with the 3. Takes #456 and 457 produced this...

Oh these 3. It's a good thing I love them all!!!! Other wise I would strangle them! Pray for us all during the teenage years! 
Memaw asked for a picture of all 3 with Nana. I almost told her I was going to need a Valium to attempt a group picture again. But I took a deep breath, and we tried one more time.... I'm not sure there is one great picture in the lot.... But we tried!!

And finally..... All 3 kids looking and kind of smilng.... Except Nana. 

This was the best one we got. 

Nana decided to take them outside and show them Papa's work shed. They had fun exploring and picking up feathers from the ground.

I love this one......

But it was SO hot, so we went back in to cool off. I decided it was time for my crew to get out of Nana's hair and head over to the fire station to see Daddy.
They were so sweet and gave sweet hugs to Nana!

It was such a fun day! It left this Mama completely worn out, but we enjoyed making memories!!!