Dream Day

Where all your wildest dreams come true!  An occasional "yes day" is a great cure all for feeling like we are all work and rules. 

I went for an early morning run with Kasey...and 100 other people who are also signed up for the Bentonville Half Marathon. This was my first run in 8 days. I average about 1 run a week. What was I thinking signing up for a half? I'm going to have to schedule some more time for running until my life, somewhere. 

When I got home, we showered and told the kids our plan for the day. They were so excited! Surprises all day long? Better than Christmas!  We started with a trip to the square to see Santa, followed by ice cream or hot cocoa at Spark Cafe. 

Soren and Sloane did NOT LIKE Santa. It was pretty hilarious. We got plenty of stares from people in line who probably thought we were crazy for taking non-perfect pics of crying kids anyway. This is one for the books! 

There is a cute little Christmas village set up in the Walmart museum that they had to see just one more time before we went home.

I took Reese, Quincy, and Corbin ice skating at Lawrencs Plaza while Aaron watched the BYU football game and the littles napped. I am not a highly skilled ice skater. I move at a ridiculously cautious pace around in a circle and carefully followed the children around, helping them feel confident enough to join me away from the wall. All three got the hang of it eventually and we all had fun cheering each other on. Corbin was, by far, the bravest of us all. He probably fell 20 times, and fearlessly jumped up and got going again every time. It was good for me to see another experience to my list of times where his full-speed-ahead wreckless abandon way of living is super helpful. The rest of us were inhibited by our fear of falling and took much longer to reach the exhilarating joy that Corbin partook in the moment he flew out onto the ice. Point: wild side.

An added bonus was running into Cheylee B and her family, and Eliza (one of my preschool students) who was out with her big sister and mom. 

The fun continued when we had skated all that our legs could take. 

 Food trucks for lunch! A fig and prosciutto wood fired pizza, and three dessert crepes. 60 degrees and sunny never felt so good on a Saturday afternoon! The children didn't like the figs, but it was fun for them to try something new and different than our traditional pizza toppings. 

Reese, Sloane, and I made a quick trip out to True Treasures to pick up a couple Christmas gifts. 

Our next activity was for Aaron to take the 3 big kids to see Star Wars: the Force Awakens, but Kasey suggested I go too, offering to babysit the littles and the advice that I want to be with them for this huge moment in pop culture. They will always remember the day they saw Episode 7 with mom and dad. 

I'm so glad she offered! I loved being there to watch their amazed facial expressions. It was an unforgettable memory for the mom bank. Thanks Kasey and Jimmie!!! Loved the movie, too. It was a good pick me up for Aaron after the "dumpster fire" that was the BYU v Utah game. 

Dream Day ended with Sloane hamming it up for us and giving everyone high fives. The kids went to bed thanking us and each other for having "the best day ever". High Five for Dream Day and nonstop family fun.