If you just look at the pictures it looks like we had a GREAT day!  Go ahead, stop reading and just look.....

((((((pause for looking)))))

Now, let's rewind.  It was Saturday night; kids were asking to have sleepovers.  I said no.  I told them that Boy 1 and I were waking up early, doing lawn work then we were all heading out to Austin for a FUN family day!  Well Boy 1 started begging, saying it was C's last day in the neighborhood for a whole month (later I found out later C is only going to be gone for 2 weeks).  I held fast (for a few minutes anyway), Boy 1 promised to be home by 6AM to help with lawn care.  I told him at that even though this was against my better judgment I would let him sleep over at his friend’s house but he needed to be home by 8AM ready to work.  He agreed and he was home by 8AM ready to work.  He mowed the front and backyard. I was edging and weed-eating when I noticed Boy 1 was nowhere to be seen. I go in the house looking for him.  HE WAS IN BED ASLEEP!!!  Are you freaking kidding me?  He didn't even put the mower away.  I woke him up had him do more work, in his defense, he said "but you only told me to mow the lawn".  OK, he got me, I did only ask him to mow, but really is it too much to ask to put the mower away and then to come over and ask your mom what else you can do to help?!?!  (I could go on but I will stop there & really he is an AWESOME teen.)

That is how my morning started.  We finally left town we headed to Round Rock Donuts at about noon. I've been hearing about these awesome donuts for over a year now, in fact it has been said that their donuts are "World Famous"!  So I'm assuming you have heard of them! 
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We planned to eat at Round Rock Donuts - reasonable.  When we arrived we found out there is no indoor seating and it is 1PM and 104 degrees outside.  We just went with it - we ordered their BIG A$$ donut and ate outside.  Check it out:
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It wasn't long till the complaints started flying. Why don't they have knives (reasonable question) -  I wasn't sure of the answer but there were no utensils anywhere to be found so we tore it apart and went at it. More complaints followed- it's too chocolaty, it's too hot, it's too sweet, I'm not hungry, I'm too hot......I'm still smiling at this point, trying to be chipper and happy even though my smile is wearing a little thin.

When we finished the donut (no we did not eat it all) we headed to Austin's Children's Museum.  I've heard great things about this place AND as a bonus it was FREE to blue star families and we are a blue star family.  What is a blue star family you ask?  It just means that you have a family member that is active duty military.  Right now across the US there are over 600 museums offering free admission to blue star families, and we had decided to take advantage of this opportunity.  (To find out more about blue start museums click here.)

As soon as we arrived at the museum the little kids started having a blast! 
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They even made slime!
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And then they made a few things for Hubby.
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Boy 3 did a little cooking....
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And Boy 1 sat around making this face when he wasn't texting or falling asleep.  I really can't blame him though; this place isn’t at the top of my list of favorite children's museum to visit either. However the little kids enjoyed it.  We had planned on staying here for 4 hours but we could only stretch it out to 2 hours.  

 
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During story time.
Since we were ahead of schedule and everyone was STARVING we headed over towards Zilker Park and stopped to eat at Chuy's.  When we left the Children’s museum everyone seemed to return to their  foul moods.  Boy 1 was tired, and could barely keep his eyes open, Girl had a headache and stomach ache. Boy 2 was just being inappropriate - he was calling people names, using potty language, "trying" to be funny in inappropriate ways.  The only person that was and had been happy all day was Boy 3.  I was hoping linner (a combination of lunch and dinner) would turn things around for our clan.  That didn't happen.  After linner we still had 2.5 hours to wait to see the bats fly out from under the Congress Street Bridge so we decided to go to Zilker Park and hang out. Good idea right?  Wrong.  It was 106 degrees by now so the short walk to the Nature Center sent moods flying out of control even more.  Right after this picture Boy 2 shoved Boy 3 and told him not to stand by him anymore - throwing the name poo-poo head into the mix.

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And to top it off, the Nature Center was CLOSED.
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I suggusted taking a little hike, (haha- that was funny!) but decided against it because everyone was already way too hot and  by this time I had joined the bandwagon of bitterness.  We were all done.  I REALLY wanted to take the kids to see the bats, but I knew I had been defeated.  We headed home early.  The bats will be there another day.  Everyone was thrilled to be in the car heading back home. Two out of the four fell asleep in the car. We were home by 7PM, by 8PM eveyone was in bed asleep - and back in Austin the bats hadn't even taken flight yet.
Laura
6/20/2011 10:45:27 pm

woo hoo! thanks for sharing about the donuts place! we'll def be checking it out soon!! sounds yummy and we've been on a search for something similar to voodoo donuts in portland, if at all possible. love that you guys have linner too! one of my fav meals ;)

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Connie
6/20/2011 10:46:03 pm

I love your honesty and humanity. It's refreshing. Love you!

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Holly
6/20/2011 10:50:00 pm

I've heard about those donuts. Were they as good as their reputation?

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Deniz
6/20/2011 11:00:13 pm

ouch! your a great mom trying to make a great day for them! And I really want to try those donuts!

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Staci
6/21/2011 12:24:30 am

Now THAT explains the "I need a drink" comment on FB that night...... Ugh, at least you didn't get bat pee on you since you forgot the umbrellas!! JK.

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Lara
6/21/2011 12:48:54 am

Oh, no! Sorry the day was such a bust, but it sounds like you made the best of it and knew when to cut your losses. Let me know when you decide to try it again!

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Cindy
6/21/2011 01:35:25 am

YOu beat me!!! We are headed that way next week!

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Cindy
6/21/2011 01:35:50 am

I'm laughing at your blog! We won't be doing the children's museum but will direct our efforts to the caves at Round Rock.

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MIL
6/21/2011 09:58:03 am

What a great MOM...I so remember trying to have family fun days, the kids will always have great memories and laughs from days like this. Hey.....CO is never that hot!!!!

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Tammy
6/21/2011 12:05:45 pm

I'm sorry the day was not great, but it gave me a chuckle. Sometimes, you just have to stay home and let them do nothing. haha

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Julie
6/21/2011 01:31:21 pm

What a woman!! I'm not sure I would have held up the positive attitude that long. I'm afraid I have my dad's intolernace for things going badly. We did the bats with the girls class and we were in a boat with the darn things pooping everywhere. They were stinky and yucky. Maybe from the top of the bridge they might be more interesting but I'm not sure. I did not care for this part of our voyage so I think you had the best of the best for what you had planned. Sigh.

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