Merry Christmas To Us

This was the “treasure” at the end of the “hunt”!  For Christmas, we treated the kids to three days and two nights in Ames.  We had a wonderful time.  While playing games in the hotel lobby Sunday afternoon, the kids declared this the best Christmas present ever!  I think that we have started another tradition.

Our trip got off  to a rocky start.  Bryan woke up at 5:30 Saturday morning (we were planning to leave at 7:00) with the stomach flu.  I got up and went to the great room and started looking for the phone number for our hotel.  He came in there and asked what I was doing.  I told him that I thought we should just call the hotel and explain the situation.  I was sure they would refund our money.  His exact words were, “We can’t do that, the kids will be too disappointed.”  I thought he was crazy.  I had the same flu the week before and there is no way you would have gotten me to go anywhere that morning.  We officially declared him Dad of the Year after this trip.  We had to stop twice along the side of the road for him to throw-up.  He felt miserable the whole drive and he was very anxious to get checked into the hotel and find a bed.  While he slept at the hotel, we were at Hilton cheering on the Cyclones to a victory.  We were all a very sad that he wasn’t able to go to the game, but we had a great time anyway.  By Saturday evening he was feeling much better and was able to enjoy the rest of the weekend. 

Amirah was scared of “Ty” aka Cy and so would not take the picture with him.  She didn’t take her eye off of him the whole game.  If we ever wanted to know where Cy was, we would just ask Amirah.  We got to the game about 1/2 hour before it started.  A very kind usher helped us down to our seats.  The kids spotted Cy down on the court immediately.  The usher looked at me and said, “Do they want a picture with him?”  Before I knew it he had flagged down Cy, had the kids all lined up, and the picture was taken.  I have had to chase that bird all over Hilton Coliseum before.  That was a huge bonus for me! 

  

During one of the TV time-out’s they do a little thing called the Flex Cam.  They play the song “Macho, Macho, Man” and then they look for people in the crowd flexing their muscles.  We had great seats, right behind the basket, so told Cade that if he stood up and flexed he would probably get on the jumbo-tron.  I had my camera ready in case he did.  And he did!  Later he and Willow got on again. 

We had a family suite with a nice sized fridge, microwave, etc., so I was able to take a couple of our meals along.  It’s a win/win situation for everyone.  It is cost-effective, we don’t have to take 5 kids to a restaurant, and the kids think it is fun to eat meals in the hotel.  After the game we had sloppy Joes, finger Jell-O, relishes and chips.  We also did taco bar one afternoon.   

We couldn’t make a trip to Ames and not eat at everybody's favorite, Hickory Park.  This building is 18,000 square feet and seats 450 people at a time.  I also learned that they serve approximately 23, 000 lbs. of meat in a week and almost 750 gallons of ice cream.  It really is quite a place.   

Cade had what he always has, the Hickory Special…1/2 rack of ribs and 1/4 chicken with two sides.  The kid ate his plate clean!  The white shirt he has on in the picture now has a BBQ stain that is proof that he thoroughly enjoyed his meal.  I will be packing stain spray the next trip to Ames. 

 

Miah’s favorite are the mashed potatoes and gravy.  The little girls love the hot apples.  They are really good. 

While we were eating, Bryan spotted a man who he was sure was the owner.  We see him there almost every time we are there.  When we were getting up to leave, he was very close to our table.  He was checking out our crew as so many people do when we are in public.  I have learned that having five children affords you many opportunities to talk to perfect strangers.  So many people stop and ask you about your family or make comments (some very nice, some not so much:)) and that gives you opportunity to start a conversation.  So, that is what I did with this gentleman.  I asked him if this was his restaurant.  He replied with, “I am afraid so” and then a big smile.  I shared with him our love for his restaurant and thanked him for such a wonderful family eating experience every time we come.  He asked us where we from and what brought us to Ames.  We had a nice little conversation with a man who is probably a millionaire, but reminded me of my dad.     

The rest of our weekend was spent swimming, swimming, and did I mention swimming.  We also played many games of Apples to Apples, Golf (the card game…however, it was almost nice enough to do it outside), and Skipbo.

It was such a fun weekend.  We will all have wonderful memories of New Years weekend 2011-2012!