Brochure Hoarders and Roller Rink

This week we are tagging along with my husband on a business trip.  Today I took the kids sight seeing and we stopped at a visitor's center.  They had two whole walls of brochures.  My son, Bradley, LOVES brochures and it was like heaven for him (and for me because I love brochures too).  We browsed the brochures and I took several for places that I thought we might be interested in seeing, if not this time, but possibly the next time we tagged along.  There was an older couple that ran the visitor center.  They looked a little annoyed when we walked in, but it didn't surprise me because it's a common expression on people's faces when a group of seven small children walk intp a room.  Usually people expect chaos, but end up pleasantly surprised that my children are relatively well-behaved.  Often people will even compliment them.  I was expecting a pleasant reaction from the couple because my children were behaving well, mostly because it was like an all-you-can-eat brochure buffet for them.  As Sarah took a brochure for some destination that looked cool, the woman said, "Maam, is she going to go there?"

Confused I said, "Um, no.  Probably not?"  

Then the woman said, "Can she put that brochure back?  Because we are running low on those."

They were probably running low because it's a great place to go and now I'm going to not know about it!  Obediently I told Sarah to put it back.  I didn't realize you had to actually plan to go to a destination in order to take a brochure.  If so, I'm in big trouble.  I could tell that this couple's annoyance was not transforming into pleasant surprise.  So, I continued to pull brochures, lots of them.  I congratulated Jason on all the brochures he collected for about 15 hotels that we were planning not to stay at.  I could hear the woman mumble to her husband, "Brochures aren't free, you know."  Then I heard the woman's voice, "Maam, will you sign our guest register?"  I was a little afraid to put my name, city, and state in fear that I would be hunted down for theft of free brochures,  But I signed it anyway.  

Finally with a fat stack of brochures in my hand I said, "Come on kids, it's time to go."  They all clamored to the exit and Bradley, Jason, and Rachel pushed the handicap automatic door button several times each.  Hahahaha! Now that really irritated her, but we were out of there as she was saying, "Don't...push....that....." and on our way to the gift shop.  I have to say I was a lot less stressed in the gift shop with lots of breakable things that cost a lot of money than I was being stared down in the visitor center/ brochure shop.

If you can imagine after two cross country trips, we have a quite the collection of brochures.  I'll have to take a picture of all of them when I get home.  What am I going to do with them?  I don't know yet.  Read them and plan my next vacation?  Or maybe go on a virtual vacation?  I'll be sure to recycle them when I'm finished.

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Tonight we took the kids to a roller rink.  It was flashback to the 80's .  When I was 6, 7, and 9 years old I was quite the pro roller skater.  My kids?  Not so coordinated.  Bradley was so proud of himself about 1 hour into the evening.  He said, "Mommy!  I went around the whole rink, without the walker, and only fell five times!"  When we returned to the hotel Bradley said, "Tthat was so much fun.  When I was in the car, I had to pinch myself to make sure it wasn't a dream." 

Wow!  I didn't know they had that much fun while we were there, because they spent a lot of time crying from falling down and hurting themselves.  I guess my kids would've loved the 80's.  It was a pretty cool decade.  I told him he's probably going to wish it was a dream because he's going to be pretty sore and bruised tomorrow.

 Sarah using a walker.  It looks like I'm using one too, but I'm helping Rachel.

 Couple's song.  Awww.

 Bradley and his walker.  He eventually ditched the walker and skated on his own.  It seems like every time I turned my head to look at him, he was sprawled splat on the floor.

Daddy taking Rachel for a spin as she put her feet up on the walker and went along for the ride.  She's waving to me.

Wendy didn't like skating on the wood because she fell down too much, but she did enjoy skating on the carpet. 

Emily did pretty good, but hurt her wrist.  While we were there I was thinking it was a good thing we have health insurance.  Thankfully I don't think we will need to use.