Rexburg Drag Racing with Shelby 2/11/11

Well now that I have started this blog, I feel like I have to make sure that there is something to write about each week. I always wonder if there is going to be anything to write about, but all I have to do is show up. The girls do the rest. I don’t even have to probe them to get the conversation going. Hopefully that will last throughout the years, because I remember my mom and dad asking how our day was and we would just say fine and that was the end of it. If you ask Annie she will say the same about me today. Sometimes I will go off on things, but it is usually just the same topic repeated over and over. Annie is a little more detailed and so are the girls.

Well as soon as we got in the car Shelby started singing popcorn popping on the apricot tree after she told me that someone in our ward dropped off pink popcorn balls at our house the other day. She then told me that she liked going on dates and was excited. I am glad that the girls still like going and the newness hasn’t worn off yet. As soon as we arrived at the first stop sign the backseat driving began. She yelled out really loud to stop and then she said ok dad, we can go now. Shelby then began to tell me what she expected out of the night. She wanted a blue balloon, a pink drink a green balloon for Mya and a red balloon for Hallie. She then told me that she would keep saying that throughout the night so I wouldn’t forget. She didn’t let me down; she managed to remind me multiple times over and over again. After each time, she would say, “ok dad, don’t forget!” After that, she said that she wanted a cupcake without any nuts and she wanted to share one with me rather than eating one all by herself so she wouldn’t get a tummy ache. That sounded good to me, because I am still trying to get back into shape, so I shouldn’t be eating a whole cupcake either.

This next part had to be the funniest part of the night. As we came into town we started getting to some traffic lights. Mrs. Backseat driver wanted me to drag race every car that pulled up next to us. The first time Shelby was pretty disappointed, because I let the person next to us win. At the next light she saw another car pull up and it had two ladies in it and this was the best part of the night. Shelby said, “Ok dad, you can win this race, because moms are slower”. For some reason that cracked me up, I couldn’t believe that she had come up with a statement like that. I of course couldn’t let her see me get beat by two moms, so we had to win that one. Shelby obviously hasn’t rode with crazy lead foot grandma Jodi for a while. She might change her mind after that. After we won a couple of races, Shelby would say, “Wow dad, you are really great at that game”. I am glad that I looked like a winner in her eyes, even though the other cars had no idea we were racing.

Before we got out of the car, Shelby brought up this mystery person who had red hair in pony tails who had a baby boy and had given her a bath and put on her stripped pajamas. I can’t remember anyone that fits that description watching her. I am not sure if she had a dream or if I am just really unaware.

Tonight we decided to go to this place called the Craze. It happens to be right down the street from the coco bean, which Shelby calls the Coco Beam. IT didn’t look like much from the outside; it had a play structure in the window like something you would find at McDonalds or something. WE got inside and they had laser tag, neon mini golf a huge arcade, a restaurant a downstairs area and some other things going on. There was even a lady painting faces. I was surprised how much was going on in there. Shelby was the only one on the play structure and she had a great time. I asked her to go down the slides, but she said that she would do it maybe when she was six years old. After she was done, she rode a horse in the arcade and we played skee ball is what I think it is called where you roll the brown balls and try to get them to go into the certain holes marked with different numbers. Shelby’s balls left the ramp multiple times and ended up rolling across the floor. We did win some tickets and used them to buys some candy which was the highlight of Shelby’s night. As we were redeeming our 25 tickets a little girl with 2500 tickets to spend bought Shelby an ice cream shaped lip gloss that cost 150 tickets and Shelby was content as could be. 

Shelby then had her face painted by a lady that had moved here from Medford Oregon, what a coincidence. Her boyfriend is Jacquie’s age and went to Ashland high school. His name is Max McCormick. I don’t know him, but I thought that it was funny that we had met her. She is not LDS and I asked her how she ended up in Rexburg and she had said that one of her friends had said that this was a good place to raise your kids. She has an 8 year old son. I asked her how she liked it, and she said that it was a little weird at first being in Rexburg, but she likes it. Shelby was anxious to get her pink drink and also managed to remind me about the balloons as well. So we went to the crowded coco “beam” once again. After we had waited in line for about fifteen minutes and had almost made it to the front, Shelby had to go pee! She has a small bladder like her dad. I talked her into holding it so we wouldn’t lose our spot which is always risky, because she has had accidents. She made it luckily. We sat down and shared our cupcake and she didn’t like her drink. She wanted a hot chocolate instead, but I told her that she would have to get that next time. WE finished up and were off to get mom and dad dinner at Gator Jacks along with the all important balloons. To Shelby’s disappointment they were out of blue, so she settled for a red one.

On the way home we had almost made it home when Shelby had realized that she lost her cheap sucker that she had bought with her tickets. She swore it was in the bathroom at the coco bean, but we were almost home and I wasn’t going back for the sucker, because her pockets were full of candy. We were on the brink of having a meltdown, but I promised her that I would stop at the gas station on my way home from work the next day and get her a bigger one. That was enough to keep the tears back. WE made it home with candy and a balloon for everyone which kept the house peaceful for the rest of the night. For me it was a great night, we didn’t have to go to Wal-Mart and the night didn’t end with a bunch of screaming and crying.