A Tribute to Classic Country Music

Okay, Mom-- this one is lengthy so you can skip it if you like! But, I know you won't!

I have fallen in love with this great radio station out of Waco that plays the absolute BEST lunch hour songs-- all classic country. I belt out almost every song they play. They each take me back somewhere, to some fond memory.
I was raised on country music (Country & Western as my parents still call it.) I didn't apreciate it until I was a teenager and then realized what a great thing it was. Classic country music gives me that all-American twangy beat that somehow always brings me back to a sweet place in my mind. If you like this stuff, you know what I mean. If not, you're probably rolling your eyes about now.

Anywho. Thought I would tell you about my faves. Each one means something special and most remind me of someone special. Seriously, this could have gotten ridiculously long, but I capped it at 10.

10. You Decorated My Life, Kenny Rogers
My parents took me to a Kenny Rogers concert when I was very little. I was hooked from the get go. A friend once told me about her friend dancing with her dad at her wedding to this song. Had we done that, this would have been our song, Dad.

9. Thank God I'm a Country Boy, John Denver
I fondly remember giggling hysterically to this song as a child.

8. I’d do it all over again, Crystal Gayle
I had to have my obligatory Crystal Gayle song. I had this on a tape for years until it finally wore out. When I was little, I wanted to have hair that long. What was I thinking?

7. Fishin' in the Dark, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
I think I just like the name Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, makes me think of some very unkempt fellows singing a tune. Seriously, this song is great. I LOVE the start of the song with just the guitar. And of course, they say the word "crik" instead of creek, can you get any more country? This one's for you, Misty: I can still do our dance moves-- got your invisible fishing pole handy?

6. Jambalaya (On th Bayou), Hank Williams, Sr.
Ever seen Steel Magnolias? Then you know the tune. Great song. One of my dad's all time favorite singers is Hank Williams, Sr.

5. San Antonio Rose, Bob Wills
This one reminds me of my parents. They are both native SAers, and back in their day they sure knew how to scoot across a dance floor. I can remember dancing with my dad when I was about five years old to this song at a wedding reception. Almost makes me cry thinking about it.

4. Louisianna Woman, Mississippi (crooked letter, crooked letter I...) Man, Loretta Lynn & Conway Twitty
A great song to belt out in the car. David and I really crank this one out. Once he sees that I wrote that, this may get edited.

3. Danny's Song, Anne Murray
Oh, David...how you put up with me crooning to this one! And I always think about you when I do. Kenny Loggins has his version, but nobody does it better than Anne.

2. Islands in the Stream, Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers
Amber & Betsey: Did you think I could leave this one off? I won't ever do karaoke to this song without thinking of the A-Team. This song is obviously the ultimate country duet-- a hip-swinging, thigh-slappin' kind of tune to pull me off of Amber & Frank's couch to completely embarass myself in front of my fellow co-workers. But, it sure was fun!

1. Queen of Hearts, Juice Newton
Who doesn't love a good Juice Newton song? I know my best friend Lori Callaway can just clap her hands thinking about this one. We listened to this song almost everyday our freshman year at ACU. Roadtrip? We were two clapping and crooning gals zipping down I-20 for fun weekends. This one's in the ipod. Midnight,and I'm a-waiting on the twelve-oh-five, hoping it'll take me just a little farther down the line...

Convicted by an Adam Sandler Movie?

Hi, David again.

Tomorrow is the first day of school, and I think we're as ready as we can be. I really have enjoyed getting to know my staff over the last couple of months, and they seem to be as excited about the new year as I am. I feel very fortunate to be here in the Killeen ISD. It's a great district, and a good fit for me. It will be great when the kids arrive for school tomorrow! One of the best teachers I worked with in Muleshoe was Tom Boutell. He always referred to the weeks leading up to the start of school as "pretend school", i.e., meetings, professional development, yada, yada, yada. Mr. Boutell would always say, around the Thursday before school started, "I'm tired of pretend school. I'm ready for the kids to come." I loved hearing him say that, and I think I will always hear his voice saying that around this time of year.

As Kristi mentioned, I did throw out my back a couple of weeks ago. The phrase "threw out his back" brings to mind some great athletic manuever, or powerful show of force in moving some heavy piece of furniture. Not in my case. If you must know, I bent straight forward to lift Benjamin off the toilet seat. In that split second, I felt that old, familiar, sharp pain at the base of my back, and saw the next two weeks flash before my eyes. I've done this before, and it's always the same drill: Feel OK that night, but wake up the next morning bent to the left 45 degrees at the waist. I'm not kidding. Go to the doctor, get muscle relaxers, drive family crazy by moaning and groaning as the muscles heal at a snail's pace over the next two weeks. I'm finally close to being normal again. A big thank-you to Kristi's dad, Al, who came up from Marble Falls last week and mowed the yard for me. The chances of my doing that chore were about as good as my running a marathon in normal condition. I guess it's pretty sad. Between a 71-year old and a newly-minted 34-year old, who do you really think should be mowing whose yard? Thanks again, Al!

Have you ever seen the movie "Click"? It stars Adam Sandler. That brings to mind all sorts of things, I know, but bear with me. The premise of the movie is that this guy is given a remote control that can actually control the world around him, allowing him to pause the action, view past events, and, of course, fast-forward through events he would rather not have to live through. What starts out as a small convenience ends up ruining his life, as he basically fast-forwards through all of it, missing everything he valued most. He ends up bitterly regretting this, and vents to the character who gave him the remote: "Why did you do this to me?" or something like that. What the character said to him haunted me: "You were fast-forwarding through your life long before you ever met me."

Why did this haunt me? I have to confess that it's hard for me to stop looking ahead to the next "thing" and just enjoy where I am. I frequently think and say things like, "It will be so great when we..." or "Once we finally get past such-and-such..." Don't get me wrong. Thinking ahead and planning are important, but somehow we have to balance thinking ahead with enjoying where we are.

As for the movie, it's not for kids. It does include a ladle-full of crass, Adam-Sandler junk. But, even from that stew came a lesson that hit me hard.

I am amazingly blessed, with a wife who loves me, and two wonderful sons who think I hung the moon. I don't want to miss a thing.

Table Talk

I first want to mention that Jonathan has become a little rock star in the high chair. He really knows how to handle a meal-- and get it EVERYWHERE! He has been having a few unpleasant "issues" and he now has to have prunes at atleast one meal a day. He can not stand them, so we try to alternate spoonfuls of prunes along with his vegetable. So, only every other bite is prunes and the other may be carrots or whatever. He hasn't quite caught on to us yet. He knows he his getting something good at one spoonful or another, so he seems resigned to opening up at every bite. We do have issues with constantly sticking our hands in our mouth at every bite, resulting in the accompanying photo. Our other issue is trying to lick whatever fell onto the bib in between bites, face down in the muck and the mess. What a goofy guy!
Benjamin cracked me up at lunch on Friday and I keep meaning to blog about it. When we eat lunch, I just keep the radio on in the kitchen because there is a great country station out of Waco that plays a fabulous oldies lunch hour. Well, Friday just happened to be Ray Stevens day and they played just about every silly song from the collection. Of course, Benjamin would like The Streak. He loved that sound effect "wheeee" and thought it was just hilarious. I couldn't decide if this was okay or not. I mean the song is indeed about a streaker, this can't be good. Funny, yes. He also picked up the phrase "Don't wook, Effel!" (Don't look Ethel), when it was all over and done. The joys of preschoolers.

Sunday Night

Well, here we are at the end of another good weekend. The kids are both in bed asleep and David is at the office preparing for the first day of school. Please pray that tomorrow goes very well for him.
It's been a busy couple of days, but good busy. We enjoyed church again this morning and are planning on placing membership next weekend at the Belton congregation. After church, we joined a big group of folks over at one of the elder's homes for a wonderful lunch and good fellowship. It's funny, I sort of already already had a connection to this elder's family. His name is Mickey Blanks and I was in GATA with his daughter Melanie. He also served on the Alumni Advisory Board when I worked at the ACU Alumni Office. My college roomie Misty is also related to him distantly through her aunt. So, it was just sort of funny to me to have all of these random connections. They had a really lovely home on the outskirts of Belton. The scenery was just beautiful, definitely that Texas Hill Country that I grew up with and love so dearly.
Benjamin and Jonathan did fabulous in class! Benjamin couldn't wait to show us all of the things he made in class and sing us "The Wise Man," hand motions and all, which they apparently sang today. That song always reminds me of our friend Hollye who taught him that song in Muleshoe.
I hope you had a great weekend, too! Woohoo- next weekend is Labor Day!

The Great Outdoors

I have really had to learn to adapt to being a mother of two boys. I am a little on the foo-foo side and boys are obviously not. I also enjoy a nice air-conditioned place. My boys prefer the outside, so I have, indeed, learned to adapt! We spend most afternoons in our backyard, just playing. We spend a lot of our mornings at the park across the street or at one of our MeetUps, which are usually outside, too!
I thought you might enjoy a few of our recent photos from our out-of-doors life.

Just a regular old week

Well, not much to report around our household, other than I feel as though we are finally getting into the groove. Now that David has a staff at school and regular hours (not the awesome Mon.-Thurs. thing we were really digging), we are finally in our mode, we have found our "ness." If you have ever seen You, Me & Dupree, you know what I mean by that; it has become David's new favorite "quoatable" movie and it has rubbed off on me, too. We tend to throw our own seven different kinds of smoke around here, too! All that to say, we have found our Dominguez-ness and are getting into the groove of things again.
I realized today that I have exactly one month to put together one awesome Cars party for one awesome soon-to-be three year old. I found a really cute cake online that I want to make and am really excited about it. I've ordered a few things from Oriental Trading, but other than that, I am a little over whelmed as to where to start. We have a birthday party to go to this weekend for our friends, Cayden and Ryden, they are twins who live in Temple. Hopefully, it will put me into that third birthday-mode.
I am really finding that I am not making as many "new" friends here, but rather reconnecting with a lot of my old cronies from ACU. This has been a very pleasant turn of events. I am now having to get to know them again as wives and moms and girls with completely new last names.
Last night I was so blessed to spend several hours at Chili's (and Target!) catching up with my dear, sweet friend Lauren Vaught (formerly McDowell). She was my little sis in GATA and I just love her to pieces. She hasn't changed a bit-- it was just so refreshing to catch up with her. Her and her husband are expecting their first child, a little girl, in December. She actually contacted me through the ACU web site and low and behold, she lives in Temple! What fun we are going to have!
Tonight at church, I ran into another GATA friend, Angela Rogers, who was a little younger than me in school, but I remember how sweet she was-- and still is!
It has really been nice to see so many familiar faces, both at church and around the area. I am really looking forward to connecting with everyone again.
We enjoyed church very much again tonight, although living twenty minutes away is a challenge to get their in time for the meal and then get home again before bedtime (missed it by an hour tonight). We may have to skip the "after party" that we went to tonight at the local drive in. It was super fun, but hard to get back in the car and drive two little ones home and then do the whole bed time routine. We loved everything about the service tonight again. They have already had several baptisms since we have been here and Benjamin really enjoys watching this and asking questions all about it. Of course, at the beginning of every one, he has shouted, "Look, Daddy, they're going swimming! Benjamin go swimming, too?"
We were also able to spend a little bit of time with my dad today, too. David threw out his back last week and has been living on muscle relaxers and pain killers-- what a rotten time for this to happen to him! My dad was so thoughtful and came and mowed our lawn for us today since David would not have been able to. This new grass that we have here is that St. Augustine type and is super thick, which I never thought I would complain about, but it is quite the chore to mow and I couldn't have handled it either, especially with how long it takes to do the whole yard. That is so hard with little ones. It also grows so fast, it really requires about two mows a week, but who has time for that when it takes five hours to do it all? But, my dad came over and got us into ship-shape-- we can't wait to play out side all day tomorrow in grass that's not up to our ankles! Woo hoo-- thanks, Pops!
Other than that, it is shaping up to be just a regular old week. Truth be told, we are rather looking forward to just a regular old weekend, too.

Goodbye, dear friend.

Well, we have had our first major toy loss that has, indeed, affected the tone in Dominguez house as of right now.
Our Cars friend, Sarge, is currently en route back to our currently not so favored friends at Mattel. He is involved in this major recall that is underway and apparently contains a little too much lead in his paint job.
This has actually been a little traumatic for Benjamin, as he has become an avid collector of the small die-cast cars from his favorite flick. In fact, David and I, along with many of our family members have been sucked into hunting these cars down anywhere they are available. We have quite a collection, which has taken us many, many months to put together. And sadly, Sarge was one of our major players that we fondly played with on a daily (if not hourly) basis.
I am a little sad to say that we probably won't be able to replace him. Mattel does indeed send you $7 in a gift card to purchase a new toy from their line of products. However, it took us about five months to track down our original Sarge (my parents actually found him in Marble Falls at their WM), and I am almost positive that once the properly painted Sarge hits the shelves, he will fly off of them just as fast as before.
So, goodbye fond friend. We will miss you. And now, Fillmore is very lonely.

Is it Monday already?

Don't you just hate that Monday feeling...especially after such an awesome weekend. I certainly don't hate my job or anything, I have the best job ever. I just always feel bad for Benjamin on Mondays because he wants to know where Daddy is. Nonetheless, we had a fabulous weekend and loved and lived up every minute of it!
David and I went down to San Antonio on Friday night for his birthday. We were able to stay down by the Riverwalk and just hang out and have a blast. We even enjoyed a round of "Feliz Cumpleaños" from a great Mariachi band at the restaurant we ate.
BTW, we HIGHLY recommend the Plaza Marriott San Antonio, one of the best hotels we've ever stayed at, they even gave us complimetary parking since it was David's birthday (a $20 gift!). Great location, super amenities, the works if you're looking to get away for the weekend!
We were gluttons for punishment and decided to go to the San Marcos Outlets on Saturday to hang out with the rest of the tax free shoppers. It really wasn't THAT bad. Once you found a parking spot, you were home free. The trouble was finding a parking spot. It took us 35 minutes to find a spot and when we did we let out a big "WooHoo" and called several people we knew to tell them of our success. Other than that, it really wasn't too bad at all. We got some great deals and David is set with a great wardrobe to begin the school year with. It's funny, the people who we told we were doing this advised us to go early and it wouldn't be so bad. This was actually not the best advice, sorry friends! About 4 p.m., the place was clearing out and I can't tell you how many empty parking places I saw on the way out of there. So, my advice to anyone who does this next year: go late! Most of the stores stay open until midnight on the tax free weekend, and some are open 24 hours a day the whole weekend. The later the better. It gets cooler, and a lot less crowded. And the stores stayed well-stocked and they all had extra staff on hand to keep everything neat and tidy, so it didn't look picked over at all. I was very surprised at how organized the whole thing was and how well replenished the shops stayed all day, even with thousands of people in and out. Certainly not the weekend you would want to work retail.
We headed home that night, but not without a stop in Austin for a little more shopping and eating a great dinner at TXLC.
Benjamin and Jonathan spent the majority of their weekend at my parents, having a blast of course. They both came home pretty tuckered out. But not too tired to enjoy a couple of hours at the water park with the Rancier MS and Killeen High faculty families-- super fun!
All I have to say is that it sure does feel like a Monday!

Happy Birthday , David!

Tomorrow is David's 34th birthday! We celebrated at home tonight with the boys. We are headed to the River Walk and other SA fun for the weekend.
Benjmain has gotten into helping with everything around the house, from cooking to cleaning to mowing to whatever he can think of to offer his help on. Today of course, he helped make Daddy's cake. I bought him his own bottle of sprinkles to assist me. However, this instantly turned into sprinkle city after I had already iced the lettering into the cake. It was a crunchy cake, but he made it with love for his Daddy.
We were also pretty proud of Benjamin tonight. While taking his bath, he started singing one of his Bible class songs he learned in Muleshoe, and they sing it here as well. He sang...
"Where is Jonathan, where is Jonathan? Did he come? Did he come? Come to Bible class. Come to Bible class. Yes he did. Yes he did."
He sang that through several times inserting various "friends"...
"Where is Daddy..."
"Where is Mommy..."
"Where is Lightning..."
"Where is Mater..."
"Where is Sally..."
"Where is Red..."
"Where is Doc Hudson..."
"Where is Hudson Hornet..."
It's good to know that our Cars friends are starting out with a firm foundation!

Church Update / Splish Splash

Just wanted to update you all and thank you for your prayers on our behalf. We feel as though we have probably found our church home at the church of Christ in Belton. This past Sunday was just as great as the previous one, even better actually.
Benjamin not only went to his class with no problem, he about left me in the dust to get there. David and I also enjoyed our class a great deal again. When we raised our hands to indicate we were guests, a girl toward the front turned around and looked at me and said "It's Kristi Pawlik." Wow. I hadn't heard that in awhile!
It was Brooke Stephens (now Monroe), a girl I was in GATA with at ACU. We met up after class and it was great! I also bumped into Holly Hutton (now Mock), another ACUer who happened to grow up in Muleshoe! My ACU streak continued as I saw several other alums from our time period "on the hill." It was so neat to meet up with some great people. We even went to lunch with a big group of the young marrieds class afterward. They are all at that same time of life we are, little kiddos and all!
This past Sunday can only be described as very refreshing. The girls invited me to their SAHM's (stay-at-home mom) group tomorrow at the church building. Their group is preparing the meal for tomorrow night before church and I am excited to tag along and get to visit a little more.
The timing of this couldn't be better. A girl who I had gotten to know in our MeetUp group is actually going back to work next week and I was a little concerned about Benjamin's new friends (the twins I described in a previous post) not being at the MeetUp events anymore. So, hopefully this will really get him connected to some of the kiddos from church.
Today was our last MeetUp with the twins and their mom, along with the rest of our group. Let me tell ya, this area has so much to offer families with tots, and most of it is free if not super cheap! We went to "Splash Park" in Belton today and it was a blast! These new "splash pads" seem to be popping up everywhere. Benjamin described it as the "fwat (flat) pool," which is somewhat correct. It is a large area (this one is a cowboy theme) filled with fountains and sprayers and gidgets/gadgets all geared to the littler crowd. He had a blast. And Jonathan just loved watching all of the kids, he stayed quite content for well over an hour just gawking at all the kiddos. One of the other MeetUp moms comented that he is always so content at our events. It's because has the best entertainment-- a bunch of toddlers running around like crazy! What more could a baby ask for?
Again, this is another great place if you are ever in our area with kids. And if you are, you better call us to join you!

The Boy who Cried Wolf, err, ankle?

Benjamin has been quite the actor lately. We're not exactly sure how to address this issue either. Shortly before our trip to Muleshoe, he tripped over his own two feet and we gathered that he may have rolled his ankle slightly. That day he limped a little bit and we went back and forth as to whether to take him to the doctor. No swelling. No redddess. When you messed with his ankle he just giggled. He did offer the occasional "Daddy, fix my foot, please." This of course earned him some major points in the sympathy department and an afternoon of laying on the couch watching Cars.

But there was still the matter of this limp. He seemed to be even limpier as the weekend went by and we decided that if he was still doing this after Muleshoe, we would take him in.

Of course our big trip came and there was no sign of a limp whatsoever, and we all just sort of forgot about it. Until we came home. There was that limp again. What was even more amazing was how it switched feet every now and then. The original injury (can we even call it that?) was on his right foot. Now, the problem seemed to have magically jumped to the left. "My foot, please fix it," as he points to his left foot.

Hmmm. Funny how this injury comes and goes during very specific times, too. Like, bed time. Or clean up time. It vanishes when we go play outside. But, it will return when we need to take our plate to the sink after we eat.

David and I are both a little nervous that he's about to out smart us both. Yikes!

Fun Times on the Farm

Well, we got back from Muleshoe Thursday evening and we all crashed pretty early. We had such a blast! David was eagerly awaiting our arrival with surprises for all of us!
We stayed with the Hootens, our really good friends. Gary & Hollye became Benjamin's & Jonathan's "Muleshoe Grandparents" while we lived there (and still are!). It was so nice to have such good people take care of us the four years we spent there. They truly are family to us and we miss them to pieces.
They live a few miles outside of town on their farm and Benjamin had such a blast just playing the whole time. Jonathan worked very hard on his "rolling" skills and conquered their entire living room floor. He set his mind to it and rolled from one side to the other-- constantly!
We were also able to catch up with lots of friends at church Wednesday night and it just felt good to be back in West Texas.
I also got to hang out on my own with my two best girlfriends, Koti & Deborah. Koti and I spent a good deal of time trying to convince Deborah that she could at least tell us what she is having (my bet is on boy!). We promised her secret was safe with us. However, she was a tough cookie and we never did break her down. I will say she is quite the adorable pregnant gal! It is funny to actually see Deborah pregnant because she is absolutely the epitome of motherhood to me. When I met her four years ago, she already had Jacob & Riley and we were still just David & Kristi. I feel like I learned A LOT from watching her before Benjamin was born. I also distinctly remember calling her on the phone the morning after we brought Benjamin home from the hospital and just crying saying "you didn't tell you it was this hard the first night!"
She sort of chuckled and let me know that she just didn't want to scare me. So it is just super interesting to see her as a pregnant lady. Maybe she'll be calling me after her first night home with little Johnny...or Janie? C'mon, Deborah, you can tell me! I am so far away now, who would I tell? Don't actually answer that, we all know I would be on the phone so fast with Koti! :)
We really just had such a super time catching up with everyone and I know Benjamin just had a blast on the farm. Although at times he got a bit cranky (who needs sleep when you're at Gary's & Hollye's?) he still is talking about that fish tank in the barn and painting with Hollye! Too fun.

Headed West

Just wanted to let everyone know that we won't be posting for a few days. The boys and I are headed to Muleshoe for a few days to catch up with good friends before the school year sweeps everyone away into hectic times. Pray for safe travels.

Oh, and an update on the church situation. We think we may have found a good fit for us up the road in Belton. We are going to visit next weekend again. We visited once before, but going to class there today really helped us meet come folks. And, it has been the first place that Benjamin had no problems staying in class and actually talking all about what he had done. David and I enjoyed the adult class and it looks like there are a TON of young families. There were lots of kids in Benjamin's class and he's in the "older two's," so imagine how many in his age range. Lots of little friends for Jonathan, too! I was very impressed with the class set up. I told the teacher to feel free to get me if she needed to and then she told me all about the "pager system." Each child has their own pager for their mom & dad to keep if they are needed back in their class. Very cool. And we didn't even get a page! Enjoyed the service very much, too.

A really nice couple our age sort of took us "under their wings" when they realized our boys were in the same class. They were very helpful. She is also a SAHM (stay-at-home mom) and invited me to lots of fun activities for all of the SAHMs during the weekdays.

We are really looking forward to visiting there again!

I am sure we will have some fun pics and stories from Muleshoe when we return!

Welcome to Rancier Middle School!

Hi Everyone!

I thought I would take a turn blogging, and introduce y'all to my new campus, Rancier Middle School, one of 11 middle schools in the Killeen ISD. Rancier is the proud home of the Ka-Roos (pronounced Kay-Roos). What is a Ka-Roo? Long story. Rancier is the oldest middle school in Killeen, and the original feeder school to Killeen High, home of the Kangaroos. So, many years ago, it was decided that Killeen's future Kangaroos would first be Ka-Roos. Our mascot is a kangaroo, just like that of KHS. I'm really excited about starting my new job here. The teachers return August 20th, and school starts August 27th. Please pray for a smooth start to the school year! Here are a few pics of the campus. If you're ever in Killeen, give us a holler. We'd love to show you around!

David

Prayer Request

Hi there. David & Kristi both here. We just wanted to put out a prayer request to our family and friends during this "transition" time in our lives. We are really struggling with finding the right church home here. We have visited several places, one of which we really like, however, we are still not ready to place membership. With several churches in our area, it's hard to know for sure which is the right fit for us for the long term. We are trying to avoid just being "attenders." We want to be an active part of a body. We also feel as though we are trying to duplicate different aspects of previous churches we have been members of, instead of looking at this as an entirely new experience. So our prayer request is to be led to the right church home. If we need to step out of our comfort zones we can. Just pray for us.

Thank you!

Woohoo! WJHS is Recognized!

I am so excited for my very awesome husband! We just found out that Watson Junior High School in Muleshoe (where he was just the principal the last four years) was rated as a RECOGNIZED school for his last school year there ('06-'07)! This is great news and I feel as though everyone at WJHS deserves this honor! The TAKS test was stressful on everyone, but it looks like the Mule Crew did a FABULOUS job! Way to go, WJHS! And congratulations, David! We are so proud of you. What an awesome accomplishment.

Inflatable Funland-- so fun!

I have been getting together with this playgroup every so often to try to meet some other moms with kids our kids' ages. Today was our third outing and we met at the coolest place ever! If you are ever in Temple with little ones, you MUST go to Inflatable Funland on I-35 (www.inflatablefunland.com). We had such a blast.
Benjamin even conquered his fear of super steep slides! He has really enjoyed three other little boys in the group, two of which are twins. They are all about his age. We pretty much had the run of the place so all of the kids had a great time. It even had the "Chuck E. Cheese"- like security system with the wrist bands so I could let Benjamin run around like the wild man he was and I could push Jonathan around in his stroller with no worries. And hand sanitizer stations, too: what a dream!
Whoever invented this place needs a pat on the back. A secure, air-conditioned, very clean, HUGE playground-- absolute perfection!