Hubby and I actually got to go on a "date" together yesterday.  Our venue of choice?  Ruby Tuesdays (with a gift card) and a stroll through the book store without anyone crying, needing to go pee, or begging for books we can't afford.  It was an awesome afternoon!

I picked up a couple of books for my science class and a book called Amazing Word Power, 100 words Every 5th Grader Should Know.  I had flipped through the book in the store and realized that words like prodigious and reticent are lacking from my pool of knowledge.  Since anyone who knows me can declare that I strive to be smarter than a 5th grader, I figured we (as a collective family) could all use a vocabulary boost.

Our first words were reminisce and conclude; both words that we have seen and heard several times before.  We all took turns coming up with sentences and really beat those words to death!  It was funny to see how the girls could finagle the words into conversation.  A had a little trouble grasping "conclude", but she got the hang of it in the end, and the girls were begging for more words!

This morning we set off on a family adventure to Build-A-Bear Workshop.  C got a gift card for a BAB zebra (he LOVES zebras like Marty on Madagascar) for his birthday.  We told the other kids that they could each pick one of the most inexpensive bear friends to help C in celebrating his special day. 

C was quite overwhelmed by the sheer size of the store.  There was so much to see and touch, and then he saw MARTY!  So exciting!  He latched right onto the flaccid equine and would have been perfectly happy to take him home in his unfluffed state.  Poor C didn't know the fun that lay in store for him!

After all of the kids had made their choice, we filed over to the "Stuffing Station", where Marty and his pals were stuffed, sewn and filled with "love".  On to the "Fluffing Station" for some grooming and then the "Dressing Station" to finish things off.  C was so cute, not letting Marty out of his grip as he picked out a t-shirt for him to wear.  He ended up with a white one with red sleeves that read "Happy Birthday".  It was quite fitting for the event!

The other kids had fun too.  R picked out a High School Musical bear, complete with necklace and t-shirt.  She named him Teddy Roosevelt since he was instrumental in starting the teddy bear as a trend.  She has reverted to calling him Gabriella though, so I think the bear may end up with some gender confusion issues in the future.

A chose a koala that she named Coconut.  She bought her a green St. Patrick's Day t-shirt with a frog on it and put little white ribbons in her hair ears.  She also worked hard when we got home to turn the box she was sent home in into a real home for her new friend.  Then she used it as a robot mask...

M knew which friend he wanted as soon as he saw it.  He picked out a grey tiger striped cat with pink ears and a pink nose.  He instantly named him Sonic and will have words with anyone who calls him a cat.  It's not a cat, it's Sonic.  Duh.

We stopped and had Friendlys for lunch, which is always a huge treat!  Lunch in a restaurant and ice cream!  It doesn't get much better than that!  Hubby took some cute pictures of the whole adventure, but I'm having a hard time posting them.  I'll come back and try to edit them into this post later for all those who are dying to see how the trip went!