PROM NIGHT!

I wanted to get a few of these pictures posted quickly for those of you who have been so eagerly anticipating this event. Doesn't she look absolutely beautiful? I will give you all the details in my next post. Jeff and I are off soon to help with the after-prom party from 11:30pm to 3:30am. Haven't stayed up that late for awhile. Hope these old bones can make it. More later...

We're back from vacation! Oh, the tales I have to tell... We had such a delightful time with my folks and our friends, the Barnett's. My first, and oh-so-very-exciting news (drum roll please!) I fulfilled my life-long wax museum dream. Jeff and I went on an anniversary date one evening to Olive Garden and the Hollywood Wax Museum. I now realize that I have wasted much time longing to do something which actually proved quite boring. All the wax celebrities were in little roped off areas, only to be viewed from afar. I wanted to get up-close and personal. I did scale the ropes into the Forest Gump display so Jeff could take my picture sitting on the bench with Tom (yes, we're on a first name basis now!) Jeff was a very good sport and posed for all the goofy pictures I wanted. Did you know that wax figures kind of look like dead people? Well, either that or those weird little apple doll people that crafty folks used to make in the 70's. All in all, a bit of a disappointment, but the company was the best!

We also discovered that the "$3.99 Breakfast Buffet" is not all it's cracked up to be. We naively believed it would be a tasty, yet pleasantly affordable option for a family of five, however it was really quite bad. We decided it was worth splurging on IHOP! Our most memorable meal was at Lambert's Cafe, home of the roll-throwing waiters. Home also to perhaps the tastiest fried potatoes ever!

We also spent several hours at the Bass Pro Shop in Springfield. While this might not sound like an interesting event to all us un-outdoorsy types, it actually was quite interesting, and definitely a bevy of scrapbook moments. Jeff and I were talked into buying air-soft pistols for both boys (definitely not by Grandma, who was the lone voice of reason!) thinking it would be a bonding kind of thing for them. We of course set down some ground rules (the mandatory wearing of the goggles, no shooting at close range, etc., you get the gist) The next morning as David was happily (blissfully unaware, mind you!) shooting at some targets in the woods, Christian approached from behind, called his name and shot him in the belly from about 3 feet away! This ended the bonding experience!

We also spent an afternoon at the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. This was of course, for Christian, our connoisseur of odd, creepy trivia. Here we met with such wonders as the Unicorn Man, Laurel and Hardy painted on a lone pumpkin seed, an 8-ton ball of string, and yes, I speak the truth, a raw-mutton-holding man who sat inside an oven until the mutton was done!

Some other highlights were shopping at the outlet malls (you will get some differing opinions in our home on whether this was a highlight or not!) seeing Ice Age 2 on Imax, many trips to Starbucks, playing tennis, golf, the hot tub, lots of games, and lots and lots of family time!

Well, this concludes the chronicles of Graves family vacation! TTFN!