Party at the Bassetts!

Shelly and Ken invited me to come to their house for a fun time. It wasn't long until Ken and Shelly sneaked off. Something about Mexico, vacations, blah, blah, blah.... Bye Ken! Bye Shelly! Just so you know, when the cats are away, the mice are going to play!

Caden immediately offered to show me what a techno wiz he is. Seriously, does everyone under the age of 30 have an extra gadget gene that the rest of us were born without?
He had no problem streaming in Puss 'N Boots,

Ava enjoyed demonstrating how she likes to flip her head to make her hair fly.

While Kailyn and Jordan were at school, Caden and Chase kept themselves busy with workbooks.

We ended the day on Thursday with a rousing game of "Clue". Team Chase/Grandma won, and we didn't even resort to cheating!

The next morning, Ava decided to send out a 5:30 am wake-up call. Yep, break me in gently, Miss Bedhead! Don't forget, 5:30 Sioux Fall is 4:30 Billings time.  I wish I had a picture of her shocked and appalled face when I was the one to get her out of bed instead of her Mom.

 No wait, I really don't want to see the face again--you kinda hurt my feelings there, Ava!

It was hard to stay mad as she frantically signed "more, more, more"! Apparently the 7 cups of cereal, aplesauce, mashed kidney beans, yogurt, raisins, milk, and peaches she had last night were inadequate.

The fun thing about these Bassett children is that if ONE child gets up, they ALL get up. That story I told everyone about how it was still the middle of the night didn't convince them. Kailyn and Jordan have learned to tell time, dang it! If they all appear to be watching TV at the breakfast counter, well....remember it was 4:30 my time, I'm still recovering from that head injury, and it was an important, character-building 30 minute cartoon called "Adventures in Values". Have I mentioned I have a head injury? By the way, the Bassetts have only one station on their TV and even that is iffy. If the world falls apart while I'm here, can someone email me?

 

When breakfast (and the tv show) was over, it was almost 6:15. The girls have today and Monday off of school. That left time for computer math games and

 reading. I'm surprise Kailyn has a book to read, since I'm pretty sure she reads 23/7.

Then it was off to Xcite---a cool indoor playland for families.

Like Chucky Cheese, you can spent a year's income on tokens to play games and earn tickets.

Here are the three youngest Bassetts, demonstrating how to get the most value from a token.

 The place also had several fun bouncy toys.

The kids played for several hours on the toys.

Even Ava had a grand time bouncing...

...and squealing in delight when Jordan and Kailyn took her down the slides.

The kids traded in $700,312 in tickets for .50c worth of candy. Wow. I did not see that coming!

Of course, we had to stay and eat their delicious food. Think Chucky Cheese leftovers-type quality.

We ate here because apparently Kailyn NEVER gets hot dogs, and Xcite has 3 varieties.

Poor Ava, up since the crack of dawn, could hardly keep her eyes open during the meal, but kept on chewing the food I shoveled in as she napped. After lunch, we bounced for another hour, then...

 used ALL of Shelly and Ken's free ice cream at Burger King coupons. Jordan suggested it. Said we need to celebrate Grandma's being there. How could I argue that?

 It's been a long, active day, and a few of us were having a hard time staying awake on the way home. Despite several attempts, I could not wake poor Chase for an hour after we got home. I know how you feel, buddy! Just don't mess with my go-to-bed time tonight!