The Land Six: It's official!

We have a teenager in the house. On Monday we celebrated Jimmy's 13th birthday. He decided that he wanted to go to The Fun Spot on I-Drive.

The boys immediately wanted to ride the go karts.

After one ride Alex decided that he'd had enough. He said it made him queasy. Hard to imagine going in circles with gas fumes in your face could make someone queasy, but oh well.

We got Helen and Will armbands for the "Kid Spot" which is designed for the smaller thrill seekers. She loved the swings.

Jimmy and Alex headed over to the bumper cars. It's good to know they have the desire to inflict bodily harm on one another but can have fun while doing it.

This girl knows how to work the teacups...

while this boy prefers to sit back, relax and let the ride do the work.

Not too long after the teacups it started raining so we decided it would be a good time to break for lunch. After everyone filled their bellies it was still drizzling so we opted to stay indoors and play video games. Mike quickly discovered that most of the games upstairs were free...his favorite word. Some skee ball games later, the rain had stopped and we headed back outside.

Helen and Will tried the Frogger. It takes you up real high and then "jumps" back down and takes you up again. It's funny because when Jimmy and Alex were 6 and 4 we took them here and they unknowingly climbed on the Frogger. Needless to say they did NOT like it and wouldn't step foot on it again. When it first started Will had the same look Jimmy and Alex had, but after a while he actually started smiling. They ended up riding it five times in a row (there was no line).

Mike, Jimmy and Helen rode the big ferris wheel.

Then we let Helen and Will ride go karts. It was a much smaller track, but they still had a great time. Will crashed into the side a few times but quickly got the hang of it.

Look at that focus!

Jimmy and Mike tried their hand at some of carnival-style games. We won a couple of inflatable balls (they give them away to everyone just for playing). We spent the rest of the day playing more games and riding go karts and bumper cars. On the way home we picked up Chinese food for dinner.

Then it was time to open presents. I got this banner for Jimmy's 5th birthday and we've used it every year since. Alex informed me that I should get one for all of the kids. Silly me, why didn't I think of that? Doesn't he know by now that the firstborn gets all the good stuff.