Queenies Little Kingdom

Every summer before we head back to school….we like to end our free-time by going to Cincinnati to The Beach Waterpark. It’s a small waterpark near King’s Island that has just enough fun to make you think you’ve gone somewhere fantastic! Growing up in south Florida and spending most of your time either at the beach or on a lake skiing can really spoil ya!

I miss Florida. For those special places and for family that is there. Which for us….is our whole family! We’re the only ones gone.

Yesterday was our big trip to the waterpark. We tried on Wednesday but a monsoon rainstorm washed out most of our Ohio valley area here on Tuesday. By Wednesday…..it was still yucky and hubby was deathly ill. He spent most of his vacation week in bed sick. Isn’t that how it goes? Anywho. We decided to take off and just go (on Friday). When we arrived there….we found our spot…which were the only 4 chairs left in the park and one was broken. It was in the shade (which was nice) but we were craving some SUN! Haven’t had any all summer….and then the water. OH MY GOODNESS….THE WATER!?! Due to the bad rain, they had to refill the entire park. WITH ICE COLD OHIO WATER!

I couldn’t take it. People were trying so hard to have fun….but the shivering and blue skin gave away their freezing state. We still had fun. By 5 o’ clock….it was cloudy, dark and we felt a few raindrops, which was our sign to hit the road. We usually stay late until closing time, but not this time. We split!

We hit IKEA and did some shopping. Hubby hadn’t been and he really wanted to stay there forever. We picked up the bed Ally found on Wednesday and loaded it up like hillbillies. Then took off for dinner. We broke tradition and didn’t eat at Bob Evan’s (I know, Wow)….we found an Uno’s Chicago Grill. YUM! Love their deep dish Chicago style pizza!

We had a great day!

One thing though….on our drive home we made it back into Indiana and came upon an awful accident. We were able to reroute around it, but the time we spent sitting in the traffic was terrible. Ambulance after ambulance came past us. Emergency vehicles kept coming and whizzing by. It was very disturbing! We prayed for those involved. It was a sad way to end our evening. We couldn’t help but feel concerned. I kept reminding myself and the kids, “God is in control”!

Dad & Gates…after riding the icy slide!

Ally & Gates posing with Mr. Seahorse

Me with Miss Gates in front of the Wave pool aka The Ice Pool!

Gavin & Evan floating down the lazy river.

Tyler & Ally before pizza at Uno’s

My girls have the wildest imaginations. They get that from me. Dreaming is part of our genetic make-up. Ally has been fantasizing about changing her room around for a while. She really hated the light pink color on her walls that we painted 7 years ago. It was definitely time for a change.

On our big bust trip to The Beach Waterpark yesterday…. (we were rained out) we stumbled upon IKEA. Oh sweet mercy! Can you say…heavenly? It was divine! I hadn’t been lucky enough to visit one yet. But I’ve heard, friends….I’ve heard all about the fantastic-ness of IKEA! I must say, it was fabulous! I could’ve spent quite a bit more time there. Which brings me back to Ally. She loved that place and found just the bed she’s been dreaming of…..for $89!

Isn’t it pretty? The bed, not the bedding!

She picked out new paint on Monday when we were out shopping for college stuff for Gavin. Her room is ripped apart for the paint work (which is now almost finished). She and Tyler have been busy painting. They ran out after painting two walls. Back to the hardware store only to find out they were out of the base needed to make her paint. So they headed to Lowe’s and they were able to match it. So it’s back to the grindstone here. Still have plenty to work on.

I’m proud of her for taking the initiative to redo her room all on her own. Hopefully she gets her vintage shabby chic bedroom very soon. Change is good.

I keep telling myself that these days…

We started late….in the day that is. But that’s just how we roll. Mornings are sacred to my night-time lovin family. We treasure a little morning snooze and breakfast after 10ish 11ish. The day wasn’t wasted though. The stops we had to make were all fairly easy ones…..TJ Maxx, Target, Dollar Tree, Sam’s, Big Lots….then to the shoe store, Hibbett’s.

Just about every store we hit….we scored! It was as if heaven parted the way for us to find very important items at or below our budgeted price. Sweet, huh? The only big thing we didn’t get today was his mini fridge. That is still up for debate. We found a good one for less than $100 ($94) at Target. But, it doesn’t have a real freezer section in it. The one we really like is on sale for $158 at both Target and Menards. It’s equipped with both fridge and freezer seperate. For what he’ll be needing….the freezer section is pretty important. Ice is special to us! As much as pizza rolls and burrito’s! 🙂 Yea, we know how to live high!

TJ Maxx had the bed in a bag deal! Perfect…and the sheets feel pretty nice too. He really likes it. The colors are navy, red and white. Manly! Oh and a set of towels too. Nice and fluffy, the way towels should be! We picked up the command strips and hooks for his walls at Big Lots. We grabbed an under the bed storage box, a $10 floor lamp from Target and he had to have a plug-in kettle (for the GRITS he must eat)…all super cheap.

We’re getting there. Little by little. Rome wasn’t built in a day, ya know? Oh I almost forgot to tell his favorite find today…..his backpack! We found a really nice one at Sam’s ($39.95) but it was really plain looking….no color choices. So he waited. We stopped to look at shoes in Hibbett’s (didn’t find any) but noticed backpack’s were on 20%off. He tried a few on, most felt flimsy and cheap. As we were about to walk out, he spotted a rack of Ogio’s. (I had told him earlier that I was trying to win him an Ogio on a blog contest…cause they are SUPER NICE).

The cool thing? I had a $10 off coupon for anything over $20. Plus, they were on sale. Yay! He picked the coolest one too (brown plaid). Go see for yourself. He will be thankful for it when he starts dragging around that laptop!

Moving forward. Everyday!