Cute Kid Stuff

I've been collecting things my kids say that are adorable. It's time to put them here before the kids erase them from my phone. :)

The Boy:

I know a great recipe for mud.  Dirt and water.  I know how to make salty mud, too! Dirt, salt, and water.


Mom, I want to play a board game. Why? Because I'm bored!


With my new bike I can totally win first place in the slow motion bike race!


Zsa Zsa:


I say Zsa Zsa in Dutch. Zsa Zsa in Dutch. I DID it! 


I was reading the Ensign (church magazine). Zsa comes up and says, "That's Jesus! Does he say, 'behold'?"


I think the baby is gonna pop out and do a funny dance like this!  (funny dance commences complete with jazz hands)


Aunt Nancy asked Zsa what our new baby's name would be. She paused and seriously considered before stating, Sleeping Beauty. 


CJ:


Smiled while she was awake. :D 

Camping 2.0

My sister talked me into going camping with her family this weekend. You know, because it went so well the last time. Briefly, here's how the last time went; I had a less than 18 month old, was hugely pregnant, and it rained. The whole time. Our tent nearly floated away. Yes, really. The boy cried the entire night so we packed up camp at two am and drove home. It was pretty much the worst camping experience ever.

Needless to say, I was reluctant to try camping again. Really reluctant. But my sister had an ace up her sleeve; flushy toilets. In my opinion, flushy toilets can make or break a camping trip.

Here it is, in pictures. Pictures I took with a REAL camera, no less! Be impressed.

Yeah, nobody said I was GOOD at taking pictures. 

Just that I can occasionally use a half way decent actual camera. :P

Red Fish Beach

 Paddle Boat Ride

The View. Honestly, I fell in love with Idaho again on this trip. 

On the way home we stopped at Smilie Creek Lodge

Someone did NOT want their picture taken. 

The Grumps had set in.

And the sleepies. 

If that's not the most tired you can be while still eating ice cream, it's close. 

Movie Reviews: Gnomeo and Juliet

Because this movie is already out on video, I'm just going to give you the lowdown: Red Box it if you must.

The story has been done to death. Putting it in the context of Garden Gnomes did not, in any way, take away the stench of overdone-ness. It also wasn't worth the extra money for 3D.
The only positive thing I have to say about this movie is, at least the 3D didn't make me sick.

The war between the owners of the two gardens was by far the most entertaining part of the entire thing. Catching the Shakespeare references also helped pass the time.

My friend and I took two ten-year-olds, two four-year-olds, a two year-old and a one-year-old to this movie.

The older kids sat through it, but didn't have much to say on the way home. My four-year-old liked it, because the pictures moved and talked! (He's easily entertained. Also, he likes Dora and Diego so maybe his tastes aren't the most discerning.) The other four-year-old was all over the place, but that's just kinda her general reaction to the world at large.
The two-year-old sat through it fine, and the baby had the most honest opinion: she kept trying to get up and leave.

Fighting Over Prayer

I love my children. I love their little hearts and their enthusiasm for prayer. I do not love that every family or meal prayer contains a fight over who gets to voice the prayer.
There are typically three prayers in the day we say as a whole family. There are four of us. Daddy is pretty good at putting people in rotation, but of necessity, SOMEONE is bound to get left out on a certain day. Usually it's a parent. Yesterday it was The Boy, and he was heartbroken. I tried to explain, but he felt so left out of our family that it made me so sad.

How do I help these little people understand that prayer is special? That it's a chance for us to visit with our Father in Heaven and be thankful for our many blessings? It's not a popularity contest, it's not something to be fought over?

Needless to say, the Spirit has be lacking in our home at prayer time for a while now. This is not helped by a two year old who doesn't see the need to maintain prayer manners if she's not the one saying the prayer.

I'm at my wit's end. Advice? PLEASE?

Father and Sons, a Mom's Perspective

This weekend is our church Father and Sons camp out. The Boy has been practically apoplectic with excitement for a good week now. This morning I did some last minute shopping for things like buns and s'more fixn'ns. The Boy REALLY wanted to come shopping with me, but not enough to stop watching a movie and get dressed in the 90 minute window I gave him. He was kinda pathetic running down the drive in his super hero undies and pj top with tears and snot dripping down his otherwise handsome face.
So sad that he has to suffer the consequences of his actions, isn't it? I know. I win the Best Mother Award.
(Just so no one calls CPS, The Hubs works from home and was on board to take over if he didn't get dressed in time.)
When it came time for the guys to leave on their trip, Zsa Zsa was just so sure she'd be going, too. And why not? She always gets to go when Daddy leaves!
As she snuggled me on the couch in tears I asked her if she thought she was a girl or a boy, and with out missing a beat, she said, "I a BOY!" This statement was made just that much more hilarious by the pink and frilly tutu around her waist.
So I've done my best to make our girl time special. We watched Gone With The Wind and Caillou and I made exactly what she requested for dinner, "eggies and straw-babies". Later, she gets to take a spa bath and have her nails painted. And maybe, if she's a very good kid, I'll play trucks with her before bed. But only if we get to wear our pink tutus.

PS: I have to say, if I had all boys I'd really look forward to Father and Sons all year long; but if I had all girls, like my mother, I'd dread it. How awful to have to stay home with FIVE girls and no help! Sorry, Mom.

Randomness

• This morning, The Boy dressed in front of his bedroom mirror. Apparently this is the first time he's done it, because he came out of the bedroom flicking his nipples and said, "Mom? What are these?" I was hard-pressed to keep a straight face as I answered. You'd better believe The Hubs and I got a laugh out of that after bedtime.
• My little Zsa Zsa is turning into quite the talker. Gems like, "Mom! I do it mySELF!" and "O-nja, I lika da o-nja." (Orange) are common.
• She throws hissie fits when she can't be understood or when she can't do something she really REALLY wants to do. So...I'd say a minimum of 10 times a day. Today it was kite flying, or if you're Zsa Zsa, "tight! I fye it! TIGHT!!!"
• The above mentioned kite came with us to the park for our picnic. It turns out it's really much easier to fly kites without kids around. Every time I got the stupid thing airborne, one of The Boy's silly friends would step on the tail (it's a very long tail) and the kite would come crashing back to earth. If, by some miracle, I managed to get the thing airborne and hand over control to a kid, the kid would do something to de-elevate the kite. It was a disaster, but one enjoyed by the many mothers who watched me run like an idiot with a two-year-old in one arm and kite string in the other. I'm pretty sure they were the only ones enjoying it.
• While we're on the subject of picnics, I don't know why I bothered to bring food. I'm the only who eats when we go on a picnic. Each of my kids ate just enough to sustain a fruit-fly and then ran off to play. You'd think that would pretty much ensure a good dinner, right? Nope. They pecked at dinner and then scarfed the raw cookies I made for dessert. And then asked for eggs.
• I really, really enjoy my kids. Especially after bedtime, when they are no longer whining at me.

Kiddo Update

Sorry for the several weeks worth of gap in posting. We moved and I've been building a train table for the kids' Christmas. Just so you know, it's cheaper to get a train table off Craigslist than build one from scratch, but if you want a very nice, very new train table, build it. I'll do a post soonishnest on the whole shebang.

Here's what the kids are up to, more for my records than anything.

ZSA ZSA

• Is talking a LOT. Every sentence starts with, "I want".
• Likes to spin in circles until she falls down, then get up and do it again. Sometimes she says. "I fyeeing!" while wearing a cape and running in circles. 
• Says lots of things she doesn't mean, like "go away". Every time I take her up on the offer, she cries. So we've starting working on what go away ACTUALLY means. Next on the list is "hurts".
• Calls dogs (and random other things) "scaweey MONstoos" (scary monsters)

The Boy

• Is loving spending time with Grandpa. They feed the cows and take rides in the truck, during which The Boy falls asleep. (Thank you, Grandpa). My kids are so lucky to have such awesome grandparents.
• His most common sentence is, "Mom, I want you to play a game with me". At least it starts with "Mom" instead of, "I want".
• LOVES school and was sad when Thursday rolled around and we didn't have preschool. Very sad. I need to start one up here in  January. 

The Saga of a Song

Every night, Zsa Zsa and I have a routine.

I get the toothbrush, she yells "TEEF!!!" and we brush.

We say a prayer with the family.

I read her a story.

Then we shut her doors, say good night to the baby in the mirror and flip off the light after which Zsa Zsa says, "rock-a-bye".

We sit in the rocker and she snuggles into my chest and dictates the songs. 

Always the same songs.

Always in the same order. 

1. "Sunbeam!" I get two bars in and she stops me.
2. "Jesus!" This can get confusing because she either means "Sunbeam" again, or "I Am A Child of God"
3. "Heavenly Fadder!" This one is "I Am A Child of God"

This is all well and fine until we get to nursery on Sunday, because in nursery, we sing these songs. She does OK until we get to "I Am a Child of God" at which point my already tired daughter throws a MAJOR hissy fit. We're talking, screaming, falling to the floor, heal banging included, until the song is over.

Every.  Week. 

The Baby Turns Two

The Baby turns two next week week. I'm totally mixed on this, but my feelings aside, it's clear she's no longer a baby, The Baby needs another name. She calls herself Zsa Zsa, and it fits her. Also, it sounds nothing like her actual name.  Plus, I've gotten used to typing it. 

I tried to write her a poem for her birthday, something that captures the essence of Zsa Zsa.
I failed miserably. Here's my first attempt, a limerick, which wasn't my intention. I was trying to write couplets to do a sonnet.  Sadly, I haven't written any serious poetry since high school. We are SO not going to talk about how long that's been. At least two years. Eh hem.  Feel free to laugh at my rusty poetry skillz.

Zsa Zsa, A Poem

Sweet and playful, loves all things pink,

Enjoys washing up in the kitchen sink.

Pretty opinionated most of the time,

Connoisseur of books that rhyme.

Running in circles around the room,

Causing things with wheels to “vroom”.

Loves her brother and mommy too.

Dad’s the favorite, we get the clue.

                           

Spends lots of time with crayons: Color!

Loves to eat just plain old butter.

Stuffed dogs and cats, red pandas, too

Hauls them around, what hullabaloo!

Softly asks for 'Blankie' and nap.

Curls up so sweetly on mommy's warm lap.

Gently tucked in with song and kiss,

Zsa Zsa, sweet Zsa Zsa, in nappy time bliss. 

Randomness (seriously, just skip this one)

Since I'm taking some classes this semester, my sister is watching the munchkins.
I happen to be anti-daycare, mostly because I'm anti-spending money and anti-people with no language and/or interpersonal communication skills interacting with my children.

OK, mostly because I'm cheap.

When I came home the other day my sister said, "Yay! I'm free!" (she was joking... I think)
The boy replies with, "I'm three, too!"
Classic.

Earlier this week I heard The Boy say to The Baby, "You're a GENIUS!" The Baby replies with, "No, YOU'RE a genius!" This is made all the more funny when you know The Hubs tells me regularly I'm a genius, and he means it.

Halloween 2010

     I don't care which major holiday it is, it does NOT start at 4am (NOTE: my birthday being the major exception. Say, for instance, you bought me a surprise trip to Cancun for my birthday. I would cheerfully get up at 4am to make the airport on time.)
Can someone please tell my son this holiday rule, because he did not believe me when I informed him of this fact...at 4am. He wanted breakfast. He wanted oatmeal. He wanted to watch a show on the wii. He wanted to go trick-or-treating. I wanted to go back to sleep! Finally we told him to get some grapes from the fridge and be happy we weren't locking his bedroom door with him inside.

He left us alone... for 4.2 seconds. 

Then he started playing the piano. 

Loudly. 

At that point I caved and turned on Caillou via the wii, changed The Baby's diaper (because she too, found it hard to sleep through the bad piano playing) and settled my kids on the couch with a sack of grapes, and went back to bed. 

It was 5:30am. 

We attended a seriously lame Halloween "Carnival" at the local community college where my kids picked up just enough sugar to make the ride home bearable. 

After naps we tricked everyone out in costumes and headed to a chili feed and trunk-or-treat. I think next year we will just eat at home and trick-or-treat in the neighborhood. 

We did a Wizard of Oz Theme, obviously. The Hubs is the Wizard. Brother-in-law one is the Scarecrow, Sister One is a citizen of Emerald City. Niece One is Dorothy. The Boy as a Cowardly Lion, The Baby as Glenda, me as The Wicked Witch (it was a stretch to really sell the role) and Sister Three as a flying monkey.

At one point the Hubs says, "Don't believe anything The Boy says tonight." I asked why, of course. 

The Hubs says, "Because, he'll be lion."  

This cape is totally vintage. My mom wore it when she was little. It's from Germany. 

(Mom, I'm so sorry Zsa Zsa got chocolatey drool on your super awesome cape. I will have it dry cleaned!)

My sweet baby niece who totally likes me better than almost anyone but her mom and dad. :D

This may be the only pudgy-cheeked photo of one of my children you will ever see. Sadly the cheeks are artificially puffy due to the tight hood on this super sweet cape. 

Ah well. 

Also, this is the perfect photo that captures what Halloween is all about.

You can see it in the sugar-glazed eyes and the intense focus on the chocolate in her hand.

Teaching Tithing

If you take a peak at Facebook on occasion, you know we've had trouble keeping our eldest in bed at night. A marvelous friend gave us:

The Penny Suggestion 

Place two pennies outside the door. Each time he comes out, he looses a penny. 

Well, The Boy is no dummy and he caught on pretty quickly. He's also smart enough to make sure we put out pennies every night. 

We had a bit of trouble getting him to keep track of his pennies. A hole in the lid of the jar and the lesson that money can buy things seemed to fix the problem.
Last week we let him "buy" a date at the movies for ten pennies. He's already got more than 10 pennies this week and he wants to go buy a hot dog (not just ANY hot dog, but the kind that come on a stick).

Now that he's figured out money buys things he wants, I figure it's a great time to teach about tithing.
The Hubs and I are big fans of the Law of The Tithe, what with it's accompanying blessings and all. :D

I found three ideas on line which I think I'll incorporate along with the whys and hows of tithing throughout the coming week. In addition, we're going to go over splitting our money up into "tithe" "save" and "spend".

I wonder if any of you have some suggestions for me? Because this is the first time we're teaching a new principle, I'd like to do it right!

My Kiddos

I keep wondering what I should write about. Serious, serious writer's block.

So I've decided on the old stand-by, The Babies. 

Except, I'm really mad at The Boy today. 

He was VERY naughty at nursery, taking toys, pushing, stealing marshmallows....I sent him to Daddy-twice. Daddy sent him back. Then I was mad at The Hubs. 

But now they are both napping and so I like them better.

THE BABY

My Baby is the sweetest little girl, mostly. 

She cuddles, she loves to sing, 

and she has this really cute habit of babbling a lot of things only she understands and adding a word we know at the very end.

"badabadabada bankie."

"badabadabada sippie!"

She loves shoes and putting on her own pants and scissors. 

She loves Daddy and her brother (I don't even know why, he's so mean to her)

She loves Mommy

Today at church she kept pulling out the hymnal and saying 

"SONG!" 

and

"badabadababada SONG!"

really loud, during the talks.

It was cute.

THE BOY

My son is very into knights, dragons, fire birds and castles.

His auntie keeps buying him knights, dragons and fire birds and making him cardboard castles.

Now at bedtime he doesn't want a normal book, he wants a 

"pretend story" wherein he's the Star, Sir The Boy.

And we, the parents, have to come up with new and interesting story lines 

EVERY

NIGHT.

Last night it was my turn.

The story starts out with King Daddy and Draco (the good dragon) getting lost.

Queen Mommy, Sir The Boy, Baby and Buttercup go looking.

Prince Humperdink has captured Daddy and Draco. 

He wants Buttercup.

Queen Mommy has a plan.

But she needs a wheel barrow and a Holocaust Cloak. 

King Daddy and Draco are saved. 

The End

 

 

Art In The Park and A Parade

What a busy day! It's been a while since I posted pictures. What I lack in picture taking fineness (which I'd like to blame on the fact that all I ever use is the cell phone camera but what is actually my complete lack of skill) I make up for in volume.
Here we go!

This Saturday the Magic Valley Arts Council hosted their annual Kids Art In The Park. I LOVED this program when I was growing up, so naturally, I signed the Boy up for their toddler class.
He We made a plate-loom weaving in which The Boy had little to no interest, and we he painted a kite, which was THE highlight of the morning.

See how proud he is?

While The Boy and I were making Art (yes, that's a capital A) The Baby and The Hubs went to King's to pick out a special present for The Baby. She's been feeling rather neglected of late, and to assuage feelings of guilt, I authorized the purchase of stuff. (I KNOW! Now I'm one of those parents. Please don't judge me.) Of course she picked something plush, because that's just the kind of kid she is. I knew it would either be plush, or a laundry basket, since those are two very favorite things.

(Not a great picture of The Hubs, so...)

(here's The Hubs as his normally cute self)

Because that wasn't enough of an adventure for one day, we swung by Fred Meyer for some food and groceries and then headed out to Kimberly for the Good Neighbor Parade. By this point The Baby was pretty tired, but we soldiered on. 

Arriving after the parade route was closed, we parked at the start of the parade and walked along the parade route with the first police car until we met up with our friends. Luckily Kimberly is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it sized town, so it didn't take long. The parade was just about what you'd expect from a blink-and-you'll-miss-it sized town. (which makes it even funnier the actual name of the town is Kimberly City. Someone was over ambitious...) The best part for the kids was the shear volume of candy being lobbed in their general direction. Both The Hubs and I got hit on the head with sugary confections, so enthusiastic where the throwers. Our friends came prepared with grocery bags, which their kids filled in short order. The Boy ended the parade with both his and The Hubs pockets bulging with sweets. He even got a Popsicle! (that went directly into his mouth without the pocket detour) Luckily the Giant Twinkie handing out edible Twinkies missed us. I can handle my kids eating sugar, but not if I can read the ingredients. I can't in good conscience allow them to consume any quantity of high fructose corn syrup. 

notice the candy wrapper in his hand

again, classic case of candy-mouth

notice the stickers given to my son 

by politicians we don't support, but which are stickers

 and thus VERY important to three-year-olds

The rest of the day was taken up by studying at the library, a trip to Costco and the city library and setting off the last of our fireworks stash. (at least until they go on sale again for the 24th of July)

The Boy did about half our sparklers stash, and wanted to do more fireworks after we'd lit everything. I'm glad he enjoyed it!

Tree House Museum (Warning, Picture Overload)

We met up with some friends while in Northern Utah and hit up The Tree House Museum.

Here's way to many pictures of that visit.

Of COURSE there was a fire engine. 

And of COURSE The Boy had to drive it. 

Since he did

So did she.

And since my camera is old and stupid, it over-exposed even on automatic adjust.

Plus, I need to learn to take pictures.

Teaching him the proper way to bull ride was a trick. He didn't want to use the left hand to hang on, but he figured out the underhanded grip pretty quick.

Milking this cow was my favorite part. When stripped, the udder actually expresses liquid into the pail. VERY cool! Sam got wet, but I think that's because his daddy squirted him.

Here's the Prettiest Rodeo Princess EVER.

And here's her brother.

Here's the Little Momma. For some reason, all my pictures of her are over exposed. Do you think it could because she's SO white?

Here's my Scientist Son. 

He had a great time looking at slides and didn't really want to leave this station.

Which was OK, because it was right next to the baby area...

Which little miss, LOVED.

The Boy thought he'd try out the baby station, since The Baby liked it so much. 

But I can't tell if he's feeding or suffocating the doll.

Can you?

I have to say, I was a little irked at this display. I kept thinking, "yes, let's show that putting the babies in little sterile plastic boxes away from their momma's scent and heartbeat is A-OK!" 

Truly, it made me mad.

Moving On...

The Boy, with a monkey on his back.

The Hubs thought this was VERY funny.

Little Red. 

My camera died, despite two-day old batteries, so I had to switch to the cell phone camera.

More Fire Engine pictures, because we had to come back and play here.

The Hubs art project. 

He's so talented.

(Notice it's a winking imoticon.)

All the kids together. 

See that other baby next to The Baby?

She's only two months older.

Just say'n.

You made it!

THE END.

Cute Boy Stuff!

The Boy asked me, "Why I a handful?" I answer, "Because you are three".

Earlier today I was explaining travel plans to The Boy. I asked if he'd like to go see Great Grandma. He got ALL excited and said, "In the TALL house?" GiGi lives in an assisted living facility. It's two stories. I think it's awesome he remembers because it's been close to a year since we've been there.
Then he said, "and we go to THE Idaho? See Grandma?" Yep. That's my geographically savvy three-year-old. He knows Grandma lives in THE Idaho. As in, the original. The real McCoy. Not that fake Idaho some people vacation in...
My kids are the bombdiggitybombspice.com, pretty much.

Boy Stuff

It's time for a Boy Post. I'm all about equality in parenting...and blogging.

RECENT FUNNY STUFF:

We're driving in the car, and he starts to fuss, so of course The Baby joins in, because she's like that. The Boy says, "NO BABY! I CRYING! My turn to cry!" I could not help it. I laughed.

"Mom? Let's paint our house purple. I like purple, it's SO beautiful." "Um. Let's paint a picture of our house, and in the picture we can paint the house purple." "No mom! PAINT MY HOUSE PURPLE!"

(Interestingly, as I'm typing, The Baby just bit The Boy on the arse. THAT'S funny. )

OK. Back to The Boy.

We were watching General Conference (church) on TV and as the prayer starts, The Boy interjects with, "NO! I say the prayer! (Insert The Boy's Actual Name) say prayer!"

"Mom. I like your eyes. They are SO beau-i-ful!" Followed closely by, "Mom, I like your teeth, too."

Of course my favorite thing to hear from The Boy is, "I love you mom!"

FAVORITES:

Form of transportation: train

Vehicle: fire engine

Color: Blue, Red, Orange, Purple

Food: candy (he's three, what'd you expect? brussel sprouts?)

Book: Once Upon A Cool Motorcycle Dude and Not Too Much, Just Enough

Song: Stinky Feet aka The Going to Bed Song

Activity: Anything outside

Word: DUDES!

Phrase: Oh my stars! (Because we don't say "Oh my gosh" at our house)

The Pirate

Say it with me, "Arrrrr! Minnie!" Because he's a Disney Pirate, apparently. 

That's about it for my just-three-years-old little man. He's such a cutie!

He's THREE!

Look out world, we have a three-year-old. :)
He talks, he dances, he sings, AND he does not need diapers! YAY!

S's actual birthday was pretty laid back. The party was another matter entirely. 15 kids 3 and under. 7ish mommies, the DH and I were SUPPOSED to party hard at the park. Due to the rainy weather, we ended up at our house, instead. WooHoo!
I made this:

and this:

for toddler consumption, along with vanilla ice cream. The mommies munched on the leftover candy, so I didn't have to eat it all after the party. (Thank you, mommies!)
Here's the Little Man of the Hour, blowing out his candles.

Since we hardly ever have birthday parties (this was our first) we thought we'd go all out and rent a bouncer.

Obviously a stock photo, since we don't live downtown ANYWHERE.

Somehow, I thought he'd go for the dragon.

Ah well. They had fun anyway. Promise.

I love that he has to hold up his pants to bounce. Maybe I should feed him more cake?

I didn't ask any other mommy's permission to use their kids pictures, so you'll have to take my word on the number of babies that were at my house for this shin-dig and content yourself with photos of my two little munch-kins.
This was a no-present party because: A) nobody has money B) it's just after Christmas C) We have to many toys that make noise and I really didn't want more of it. Yuk.

SO, on the invites we asked that instead of presents, people bring a donation for our favorite charities: Ronald McDonald House and St. Vincent De Paul. (I included a list of their needs.) Everyone followed some of these instructions, and some people followed all of them. Nobody showed up with a present. Almost nobody showed up with a donation. Oh well. Maybe I wasn't as clear as I thought I was.
We all had fun anyway, and there wasn't much leftover cake, so I was happy.
There were quite a few leftover loot bags. If you want one, call me.

Children's Museum of Phoenix

Can I just say, I wish I was 4 again? Not just because someone else pays the bills, fixes the food and bathes me. Oh No! It's because of THIS:
(I kifed the photo from the museum's website. Hopefully they don't mind.)

The Children's Museum of Phoenix, housed in what used to be The Monroe School. This place is all about interactive fun for kids from age one to about 10. And the best part? It's FREE the first Friday of every month. Which is good, because otherwise it's $9 a person, even kids as young as one. So for my whole family it's $36. No Thank You. The only drawbacks to going on First Fridays are the crowds and the fact that it doesn't start until 6pm.
Here are some pics of my kids enjoying the exhibits.

The noodle forest was a big hit with kids and parents alike. SUPER FUN!

I don't think I ever got a picture of V's face, because the kid was having so much fun, she never wanted to look at me!

Notice I also had a hard time getting S's face. At least we know they had a good time!

The interactive kitchen was a big hit, as was the gravity room (that's what I call it). You could make your own tube track for the balls to travel, using gravity. Super fun! The DH had more fun than the kids with some parts, I think. :) Way worth the drive, especially because it was free. LOVE LOVE LOVE free stuff!