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April called this week and asked if we could babysit. She & Guy went with her parents to see the Zac Brown Band at Winstar in OK. Of course, we said yes! Kai and Elli were so excited to know the girls were coming to sleep over and with the kids on winter break, I wanted to do something fun and memorable.
When I was a little girl, my mom would host Movie Night at our house and use Monopoly money and my friends would buy their favorite treats. The neighborhood kids looked forward to this and so did my brothers and I. It was something to this day that I have never forgotten and a tradition that I enjoy passing on. When Miles, Carissa & Miranda were little we did the same thing and they had a blast too. So I thought it would be fun to do it again with Kai & Elli.
I purchased miscellaneous candies at the store and prepared nachos, pop corn and hot dogs... all for a price, of course. I bought fake money and passed it out to the kids and made movie tickets for our triple feature.
The kids waited in line and reviewed the menu items before choosing.,,
After making their dinner selections and paying, they all sat down at the table and enjoyed a hearty junk meal! It was so interesting to watch how they made their choices based on the money they had. Maddie was very thrifty and cautious. Elli would buy a little, eat it and buy a little more. Maycee wadded her money up and would say "how many dollas, Ms. Cawee?" And, Kai didn't really care about the cost, he knew he wanted a hot dog and nachos and a soda. When I told him it would be $41, he said "Now that is expensive nachos!"
Carissa was my assistant and helped me cook and sell goods. Everyone was Ma'm and Sir and they liked that a lot.When Kai & Elli would call me Mommy, I would say "who you callin' mommy?" and that would make them giggle.
At one point Carissa sat down to enjoy some nachos and Maycee was quick to point out that she had not paid for them. I told Maycee that employees eat free and she was very satisfied with that answer.
They drank Ginger Ale from champagne glasses which we called Kid Wine.
Once they finished their feast, they purchased theatre tickets and proceeded upstairs with their children.
Here they waited in line for the opening and the ticket taker.
The kids had to have their tickets to re-enter if they needed a potty break and then they had to show it to the ticket taker. At one point Carissa came in to watch the movie. Maycee says to me "Hey, Ms. Cawee did she buy a ticket?" I had to remind heat she was an employee and Maycee says "Oh yeah, I forgot." Poor Carissa couldn't get away with anything around Hawk-Eye, Maycee. I think Maycee will make a good In-Store Security Officer or Loss Prevention Manager when she grows up!
The seating was positioned so that the kids could sit together and enjoy 3D Hannah Montanna and Call of the Wild. Before the movies began the kids reviewed the conecession stand and evaluated how much money they had and what goodies they could purchase.
Maycee acted disgusted that a blow pop was $100 and she wanted to know why it cost so many "dollas." I told her it only costs one, $100 bill and she said, "Oh that's better" LOL. Maddie, was so smart about her purchases. She looked at everything on the table, made her choices and lined out her money accordingly. When it was her turn she handed over the exact right amount of money and collected her goodies. Kai and Elli would make a small purchase, gobble it up and get back in line for another purchase. The concession stand turned over so many purchases that it finally had to close down.
With all their goodies in hand, the kids settled in with their children and anxiously awaited the start of the movie.
The kids continued to make purchases until all of the inventory was depleted and the conecession stand dude was worn out! At one point Kai gave the concession stand dude a $5 tip and Jeff got a kick out of that.
The sugar made them a little bananas at times but it was all fun.
Elli is used to sitting with me in the chair but tonight, she had to share and did not like it one bit. Maycee asked to sit with me first and half second behind her was Elli saying "that's my mommy and my chair." Then of course, Maddie was not going to be left out. I was squashed but didn't mind one bit. Moments like these go by too fast.
After the movies ended we asked the kids to clean their mess and exit the Theatre to the Kid's Game room. Upon exiting they gathered their pillows and blankies. We overheard the chatter among Elli and Maddie. It went like this....Elli says to Maddie, "your pillow smells", to which Maddie replies "it's my dad's" and Elli says, "what did he do, sit on it?" Now, I did not personally observe a smell on the pillow but these kids just crack me up with what they say when they think no one is listening!
The kids were all snug in their beds by 11PM. They had a great time and so did Mom & Dad.
