You might remember how our first experience with seeing a "real-live" Ronald McDonald went ... Evan was more interested in his food than Ronald.
from August 2007 - a surprise visit with Ronald in Virginia
Evan got into yesterday's experience much more! This was a planned visit including a show by Ronald. We got there a couple of minutes late, and it got pretty crowded. Evan found a spot to sometimes sit and sometimes stand and to see the show. He seemed pretty captivated! He got called up to "assist" on the last trick. In fact, he was the last volunteer called. He was very excited because he got to hold the biggest wand. (A little background on the trick: There were several colored scarves in the cylinder and the trick was to turn them into the biggest smile. The first assistant was given an itty-bitty magic wand. It didn't work, so Ronald decided they needed a bigger wand. The first assistant got loaded up with bigger wands until she couldn't hold anymore. Another assistant got a big wand, and then Evan was called up to hold the biggest wand. Okay, that was more than a little background, but hopefully the rest of the pictures will make more sense now.)
Evan kept "hitting" Ronald with the stick. Evan will tell you that Ronald did it himself and then said, "Evan, stop hitting me!!"
Evan thought it was hilarious!
All the kids pointed at the cylinder with their wands and everyone said the magic words, "Have a banana!"
It worked! Evan thinks it was because of him and his wand!
He got a prize for helping out with the trick. It was a dinosaur Happy Meal toy from the previous set. He had been looking at those posters and seeing that dinosaur, but we never got one of the Happy Meals. It was the best prize he could have gotten!
They also gave away door prizes and Evan won a gift certificate from The Little Gym! Looks like he will get to take some gymnastics lessons this fall!
You may have noticed that Joel was absent from this post. That's because he was not so involved, at least not in a good way. He sat with me for most of the show, but did watch some of it. By the end he got really tired (I think from his morning at the pool), and he literally fell asleep on the play area floor. I had to wake him up to go take pictures with Ronald. By the time we got there, he decided that he didn't want to take a picture with Ronald after all. So, he didn't. Here are Evan's pictures with Ronald, though. How cute are they!!
Then we went to get a few sandwiches to take home for dinner. All of the kids who met Ronald got an autograph and either a huge bouncy ball or a pinwheel. My boys got bouncy balls, and while we were waiting for our food Joel asked me to open his. What he DIDN'T say was that he wanted me to start it and he wanted to finish it. What he DID DO was throw a fit when I opened it all of the way. He was crawling around the dining room floor, laying down in walkways, screaming and crying, etc. When we started to leave, he crawled to the front door, still screaming. He finally stood up and walked to the car. Once there he wouldn't sit in his seat to get buckled. (Since the van is in the shop, we were in the car with booster seats that use a regular seatbelt.) Once he finally got buckled, he proceeded to unbuckle himself and open the door. So, he got re-buckled, the child lock got set on his door, and we finally left the parking lot. By this time I was hot, sweaty, tired, and IRRITATED!!! I knew it was because he was really tired, but he was completely irrational!! The whole ride home he was trying to unbuckle and Evan was trying to cover up the buckle so that he couldn't. Joel was screaming and crying and hitting at Evan. Evan was quite the trooper and didn't hit him back (I think) and didn't start crying back (which is what he often does). What is so ironic is that before we left, Evan was being completely uncooperative and didn't even want to go. Joel was being an angel and was very excited about it. So, something changed in the car ride or at the show and their attitudes and behaviors completley reversed. What was so difficult was that nothing I said or did to Joel made any difference in his behavior.
So, that's why these pictures are getting posted today instead of last night. I was still pretty irritated about the while thing. I feel much better today, even though I got up with Joel at 2am because he was awake and in the kitchen eating. Actually, Steve got up first and took care of the kitchen. Then I went into Joel's room to try to get him back to sleep. Eventually, I went back to my own bed. From there I caught Joel trying to leave his room MANY times, but he finally went back to sleep.
So, today I am less irritated and able to write about it. I just hope that BOTH of the boys are behaving well for their dad at the waterpark.
