Ice Cream Social 2013

Yesterday was the 16th Annual Ice Cream Social at Peter's school.  The boys have been looking forward to it for a while.  And I've been really busy helping plan various parts of it.  Most of my Tuesday mornings over the last month or so (while Grady is at preschool) have been spent calling businesses, asking for donations.  The Ice Cream Social includes a Silent Auction, raffles, games, bounce houses and of course, ice cream.

Part of the boys excitement has been the Finding Nemo game.  Winning the game means you get to take home a goldfish.  Last year, Peter played twice and was not able to win a goldfish.  Much crying ensued and he was unable to enjoy any of the other parts of the night because he couldn't get over the lack of goldfish.

This year, we talked about it many days ahead of time.  Many times.  Even if he doesn't get a fish, there's not going to be a meltdown.  He was prepared...but very hopeful that he'd walk out with a fish.

First thing they do when we get there: head to the Finding Nemo game.  It took some time to figure out the idea of lining up and where to put your tickets when it's your turn to play.  Peter won a goldfish on his first round.  We used four extra tickets to get the little tank to carry the fish in.

Then there's Grady.  First round: didn't win.  Second round: also didn't win.  I tried to ward him off and get him to do some other games after that but he totally refused.  He was getting a fish if it's the last thing he does!  Round three: again, he doesn't win a fish.  We had to take a break then because I didn't have any more tickets in my hand.  Boris and Peter had gone off to some other game and they had the rest of the tickets.

Now it started getting complicated for me because I got enough tickets for the boys to do each game once, have an ice cream and a little extra to play a couple games twice.  We got more tickets and went back to the game.  Waiting in line this time, the girl manning the game asks Grady "what grade are you in?"  Grady was very put out to answer "I'm not in a grade.  I'm in preschool".  Grady's friend just happened to be behind us in line and he was laughing and telling his cousins what Grady said.

Finally, round four Grady won a fish.  He was very happy to hold his fish in his own little tank.  Peter named his fish "Silver Streak" because his lower half is silver.  I think Grady's fish was named Golder - obviously because he's a goldfish.

On to the rest of the games - finally.  They had a prize wall.  The kids spin the wheel and knock on the door with the matching number, then they get a prize.

The (definitely fun for the boys) Toilet Paper Toss.  Throw the roll of toilet paper and try to get it into the toilet seat.  Very Captain Underpants.  I think Peter got one out of three rolls in the toilet.  I didn't get to see Grady play it but I'm sure he had fun when he did.  The boys won a keychain compass on this game.  Today they were so excited to see where they were going using the compass.  

Also, there's the Plinko game.  It's so tall, none of the kids can reach to the top, even if they stand on a stool.  Peter used the stool method and just reached as high as he could.  Grady used the Papa method and got to put the chip in all the way at the top.

 We couldn't leave without ice cream too!  The boys were talking about all different flavors leading up to the day, but I prepped them that it would probably only be vanilla.  Of course, when you have all kinds of toppings to chose from, it's not a big deal to only have vanilla.  Grady and Papa shared an ice cream before Peter and I found them.  Peter got his ice cream with double chocolate syrup, gummy bears, oreos, whipped cream and a cherry.  He ate less than half of it, but it was so exciting to pick all the things he wanted - I think he did eat all the gummy bears.

After we were done eating, I let Peter wander off on his own to play a couple games and find some of his friends.  I was scheduled to work in the library doing stuff for the silent auction starting at 8pm, so Peter knew he could come find me as soon as he was done.  He had about 10 tickets left to spend.  He played a few games and then put the rest of his tickets into the kids raffle.  He ended up winning an ice cream date with one of the 2nd grade teachers next week (and a little tiny Hershey's bar which is why he put the ticket in that raffle bag).

The boys walked out with a bunch of prizes and fun stuff.  Including the two fish that we now have swimming in our house.  Boris took the boys home at the end of the night so I didn't see how the fish made it home.  I heard that there was a bit of water spillage on the boys pants as they were driving.

This morning when I got up, Grady came walking out with his fish in it's little tank.  He sat it on the couch and then climbed up next to it.  I freaked a little bit as I told him he can't just carry his fish around.  I said we have to put it in one place and just leave it there.  Then he says "ok, I'll leave it right here" (on the couch).  That was a big "no" from me, so the fish made it to the kitchen ledge for a little while.

Later, Grady tried to take a picture of his fish and was pushing the tank around on the ledge without being able to see what he was doing; because he wanted to get a picture of the fish from the front obviously.  I freaked out a bit again and knew that we needed a bigger tank to hold these guys before there was an accident.

So in addition to buying fish food today, we got a bigger tank and some rocks and other accessories.  It took quite a bit of convincing about the tank.  The boys were both having issues that they wouldn't be able to keep the fish in their rooms.  Then I decided that the fish we had might not make it very long so we got two extra goldfish.

So, now we have a 5 gallon tank and four goldfish.  One fish has some black.  He's been dubbed "Blackie".  One other fish is just gold so he's "Goldest" or something along those lines. It's all so original.  (If we ever do get a dog, I don't think I'll be letting my kids name him.)  The boys sat looking at the fish for a while.  They're hoping all the fish will be good friends.  Grady sits in front of the fish tank making fishy noises to them.  They're hoping one day they'll figure out how to speak fish and then they can talk to their goldfish too.  For now, Peter's already a little bored of them - they don't really do that much for Peter's liking.