I've Been Bamboozled

When I was younger I can remember going down south to Roseburg to see my Great Grandpa Mac.

Mom and Dad stopped at a place called Rice Hill and we had the best ice cream I'd ever tasted in my young life.

It changed me.

It's one of my very first memories besides being a turd during pictionary at a Thanksgiving family gathering.

So when we went to California over 3 years ago I made sure to stop at Rice Hill!

Lily was the only kiddo awake at the time so we hopped out and grabbed some deliciousness together.

She got birthday cake ice cream with extra sprinkles, gobbled it right up, then talked about it the rest of the 6 1/2 hour drive.

Besides the Jelly Belly Factory, it's her main memory from that vacation.

So of course we HAD to stop on the way back.

Only this time, all of the girls were conscious, and the two biggest convinced me with big puppy dog eyes and super sweet please to get them TWO scoops of ice cream.

The only problem was, I had forgotten just how big the Rice Hill scoops were!

Whoops.

They were the happiest girls around.

This one isn't really old enough to realize she got the short end of the ice cream cone stick. 

These two were determined to lick up every last morsel.

Pretty sure they're still full of ice cream.

Oh well, they'll just be extra sweet!

Fairy Tale Land

Aunt Lacey planned for us to take the girls to Fairy Tale Land while we were visiting last week!

There was a castle, which Scarlett quickly claimed as her own.

She jumped right into bossing Daddy around like the queen she knows she is.

She was only slightly miffed when her big sisters showed up and put her in her place.

The girls got to slide down the old woman's shoe and check out Mary's little lambs.

They played cowboys and Indians in a giant tee pee.

They played in Mr. Owls tree house.

They sat with Robin Hood and his Merry Men.

They got to ride in Cinderella's pumpkin carriage!

I have no clue why there was a big blue rabbit... but they played on that too!

Anybody?! 

Scarlett pretended to be the lion from the Wizard of Oz while dressed up as the Tin Man.

They slid down Mother Goose's belly while she read bedtime stories.

They pretended to be Jack and Jill tumbling down the "hill".

Then when it was time to go Scarlett gave Aunt Lacey a run for her money and took off without warning.

She quick for someone with such tiny legs!

Scarlett really REALLY didn't want to leave.

Can you tell?

Face Art

This is the entire reason Lily wanted to go to California this year.

Sorry Aunt Lacey.

Truth can be vicious.

Don't get me wrong, she was super excited to see her Aunt and Uncle too, but it was always about the Jelly Belly Factory.

When we arrived the line was forever and a day long.

Luckily this lady was at the end of it, painted up like a glitter rainbow tiger, and offering to entertain our kids for a nominal fee.

Kudos to you tiger lady.

Addison, not surprisingly, picked a glittery rainbow with a magical unicorn.

Lily picked a princess crown with glitter, real gems, and lipstick!

Then came Scarlett.

She'd never had her face painted before because she's a little wiggly.

Once she saw her sisters do it, there was no stopping her.

She picked out a giant spider, a slithering snake, and a full cheetah face.

Her size didn't permit those, nor did I think she'd sit still, so I told the lady to do something tiny.

I also informed her that Scarlett loves the color green, but that she could add pink or purple to it also.

Obviously tiger lady didn't listen to either of us as she went full on girly with swirls and flowers and close to zero green.

Scarlett was unimpressed.

We made up for her flowery face disappointment with a tour of the factory and a giant bag of jelly beans.

Lily was by far the happiest child that day.

Her vacation dreams had finally come to fruition.

Plus she rocked her pose this time...

Unlike last time.

Also, Scarlett is running away with Lily and Daddy's candy in that last photo.

It's why she looks so smug.