Midway Ice Castles

After a month of talking about it we finally made it up to the Midway Ice Castle. It was the last day of the ice castle and President's Day, so it was packed- not exactly magical. We waited in line for about an hour so that Aven could get her picture with Anna and Elsa from "Frozen". The great thing about going to a place like this with kids is that throngs of people don't really affect how much they enjoy it. They had an amazing time and since we were there with Ian's parents and brother we took turns standing in line so that everyone got a chance to see the castle. We will definitely go again next year, but we will plan more carefully and be a lot more selective about which day we go so that we don't feel like we're in the middle of a herd of cattle. Despite the place being jam-packed we did manage to get a few decent pictures:

Cute smiles!

Ian, his brother, and Etta in the ice maze.

With my littlest love.

There is nothing suggestive about this picture at all.

The crowning moment- a picture with two of her favorite princesses.

On stealing and stuff.

I posted this on Facebook yesterday:

So, today has been the most *AWESOME* day EVER. My bag got stolen out of my car at Aven and Etta's daycare this morning- all my ID, credit cards, membership cards, work i-pad, not to mention my lunch are all gone forever. They even made away with my favorite lipgloss. Motherfuckers. I'm seriously pissed and tired and just done with this day.

I know worse things happen every day, but when someone steals from you it really hits hard. It was not a good day. I felt physically sick all day, had a pounding headache, but I somehow managed to make it through my day as a middle school teacher. My wonderful husband got on the phone and got to work cancelling credit cards and calling our insurance agent. He was very gentle and supportive all day. He got me some cash since all my ID and credit cards were gone and he wanted me to have at least one thing that allows a person to function in the outside world. He even brought me my favorite indulgent lunch from Culver's: cheeseburger, deep fired cheese curds, fries, and a raspberry cordial concrete.

When I told Aven what happened she asked if a bad guy stole my stuff. I told her yes and she then proceeded to make up several fantastical stories about how it all went down and how the police were going to catch the bad guy. Four-year-old kids are amazing.

I felt much better when I woke up this morning, but I still felt pretty naked without my stuff. I borrowed Aven's froggy wallet to keep the card the police officer gave me with his name and my case number and the cash that Ian got for me. I felt paranoid leaving anything in my car at the daycare this morning even though I locked the car. My wonderful friend, Allison, brought me a gift and a card, my boss sent me a nice e-mail, another wonderful friend gave me a big Caramello candy bar. The people in my life really are amazing and I love them.

I was teaching my 4th period when I got a call from the office- a lady was downstairs with my bag. I ran down and a nice lady had found my now ripped up bag in the middle of a road near the daycare yesterday morning. It still contained my lunch bag, extra car keys, and work keys and ID (which is why she knew where to bring it). I know it sounds totally corny, but I hugged that lady and almost started crying. I know I will never get most of my stuff back, but I feel SO much better. Most people are good and want to do the right thing. So, even though I still have to go stand in line at the DMV I feel pretty darn good.

The rescued stuff.