Lucky Day

Saturday, April 19th, brought on yardwork, housework, a baseball game, an open house, lunch at a new burger joint and the best luck a kid could get . . .

Clark had his first baseball game and did great. He has never played before and has been looking forward to baseball season since school started. He's actually pretty good at hitting and throwing so we convinced him to play this year. From the first practice, he has been so excited to play. During the game, he hit the ball when he was up to bat and made it to first base. Then when he was playing first baseman in the outfield, he caught the ball from the center fielder and tagged the runner but he barely made it to the base in time and was safe. But wow! what a catch. He even got a high five from the other team's coach!

After the game we decided to try a new burger joint called Bigz Burgers. It has a big deck for outdoor dining and an open grassy area for the kids. I think that they will probably add playground equipment in the future. The burgers were huge and greasy. No quarter-pounders there. Joe and the kids ate them up (I couldn't finish mine) and loved playing in the dirt and grass after eating. Those are the kinds of restaurants that we love.

We then decided to go to Malibu Grand Prix for some miniature golf. Malibu is a fun center with arcade games, bumper boats, go-karts, batting cages, and mini golf. It was fairly busy when we got there but this is where the luck began . . . As we stood in line to buy our mini golf passes a woman walked in with a stack of coupons in her hand and gave some to us for free rounds of golf. WaHoo! We love coupons!

Clark had a lot of power in his hit and his ball flew over a few holes so he did a lot of chasing. Katelyn had a gigantic swing but couldn't actually hit the ball to save her life. Joe had to show her that she didn't need to raise her club over her head and swing with all her might. She just needed to be soft and gentle and the club would meet the ball. Jake was multi-talented in his swing. He could swing left-handed, right-handed, hit it like a billiard ball, drag it across the green with his club, and throw it towards the hole. Carlee loved chasing the balls, picking them up and moving them somewhere else, putting them in the hole, running down the little hills, and stepping on the obstacles. All of them were very happy yelling out their scores as they ran to the next hole. Jake was probably the most honest as he turned to Joe with a big grin and a thumbs up and said, "Dad, I got 14 on that one!"

After playing we went into the arcade. Clark is so lucky when it comes to these games. He wins every time. The last time we played at Sea World, Clark won a huge lizard, and about 6 little stuffed animals so of course, the arcades are his favorite and he gets so excited to play. Clark immediately went over to the stuffed animal claw game. He won a dog, but wanted Knuckles from Sonic the Hedgehog. He tried to get it but it dropped last second so he tried again and won. Jake was immediately in tears because he wanted it but Clark got the last one. Jake kept wailing and crying so Clark was a sweetheart and gave Jake all of the tickets he had won in Skeeball so Jake could pick out a prize.

Meanwhile, Joe went to the token machine and put another dollar in just to get a few more tickets for Jake when out comes about 30-40 tokens! He gathers them up and takes them to the counter and explains what happened and the employee says, "Well, since you're so honest, just keep them and give them to your kids." So of course, they have to play until all the tokens are gone. Katelyn won 150 tickets on some game in one shot and then Clark won the Jackpot on another game and scored 1550 tickets! It was so insane watching all of those tickets come out of the machine into a huge pile on the floor. Everyone was looking at him and some kids were freaking out over it. Anyway, Clark and Kate decided to pool all their tickets and then Jake could get something really great but there were so many tickets that they all got something great! Clark got a dartboard, Katelyn got some fancy Disney princess jewelry, and Jake got a hot wheels race track. Joe and I decided that Clark is the lucky token in our family and we are definitely taking him to the casinos when we get to Vegas!

On the car ride home, Clark said, "This is the best day ever! It's almost like Christmas!" The kids were so happy and thankful for such a great day and Joe and I were surprised and thankful that we only spent $5 when were expecting to pay a lot more.

Later that night, when Joe was tucking Clark into bed, he said, "Dad, this was my luckiest day ever!" Joe agreed and then Clark said, "But Dad, your luckiest day was when you married Mom." Of course, Joe agreed again. What a charmer!