Saturday

*Heather = green, Mar = purple*

This was the one and only day we had to wake up to an alarm, in order to be ready for Riley's birthday part at 10:00am. We also needed to go by Wal-Mart and get the supplies to make favor bags. Yep, we bought the stuff and put them together in the car, on the way to Chuck E. Cheese. We had tried to do this earlier in the week, at a party store, but they were closed due to the snow, so last minute it was. Gotta love how you can always count on Wal-Mart! It’s a good thing we had scoped out the favor section beforehand. We were in and out of there in a flash!

We arrived at Chuck E. Cheese about 9:45am, which was our goal, so I was very proud of us. However, I was disappointed that there wasn't really anyone there to meet and greet us, and tell us how the party was going to go. We just did our best. Eventually we placed the pizza and drink orders and received all the tokens to give the kids (closer to 10:30 to 10, but what can you do?). Mom was nice enough to help us out and pick up the Spiderman balloons that morning and bring them! We had an amazing turn out and Riley had an absolute blast! I played 'hostess' most of the time, greeting people, etc. (with Mar right by my side, which was awesome, I have to say) while Chris followed the birthday boy around, and his guests, taking MANY, MANY pictures! (I'll put a bunch up on my pics/video blog for y'all to browse!) Awww thanks Heather! It was so nice to meet some of your Mommy friends, and Amy of course. It was so wonderful to be able to take part in such a special event. It was great to see your Mom and grandparents again too. Of course it was also my first time at CEC!

Around 11:15am or so the pizza and drinks arrive, everyone gathers around the table to eat. Chuck E. Cheese HIMSELF makes a live appearance and dances with all the birthday kids. I tried to get a picture with him since I’ve never been before, but apparently he was on a schedule and didn’t have time to take tourist photos. LOL… That or he doesn’t like Canadians! Then we move on to cake, and Riley even joined in, singing Happy Birthday to himself. Everyone was SOOO impressed with the amazing cake Mar created (and of course my cupcakes as well! Ha ha), including me! Once cake was done we were basically rushed away from our table so they could set up for the next party that was supposed to begin at noon. There was absolutely NO TIME to open gifts during the party, even if we had wanted to, so I just hope everyone understood. I guess that pretty much solved your present debate huh!

After loading all of Riley's 'loot' into numerous cars, we headed to mom's house to open presents. He got so many new toys and just loves them all. At the last minute we decided to go ahead and put his car together for him to just walk outside and see it, rather than unwrapping the box. We were disappointed to discover the battery had to charge for 24 hours before the first use, but Riley was VERY surprised and enjoyed just sitting in it, and Uncle Justin helped him with a few laps around the back yard.

After gifts at Nana's we left Riley with her and headed home to get the GUNS! Yep, you read that right! Next on our itinerary was to take Mar to the shooting range. For those who do not know, handguns are illegal in Canada. Well, they aren’t illegal exactly. They are just much harder to obtain and are not a common thing. Most of the people that I know that own guns use them for hunting only. You can't go to a shooting range with a pistol and just shoot for fun, (that I know of? Again I could be mistaken!) so we figured it would be a perfect activity for her trip to Texas! We had to clean the guns, give our safety lessons, stop by Wal-Mart to pick up ammo and then headed to the range. Stephanie and Justin joined us as well. We had a great time. I think it would have been better if we could have found an open outdoor range nearby, but our best choice was an indoor range. Mar shot 11 rounds (we started with just one in the chamber for her first try, then she emptied a full clip after that) with one of our 9mm. I am so proud of her! (I'll let her expand on her personal experience at the shooting range)

You know, I still have mixed emotions about the whole thing. I was so stoked to be doing it, and was really really looking forward to it. But, I must admit that when the guns came out, and I saw people handling them, I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I could not help thinking that these were GUNS, they killed people (when used for that purpose) etc. I had committed to going and promised myself that I would give it a try before deciding how I really felt. I was really really nervous when Chris handed me the gun and showed me how to hold it. I could not believe that I was holding, a real, live, actual gun (without the ammo of course). Once we got to the shooting range, and dressed up (eye and ear protection) we got to enter the room and go to our cubicle type thing. The guy beside us was shooting with a really really loud gun and every time he shot the floor shook. It freaked me out! This is why an outdoor range would have been a bit better. I would jump every time. It took me quite some time to get used to the sound of gunfire. I didn’t think it would be a big deal but I guess it’s something I’ve never really heard. I was very hesitant about firing the gun and watched everyone do several rounds before deciding that I could NOT chicken out. So, Heather kindly loaded one bullet for me (so that I would be more comfortable, knowing that nothing could go “wrong”). Once I knew what it felt like to shoot, I decided that I would like to try one round so someone loaded the chamber for me, and I fired off 10 shots. Someone!?! It was ME! And those things HURT to load,so I will take credit where credit is due, thank you! Ha ha. I think I did pretty well too. I believe I hit the target 8 of those 10 times, mind you it wasn’t very far! After my turn, I decided that I had had enough. I just knew that it wasn’t for me, that I had tried it but I was done. Some people seem to feel an adrenaline rush when they shoot, others just do so for practice but I just could not get over the fact that it was a gun, a loaded weapon, that can take a life. I am very proud of myself for trying, and I’m happy that I did since I can now say that I have. I am so thankful to Heather, Chris, Stephanie and Justin for being so patient and nice because I really was a basket case lol… I am so glad to have gotten to share the experience with all of you!
Once our hands were good and tired we packed it up and headed back to Nana's to pick up Riley. At this point I was pretty exhausted not only from the day, but from the entire week, so I'm not 100% sure what we did after getting home. I think we put Riley down for bed, I'm pretty sure C & J went to get some Taco Bell for dinner (Riley ate at mom's) and then we had some drinks and went upstairs to shoot some pool. Well, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it, at least!