le blog de bloogue

We celebrated Katie’s sixth birthday last weekend at the Waterpark of America.

Given that cost associated with the event, it was fairly low key and just a handful of Katie’s friends were able to attend. All seemed to have a good time and Katie got to have her beloved Littlest Pet Shop cake from the Target bakery.

I was pleasantly surprised with the water park after hearing several negative reviews. There were a few annoyances, such as having to retrieve towels from only one side of the park but all in all, it’s certainly a decent enough local substitute for the Wisconsin Dells water parks.

Katie’s Birthday @ Waterpark of America, originally uploaded by trypnotic.

We decided today to check out the collapse and but stay out of the way as much as possible. We figured since it’s no longer a rescue and more of a recovery effort, it’s probably OK to go – Brandy and I debated this for quite some time. Behind the Guthrie was about as close as we could get and about as close as we comfortably wanted to be without getting in the way. We came upon a couple of Metro Transit buses that appeared to be escorted by two police cars. Brandy later read that the buses were taking families of missing persons to the site of the collapse.

I’ve heard numerous people discuss throughout the week that they missed the collapse by so many minutes. I have one co-worker that missed it by 45 minutes Wednesday night and a consultant we work with who has a neighbor that crossed it at exactly 6pm that night. Considering that the bridge, depending on the day, carries somewhere around 150,000 cars – it’s no surprise that everyone seems to know someone that missed it by however many minutes. My condolences goes out to the families and friends of those that were involved. This tragedy has reiterated my worst fear: becoming seriously hurt in an accident such as this and unable to help or rescue my kids. I couldn’t imagine anything worse.

I’m making all show bets because I don’t know what im doing. We’re here with Brandy’s co-workers and are enjoying $1 hot dogs, nachos, and $2 beer. I’ve had about four Lenies Summer Wheat or something. They’re pretty yummy. We’re waiting for the fourth race. I’ve won two of the last races thanks to a blogger.

Tonight at approximately 6:05pm, the eight lane bridge that carries 200,000 140,000 I-35W travelers everyday over the Mississippi River, collapsed and caused numerous about one hundred injuries and at least seven thirteen deaths.

Brandy is in Minneapolis at Carlson tonight but arrived there a little less than a hour prior to the collapse. She fortunately exists off toward the University prior the bridge.

Not your typical traffic report:

I should have probably started writing about this sooner but who would have known (other than other season pass holders that have had their passes for more than a year). This is the first year that we have purchased season passes and likely to be the last. Why support a company where most of their employees are consistently rude or just plain stupid? I imagine they deal with a lot of stupid customers too and it’s not fair to call everyone that works there an idiot but certainly the majority I’ve encountered definitely are.

Last night, at Coasters restaurant, we had asked the person taking our order for a cup of cheese sauce for the fries. He said we would have to ask for it when we got our order. So I did. Moments later, the guy presented a paper boat with a couple slices of melted cheddar cheese. He explained that they didn’t have cheese sauce. I told him that I could have saved him a lot of trouble if he had told me about his plan.

Later, I went to get a refill for my soda – forking over another $2. I was given a number and told to wait in line for my SODA REFILL. Meanwhile, the rest of my party had finished their meals and were now waiting for me. I had asked for Diet Mountain Dew and was given regular Mountain Dew. I honestly can’t tell the difference and didn’t know until Brandy had a sip. Well fortunately I’m not diabetic.

I can confidently say that no one in the food service has ever said “hi” or “how may I help you”. They just stare at you, awaiting your question, order, or whatever have you. You’d think that fries and cheese sauce that you just paid damn near $8 for you could get a “thank-you”, smile, or SOMETHING pleasant. Speaking of pricing. At Epcot’s Electric Umbrella, I can get a bacon double cheeseburger with fries for $7.39 and if I want a soda, it’s $2.39 for a large. If I want a 20oz bottle of soda at Valleyfair, it’s $3.50. No one is allowed to complain about Disney pricing to me again!

Brandy and Katie were on the balloon race ride. After the first ride was over, Brandy asked the attendant if they could ride again considering there was no one else riding or in line. The attendant explained that she would need to get out, get back in the queue, and load the ride again because she had to fill out a report. I don’t get it.

The four of us went to the water park one day. We decided to take the kids on a raft ride down the lazy river. I get in my tube along with Katie and start down the river. I got to the first life guard and she yelled at me for not having my feet in the air – an apparent rule that the life guard or the sign at the entrance failed to mention while we were in shallow enough water to do something about it. I shrugged her off and continued until we got to the next life guard who told me the same thing. She said she’d help lower Katie down to me. So I put Katie up on the ledge with the life guard and she runs off with the life guard doing nothing about it. I get Katie and continue doing what I had been doing. Brandy informs me that the guard just called security so now I’m in big trouble – uh oh! So Brandy takes BOTH kids on her raft and I hop on, stomach first, the only way I possibly can in three feet of water. We then leave.

The first weekend they were open, we ate at the Stadium Grill. Brandy got buffalo chicken which had more breading than chicken and were basically covered in something that tasted like straight tabasco sauce. I got the nachos which weren’t awful but not really great either. The kids shared a grilled cheese sandwhich which had been cooked in approximately four sticks of butter – or so it seemed. Each entree came out about 5-7 minutes apart after reminding them that our order wasn’t complete.

The only conclusion that Brandy and I have came to is that Valleyfair is so rule happy that these kids they have working for them are so afraid to lose their first job ever that they enforce all of Valleyfair’s ridiculous rules and policies.

There are some rules Valleyfair doesn’t seem to care to enforce. They have a smoking policy that permits people to only smoke in five designated areas yet people smoking are constantly wandering around with cigarettes in their hands. They have a dress code that allows people to wear swimsuits in the park as long as they’re of a modest style. There’s nothing modest about that swimsuit that the preteen girl over there is wearing.

Valleyfair claims to be family friendly – I’d really like to know what makes them think that.

The usual.

Brandy came upon a mexican restaurant in shakopee that had a nice web site that she wanted to check it out. They had a Super Taco so I also figured it was worth checking out. It was pretty standard mexican fare as far as that goes. The staff was prompt and friendly. The only thing negative was the whopping $2.29 soda with no free refills. Brandy’s soda tab nearly matched the cost of my beer.

The Crispy Crunchy Tuna and Salmon roll is SO YUMMY. Met the wife there for lunch today. Afterwards we got a cookie and went to the Disney Store. It was a lunch hour well spent.

His concert started about 70 minutes late in true Prince fashion. After an exquisite dinner at Applebees, Brandy and I opted not to wait out in front of the Target Center for an undetermined amount of time. Instead Brandy totally owned me on a number of games at Gameworks. As we left the Target Center, slightly deafened by the drunk guy behind us yelling WOOHOO over and over, we were given a small bottle of his new perfume, 3121 (adds up to 7, get it?). While Brandy enjoyed her prize, I would have much preferred his album Planet Earth that he’s giving out at his London concerts and in the newspapers there. Sigh. Oh, one last note. Brandy and I were incredibly impressed by Prince’s dancers. Two twins apparently that can shake their asses long enough for three shows in a day. I don’t know where they get their energy.