A few things I've learned

Here are a few things I have learned lately.
1) do not buy paint from Walmart. You get what you pay for (our black paint ended up being rather dark gray- even after 3 coats)
2) I really like Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup ice cream, and the commissary sells it for only $2. Yummmmm....
3) I really like "Simply Apple" by the makers of "Simply Orange" and "Simply Lemonade". I never knew there was pasteurized apple juice that actually tastes like apple cider. Sooooooo yummy.
4) my voice must be on mute until I get to the point of almost yelling. My girls are pros at tuning me out until I reach that point.
5) diapers are insanely expensive. It is definitely time to press the issue of potty training Katie.

Steve took his GRE on Saturday and did really well. I am very proud of him. Now he's in the middle of getting letters of recommendation and filling out applications. We decided to apply to (in order of priority): University of Illinois (ideal), Georgia Tech, Purdue and BYU. I am anxious to get this next stage rolling so we can figure out where we will be next. Ah, the life of the military is never without some suspense.

So Saturday we took everyone over to Lawrence (at the University of Kansas campus) so Steve could take his test. Then we continued to Kansas City to go to "Worlds of Fun" and "Oceans of Fun". They were having a special military appreciation deal. We only had to pay for Ellie, which still ended up being $32. But those two parks were great! There were some fun rollercoasters that Steve went on and really enjoyed (he had to ride one twice so he could be in the front row to get the full thrill). And then there was a really fun "Snoopy Land" for the little kids. I was thoroughly impressed with this area. Lots of rides for little ones. We were even able to put Sarah on a couple of them and she had a blast! All three girls could have stayed there the whole day riding on the bugs, cars, swings, boats, airplanes, etc. We brought the camera, but figured it was safer to just leave it in the car. I just wish we could have caught the excited expressions on the girls faces as they rode. We strolled over to Oceans of Fun next and after changing into our suits played in the water for just an hour or so. Except for the little kiddie fort it was geared for the older crowd mostly (including a swim-up bar), and since the girls had to be in life jackets for everything it was more work than we felt it was worth. Plus, it was getting late and we still had a 2 1/2 hour drive ahead of us. It really was a great day, though. I'm glad we decided to go. We haven't done a lot of exciting adventures this summer, so this was a great way to end the swim season.