The Hazard Chronicles

This week I was Prince Eric.

I can see the connection- I am, after all, very charming. At least, that is what Ariel will tell you. Ariel has also bestowed titles on the rest of the family: Jackson is Whinnie the Pooh, and Rachel and Addie are, respectively, an unspecified Queen and Princess.

And the highlight of my week, was of course when I, Prince Eric, took Ariel out on a date. I told her about our date the night before and she was very excited. She woke up talking about it in the morning, and when I walked in the door after coming home from school she ran into my arms and announced to the world in a very excited 2-year-old voice "I'm going on a date with my daddy."

She dressed up in her "gown" and we got in the car. The first destination was the supermarket where we each picked out a bag of candy. She got "pink" and I got chocolate. Then we went to the theatre and purchased tickets for Toy Story 3. It was her first time to a theatre and she did great! We watched the whole movie and ate almost all of the candy. After it was over she danced to the music of the closing credits and drew quite the audience at the theatre. I was told by several strangers that she was the cutest little girl they had met. She informed them that she was not a little girl, but a princess. And I agreed with her.

Next, we went to McDonalds and ate hot fudge sundaes and talked about the movie and the parts that were silly or scary or happy. It really was a pretty good movie, and I recomend it regardless of whether or not you have an Ariel to take with you.

When we got home she told "The Queen" all about our date. But before that, on the doorstep, I asked her for a hug and a kiss. She gave me a big hug, but then stated very clearly "No kiss. Just hug." I'm proud of my daughter. And I hope she comes back to read this one day and knows that I had a wonderful date with her. And that I love her.

We also had a great Saturday. We finally renewed our Boonshoft pass and decided to use it to visit the zoo. Although a trip to the zoo used to be a near weekly occurance it has actually been a while, and it was fun for everyone to walk around in the beautiful Fall air and look at the animals and enjoy the afternoon together. It is autumn time in Cleveland and we love it!