Our annual AJ's adventure

Summer is almost over (practically), and every year I PROMISE to take the kids over to AJ's to ride the go-karts and to play in the arcade.

 Last year our time worked out very well because I budgeted enough money, PLUS I put a limit on the amount we would spend, and then I divided up between the kids so that each of them got to ride the go-karts twice, and each of them received 25 tokens in the arcade. That was my limit and I stuck to it!

 This year, however, Kaity-girl was old enough to join us so I had to budget enough for her little self to enjoy the afternoon as well. Kaity and I shared our tokens but there were actually go-karts small enough and safe enough for her to ride. She was absolutely thrilled.

Little Kaity marching over to her go-kart

 This AJ worker/guy was very kind to Kaity and explained that her Left foot was for stopping and her Right foot was for going. She nodded her pretty head like she understood.

 Look at her -- isn't she the cutest little thing? Oh my.

 And she's ... OFF! Except it seemed that she did not fully understand that she couldn't drive with BOTH feet pressed down at once, so she barely crawled around the track until the worker came and explained once again.

He was very kind to our Kaity.

 Kaity went around the track one more time and she did better and went a little bit faster. She had a BIG smile on her face too. Ems, Chris and Matt watched her and cracked up. 

 But THEN it was THEIR turn.

 They got all buckled up and ready to go ...

 Look at them ... future Nascar drivers.

 Christopher is a natural speedster taking every corner without wasting a single inch of space ...

 Chris is pretty cocky about it, but what race car driver have you ever met who was NOT cocky?

 Oh my word, Emma--you look like you are going to punch someone's lights out!

 The race was on!! Everybody drove very well. Chris was determined to pass everyone at least once, and I think he accomplished that.

 Matthew took this very seriously. He was an excellent and safe driver too.

 There was a small crash at the end. Here is what happened: There had been several laps and then the worker, without much warning, told the drivers to pull in to the gate. Emma was practically to the curve when she heard him say this, so she quickly turned to go into the gate area (she was listening very well). But Emma's car and the car next to hers kind of crashed on the way in, and then three more cars rear-ended Emma ... BANG!! CRUNCH!! BANG!! Little Kaity was yelling, "Oh no!!!"

 Thankfully, it was not serious. No injuries. Emma was very polite and the workers were very nice about it too.

 We tried to get a foursome picture ...

 Which is always a little tricky ...

 Since Kaity is so little, I decided to take her on a boat ride.

 Except these boats are SO hard to steer that I crashed about a dozen times. Kaity did NOT like crashing, began to cry, so we ended our ride early. Poor little dear.

 Kaity and I shared our 25 tokens. Katie's attention span for each game was about 10 seconds (max), so many times, she did not even play an entire round of a game. I finally gave away our last 6 tokens to the other kids.

 But she did have a fun time anyway.

 After the arcade, the big kids went back to the go-karts and had one last race.

 Kaity cheered them on. I love her outfit.

It was a nice time at AJ's. I love these children and I love to watch them have fun. Thank you, Lord, for this great time at AJ's!