Our day at Movie World*

We opened the wallet and went to Movie World yesterday. Yes, it hurt, but we did it as cheaply as we could. We didn't buy any food (except for cheap icy poles) or drink. We took grandparents who bought each of the boys a souvenir (to be fair, we didn't expect that they buy the boys anything - that was their call). But the boys weren't asking for us to buy stuff for them. Perhaps they didn't realise - we didn't take them into the shops? Or perhaps it is because we don't make a habit of buying stuff for them? Low point?

• We lost a boy...and found him again. Even with four adults and a one-to-one ratio on boys (we had my sister's 5 y.o. too), we managed to lose a child. At one of the shows our 4 y.o. and his cousin were at the front playing with bubbles from the show when the show ended and adults streamed past the kids on their way out. Apparently our 4 y.o. got carried away in the flow and ended up somewhere completely different. Thankfully a kind couple took him to the lost child place and we eventually headed there too after ascertaining he wasn't in the immediate vicinity of the show. Always a heart stopping moment, when you lose a child!

High point?

• Seeing our middle child, who is usually first-time-negative (meaning the first time he encounters something new, be it food or people or a place, he is tentative and usually not interested in saying "yes"), warm to the experience and go on most of the age appropriate rides. (That is a shocking sentence, sorry.)

Disappointment?

• The lack of enthusiasm of the park's staff. At such a place, when you've paid large bickies to get in, you expect the staff will embrace you into an exciting experience. Most of the employees, however, seemed like they were counting the time until the end of their shift and they could get away from these annoying patrons.

Take away value?

1. Time spent with extended family is always valuable. Living in another country, we don't get to see them that often. We also never know when their (or our) time on earth will be over, so every moment together is valuable.
2. Building memories for our kids. We don't live a lifestyle that enables us to accumulate heaps of stuff. But memories are totally portable and never need packing or storing.

*For non-Aussies - MovieWorld is a Warner Brothers theme park here in South East Queensland.