Mindful Frugalista (formerly Chaostimes5): Wish Day!

So the whole process hasn't gone smoothly; he lost his first wish, the wish granters quit 5 months into the year long process and Make a Wish didn't even know it. But today, Cole had his day and the girl that was located at the Wish Office city we went to was wonderful. Ashley was so good and walked around Bass Pro with Cole from 10:45 until 4! Of course we stopped and ate lunch so that cut out about an hour of that. We ate at the restaurant in Bass Pro and they kids LOVED it! They got to get whatever they wanted, so the older 3 picked the buffet and it was full of shrimp, catfish, mahi mahi, roast beef, mashed potatoes, everything! The little kids and I got meals. Cole also ordered alligator as an appetizer and we ordered calamari (squid). Everyone wanted to try it all, but Ashley (from MAW), said she wasn't very adventurous. :) Then, after everyone in the family had eaten so much our waitress came in and said they were getting together a special dessert. Then, they brought out these really pretty, gigantic, wine glass looking things full of white chocolate, chocolate and caramel toppings. Next game even bigger, gigantic wine glass looking things full of ice cream and fruit and other toppings. When they placed one in front of Chelsi she took the serving spoon and almost dug right in. We had to tell her that was for everybody. But, then she got her own spoon and almost dug in with that. The waitress started to laugh and told her she brought her a bowl. It was so kind of the Bass Pro to add the extra dessert to the wish. That was not part of the gift from Make a Wish. It was SO nice to not have to worry about adding up everything in my head, worrying about the tip and all the worries to stay in a budget for 7. That was MY favorite part.

We continued shopping and Cole had everything on his list within a 1/2 hour after lunch. But, Bass Pro through him for a loop when they gave MAW a 15% discount plus with their tax exempt status, it left him with an extra $200. It wasn't as easy to spend as you would think. He really had a hard time since he had nothing on his list. He had gotten small things for his two grandpas that hunt or fish and something small for his Godfather already. He ended up going back to spend it on more fishing lures, extra gloves for himself, some shirts (Duck Dynasty and Swamp People) and some other small items. Each of the little kids got $50 to spend. Chase got a very expensive Under Armour camo hoodie he would never spend that kind of money on and then paid for the rest with his own Bass Pro gift cards. Kaelin got a necklace, earrings (literally fishing lures) and something else that escapes me right now. Chelsi got sunglasses, a hat with a blinged out deer on it, a bracelet made of fishing swivels and a little pink gun. Jaemin immediately attached himself to a pillow that's a big sea turtle we call Crush (of course from Nemo) and he now has his very first camo hat (Duck Dynasty) he calls Happy, Happy, Happy (if you know the show) and a shirt for deer hunting. He also spent his own Bass Pro card money and bought his own little gun.

Cole's goodies were so amazing. On top of that he had already ordered things from Walmart, or rather MAW ordered them for him. So he will be able to put some small speakers in his car to thump it a little louder. He also is getting his very own laptop. So glad.....no more fighting over the computer.

They paid for our gas since it was a 2 1/2 hour trip there and back and also gave him dinner money. We didn't get home until 7pm and no one was really hungry. Since he's supposed to enjoy all of his Wish items, we decided to defer his Wish dinner until tomorrow when he could be hungry enough to enjoy it. We're all just exhausted!

Check out the sign. It wasn't just a cheap poster board sign, it was heavy duty. Cole kept it as a souvenir.