Money coming out of her ears!

Nope...not me. I wish!

My sisters Jo and Kate called me yesterday to meet up with them at the Pizza Ranch yesterday for lunch. (Sorry Dee!) The reason? It had "been a while since we talked." That's the thing I love about my sisters. We had just had lunch together on Sunday. 5 days is "a while."

For those of you who don't know the Ranch...it rocks! Every time I go there without Rob, he gets upset. I know they only have them in small towns, but if you've never been, you really should try to head to one at least once. It's buffet is the reason we go. However at 12 weeks pregnant, my routine of heading back to the buffet line for multiple plates has now dwindled down to 1 salad and 1 plate of pizza. Hopefully I can continue that after baby is out!

The Ranch in Norwood has this old, ancient, coin-operated horse. My niece Ava loves it! She has to eat her lunch first, but then she's allowed to ride on it if one of the adults has a quarter. She's mastered the art of inserting the coin, then hopping on the horse with no help. In fact, she gets a little upset if anyone tries to help her.

Well after the 2 quarters that her mom "found" in her ear, she kept coming back to the table for more money. Auntie Jen forked over 2 quarters. She came back for more. This time I told her that she better start shaking out her ears to see if she had any more money in there. After a little shaking...SURPRISE! Out fell a quarter (courtesy of Auntie Katherine) onto the floor! It was magic! After that ride, she came back, shook out her ears again, and out came another quarter!

On the down side, I think we may have messed her up. When she was finished with her final ride on the horse, she came back and we told her we had no more money. Without any prompting from us, she started shaking her little head again in the hopes of more money falling out! We had to "look" in her ears and tell her that the money in her ears was all gone and we'd have to wait until next time to ride the horse again.

And not-so-smart Auntie Jen forgot the camera to capture this! Maybe next time. In the mean time, the money bank in Ava's ears will continue to grow and produce yet another quarter for our next trip to the Ranch. A camera better be there for that one!