Catchin' Up & Surfin' Out

Last week flew by, but we had a ton of fun in the process. Monday we recouped from the busy weekend we had. I did TONS of laundry, changing the sheets on our bed and washing everything in our house. We put everything away from our weekend excursion and got the boys back into their routine. I'm sure we went outside to play, but I can't really remember a whole lot anymore.

Tuesday I woke up bright & early and went for my usual jog before Shawn left for work. I ran into (not really... actually I passed them) my Dad & Uncle Jim at the park as they were going for a walk. Dad invited me to go out to breakfast, but I declined. I did ask him if he'd like to join us in going to Roots when he was finished, and he said sure. So, we went and bought a bunch of fruit and fresh veggies at good prices. We left Roots in enough time for me to drop Grandpa Georgia back off at his car and grab drinks for the boys, then we headed out to Barnes & Nobles.

At 11 am on Tuesday, they had a beach-themed story time. Since we're going to the beach soon, I thought this might be a fun event to go to. I was surprised at all the little ones there! The boys enjoyed the four books that the worker read, the first being the 'featured' book which was cute, then one about bugs on the beach, followed by Paddington Bear going to the beach and the finale was the Bernstein Bears, which Caleb LOVES. He was not the most well-behaved child there since he simply can't sit still. But, Joshua did great! They gave out little sample smoothie drinks and then after the stories were over, we headed to the little craft area where they had beach ball pictures to color and lots of stickers to put on the pages. They also had little snacks for the kids. It was a nice morning. I ran into our mentor from MOPS there, buying a book on how to slip veggies into meals so that kids eat them.

When the story was done, it started to rain. We got home without getting too wet, though. As the kids were eating their lunch, I washed all our produce and cut everything up into containers. I find that it's necessary to do that right away so we eat the good food before it goes bad. The watermelon was terrible to start with (which is SO annoying!), but everything else was delicious. I made strawberry shortcake for dinner that night, and Shawn grilled up burgers for our 'picnic' of sorts. It was amazing. After dinner, I took the boys for a walk to the park so that Daddy could have some time to himself to get some paperwork done. They had a blast on the playground equipment, and I enjoyed the stroll there and back as well as the time watching them and playing with them. They really are amazing kids.

Wednesday morning, Joshua went into his room, picked a t-shirt out of his shirt drawer and shorts out of his pants drawer. Then he dressed himself (and he actually matched!). He told me that this was a "Tiger" shirt as he proceeded to roar (the shirt is borrowed from his cousin Grant - thanks!). We started out the morning with planting Joshua's sunflower seeds that Mamaw & Papaw had bought him. They came with a little bag for him of goodies, which included a "Cars" themed flower pot with dirt, seeds and instructions inside. We took our supplies to the deck, where we worked on the project together. We'll see if the sunflowers grow!

Later that morning, we went shopping with Mamaw. I took her her birthday gift and then we headed to the mall. After being told we couldn't check out at JCPenney's because their computers were down (which is SO annoying to take kids somewhere, tell them they can get stuff and then be told that you can't pay), we went to the indoor playground and let the kids enjoy some time running around. Afterward, we ate lunch together before going home.

Later that night, I went to worship practice while the boys enjoyed some time with Daddy.

Thursday we decided to meet Daddy for lunch, where he works with "big trains" according to Joshua. We took the kids to the petting zoo in Leola and let them feed the ducks and goats. Joshua still loves when the goats lick his hands, and he highly enjoys throwing the food to the ducks. Caleb enjoys looking at all the animals, I think. It was a fun morning. Later that night, the boys & I met Lisa & Isabella at Friendly's near their house and then back to their place to let the boys swim in their baby pool with their little friend. They had a BLAST! It's always fun hanging out with them. We tried to teach her the peach song, too. They had a lot of fun swimming and then went right to bed when we got home.

Friday morning I emailed Mom and asked her if she would mind if we came swimming. She said it was okay as long as we came early since she had plans later that day. So, we were there by 9 am and the boys had a great time swimming in her pool with their floaties and her noodles.

That night, our babysitter arrived promptly at 5:30 pm and Shawn & I left to see the 6:05 showing of the movie "Inception" at the Regal Cinema in Millersville. We got there with 10 minutes to spare, so we grabbed a quick slice of pizza at the nearby pizza shop and then got a big soda and pretzel at the theater itself to split. When I was growing up, we NEVER got any kind of anything at the movie theater because of the outrageous prices. I thought only rich people could afford to buy such luxury items. So, it's truly a special treat when we get something in those expensive concession areas. We made it to the movie just on time without a second to spare. The movie was strange but good. And date time is always nice. When we got home, Joshua told me that the babysitter made him sit in the corner for a little bit and that he was not allowed to throw. Did I mention how much I like her? It's such a blessing to have someone we can trust watch the boys while we go out occasionally.

And that brings us to the weekend...