Fun Filled Week

So I pulled myself together a bit, hunkered down and got some work done Monday morning.  I did laundry, cleaned all three bathrooms and got the kitchen tidied up a bit.  Then I spent the rest of the day running errands while I had my mom's truck.  I bought and planted three fruit trees, dropped off our old shelves at two different locations (and of course ended up chatting in the process) and then went to pick up an awesome play cabin for the kids from my cousin, Lisa.  It was late Monday night by the time I headed up to get the cabin and of course it starts pouring rain.  I'm in this HUGE, old pickup truck that I don't know how to drive and there are flash floods all around me.  Not the most relaxing of drives - and of course I had Dylan in the truck next to me asking a million questions as always.  Hard to concentrate!  There was a major power outage so half the stop lights were out on the way.  Quite the slow journey!  When I got to her house, it was barely raining, but of course starting pouring down again as we were loading the truck.  It took the two of us probably 3-5 minutes to load the truck and we were DRENCHED!  She is seriously one of my favorite people.  She is actually my dad's cousin, but closer to me in age.  I totally remember wishing I could be like Lisa when I was a little kid. She is so sweet and so  much fun!  Anyway, we were laughing so hard trying to load the truck.  I was in capris and flip flops, sliding all over the place.  I had to strip down in her house and wear an old sweatshirt of hers home so I wouldn't freeze.  Dylan was cute.  He asked me if I was okay and I told him I was wet, but that Lisa and I were just laughing about it.  Then he says, "Why, is she your sister or something?"  Maybe I only laugh when I'm with my sisters.  Who knows?  Cute though.  Thank you so much, Lisa!  We got it assembled Tuesday afternoon and the kids have been playing in it ever since.  

Tuesday my mom picked us up for a day at the planetarium.  It was originally supposed to be a campout with grandpa, but the weather changed that plan and then grandpa had to get some sprinklers fixed before the cement was poured this weekend so grandma took over the play date.  It was so much fun!  My mom commented to someone how she forgets how hard my job is because she's not with young kids all day.  She usually just has my 8-year-old nephew after school for a couple hours.  I had to laugh since it was a pretty easy and "good" day over all.  Not really a stressful day for me.  :)  We ate lunch, watched the deep ocean show in 3D (which Preston slept through - BONUS!).  The show was awesome, treats were yummy and the kids were well behaved.  Then the kids played around on all the cool science stuff and got to choose a gift from the gift shop.  Dylan picked a dinosaur...surprise, surprise.  We were ready to go, but hadn't made it to the fountains so we changed the kids and let them run through the fountains for a bit and then had some ice cream.  Such a fun day with grandma!

Planetarium

 

Fountain and Ice Cream

 

Wednesday we hung out at home and didn't get much accomplished during the day.  The fun part this day was the recognition of how fun our neighborhood is becoming.  A couple years ago we didn't feel like we knew our neighbors very well, but as Dylan is getting older, it's becoming such a fun place for him to play.  There aren't a ton of kids, but plenty, and they all play so cute together.  Pretty much since the weather changed, the kids play outside together after school.  I can only imagine what the summer is going to be like.  It's also helped the adults get to know each other better because we're always out there chatting while the kids play.  Wednesday afternoon eight kids ended up in the backyard checking out the cabin and playing.  At one point Dylan turns to me and says, "This is kind of like a party, huh mom?"  Funny!  They ended up going inside to play in the toy room for a bit.  Whenever that happens, Dylan slips into host mode.  He started handing out apples to all the kids for what he called "snack time".  I came in to find the fridge wide open and half my fruit gone.  I took all the apples back, washed them and cut them so everyone could share a little easier.  He's so funny!  He LOVES having people over.  I sat there on the deck watching them and just had to smile.  It does my heart well to remember all the fun I had as a kid running around with my friends in the summer and it looks like that's how it's going to be for my kids too.  Plus I love that the kids in the neighborhood feel welcome enough to want to hang out here.  That's exactly what Marcos and I want our home to be - a loving, safe environment where others feel welcome.  

Thursday Marcos was off work since he was working Saturday.  We decided to go down to the children's museum and then let the kids run through the fountains again.  We had a great time just hanging out as a family.  Dylan had been there before with abuela, but I never had.  It's a cute place and was easy to keep track of the kids with Marcos' help :)

Children's Museum

 

Fountain Fun - Part 2

Friday my sister, Angie, came down to hang out.  Her husband has been helping my mom and step dad with their cement and she needed to get the kids out of the house for awhile.  On her way out the door, my sister, Alicia, called to ask if we could dog sit while she was out of town so Angie brought us Alicia's dog, Belle.  Dylan was ecstatic when he heard that we would be watching her for a few days.  We took the kids to a pizza place nearby that has video games and stuff for the kids to play on.  My kids LOVE that place - probably because of the toys.  After that we played at our house for a bit while Preston took a nap.  Marcos and Dylan were supposed to be flying with a friend of ours in a small plane that evening, but when the weather changed and the storm was coming in, the plans changed.  We had a good time hanging out and chatting.  Angie's the sister closest in age to me, but she lives in Idaho.  I miss her so much!  She was always my best friend growing up and I can still tell her anything.  

Belle

Today I was trying to decide if I was going to be lazy or productive all by myself when Marcos' mom called to invite us to Cherry Hill.  We ended up meeting there at lunch time, eating pizza that abuela bought, and then playing for about three hours.  The kids had so much fun and got along so well.  Plus no one was there.  I had forgotten about the air show this afternoon.  I'm pretty sure everyone was out watching the Thunder Birds while we played in the pool. :)  We had a great time, but were pretty beat by about 3:00 so I took Preston home for a nap.  Dylan and I watched part of the Thunder Birds show from our house while Preston was napping.  It was AWESOME!  Later on, Marcos and I played our final soccer game.  The other team forfeited putting us 2nd to last in the tournament. :)  Hurray to us!  We ended up playing another team for fun.  Much less pressure.  We actually played really well.  It's been a really fun thing for Marcos and I to do together - a nightmare to coordinate babysitters, but fun for us as a couple.  

Cherry Hill

Thunder Birds