Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Max's Birthday Weekend

The great thing about this past weekend was I got three days in a row off plus lots of family time. The only negative was it was a go, go, go type of weekend that started off rough. I took last Friday off to spend with family and get ready for the big party on Saturday (my grandpa's 80th birthday party). Instead we wound up celebrating the oldest mini's birthday once I realized we hardly had any other time to do it throughout the rest of the weekend (big mom oops there). We spent a few hours at the Blank Park Zoo on Friday. Unfortunately, most of the day was not so fun because of whiny and grouchy kids who suddenly forgot how to follow directions. I was not a very happy mama by the middle of the afternoon.


Before going to the zoo, the minis played "going on vacation." They made their own minivan with little chairs and stools.


Max is obsessed with maps and reading them. 



The bird that followed me around.





It wound up being a really hot day. We had to pause for drinks.


After a VERY long and challenging day, I informed the boys I had had it with their bickering and behavior. I made them "talk their issues through" before bed so the rest of the weekend wasn't so rough. This picture was probably my favorite moment of the weekend. The boys suddenly got shy and timid with each other. I totally hid behind our other couch so I could snap this photo.



Saturday was our crazy day. Max chose brunch at Americana for his birthday meal...but they only do brunch on the weekends. We also had my grandpa's party to get to at noon. So Saturday morning started early with a walk downtown to the Des Moines Art Festival (my favorite festival in Des Moines). The festival didn't open until 11 a.m. so some of the vendors weren't open, but quite a few of them had opened up their tents and had already started to sell their pieces because they didn't want to mess with opening in the heat. Score for us because we basically got to enjoy the art in no crowd. Then we had the best brunch town and walked around the Festival again. 



The taco bar and mashed potato bar are favorites for these two.



The waitress heard it was Max's birthday and surprised him with a personal birthday cake with little toys all over it (completely free of charge!). This was already Max's favorite brunch place, but this just sealed the deal for him even more.




After brunch and a quick walk through the Sculpture Park, we raced to my grandpa's birthday party. It was great to see all of my cousins who I hardly see, but we all got to dance with our grandparents. It was a sweet afternoon spent with family. We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening with them and fit in good drinks, leftover food from the party, and a game of Cards Against Humanity (shoved into my grandparent's smallest bedroom in their house).


I could not love these two more.





Harrison dancing with Great Grandma. I loved watching this....and even more so when he asked her to dance again as we were cleaning up from the party.




Sunday morning started off a bit more laid back than Saturday. We had time to sleep until 8 a.m., eat breakfast, go to Starbucks for our caffeine kick, and then go to my grandparent's house for family pictures. Lauren (also known as the other half of The Kidsperts) did a fantastic job getting the photos done!


Lunch with Grandma Ann after pictures.

Sunday late afternoon we snuck away to pick up the house, prep for the daycare week, and take the kids to the newest spray park in Des Moines (see the video here). It was a fantastic weekend with family! Now we're just days away from our big summer vacation getaway!