Life in May was hectic with numerous school obligations and trying to get the yard/house ready for my crazy summer daycare. We were down to crunch time with the fence due to rainy weather whenever Hubs and I had time off to work on the fence (so very typical), so most of our time was spent on that and other yard work. I happily report that the backyard is in much better shape and completely usable...it almost makes all of those weekends worth it. Other than that, we caught an I-Cubs games, chilled at home, went for ice cream, and enjoyed free fishing weekend at Raccoon River Park.
I definitely feel that with all of the home improvement projects we aren't getting out as much as we used to. We have yet to enjoy our season passes at Adventureland, Blank Park Zoo, or Living History Farms. After birthday month (June), I'm hoping to take a break from the yard projects and get out on the hiking trails more and of course, enjoy some water park fun at Adventure Bay.
Here are some highlights from our weekends:
Date night in wouldn't be complete without a shared cheesecake and falling asleep 5 minutes into the movie. On a related note, I still haven't seen any adult movie released in 2016 or 2017.
We had some rainy weekends in May. It was perfect for "sleeping in" and eating pancakes and bacon for lunch one Saturday.
Rainy days are also good for cuddling on the couch, reading books, and watching Netflix.
We took the kids out for dinner at Court Avenue Brewing Company. Usually dining out with kids (especially in downtown and at trendy restaurants) gets complicated. On this night we couldn't find anywhere open that had a free table. Oddly enough, when we got to this restaurant, they said they could get us right in because they had open booths reserved for families (trying to promote the family restaurant side apparently). That one has never happened to us before! Plus, we had a wonderful meal, drinks, and a fantastic waitress.
"Look mama, I have a mustache!"
My cousin's husband was in town playing against the I-Cubs, so we had a special late night at the game!
Eating popcorn from a helmet (that we got to keep). Also, attempting to get a picture of these three goofs was difficult with all of the silliness!
Of course my kid is the one with a book at a baseball game.....
I think Hubs and I were more worn out from our late night than the minis! We slept in, they woke up, and we heard quite the commotion coming from the play/daycare room. They had asked us if they could go play outside, but since it was only 7:15 a.m. we said no. They made the call that playing baseball inside was okay because we said they couldn't play inside. Stupidly we never said anything about not playing inside! [face palm]
Licking brownie batter from the bowl. Obviously the best part of making brownies!
How do you stir your coffee??? Because I use a baby spoon!
We spent Memorial Day weekend doing the main portion of the fence building. While the oldest mini used the fence post digger (and dug the holes quite well), Hubs had to break up tree roots, level the ground, and move a garden before putting the fence up. I was there for support as I dealt with other areas of the yard. That part of the fence building proved more difficult than anticipated, but it turned out great!
Our new chairs (that match the table we bought in February) finally arrived! Of course, some were broken. While we're waiting on replacements, we have our main five on display.
My three day weekend involved errand running to make sure we had all of the supplies for the first week of summer vacation, spending two hours cleaning up the daycare room (only to have it destroyed in a matter of minutes, as pictured above), cleaning out backpacks, yard work, and taking some me time before the summer madness.
I found this in my middle son's journal from school. This is how moving day went for him. Moving day was much more hectic for mom and dad obviously.
A quick summer treat at our favorite local ice cream shop, Snookie's.
My me time included writing, copious amounts of coffee, a toasted almond butter sandwich, fresh fruit, and a breeze coming through the window. It was a glorious, uninterrupted hour.
Hubs and I were in the yard working all day on Memorial Day. At one point, I came in to order a pizza (I realized it was well past lunch time, but the minis helped themselves to yogurt and granola bars) and found they had "home aloned our house." I nearly killed myself tripping on the string they used in the hallway. They actually did a decent job of home alon-ing our house! Also, I made them clean up the mess and that was not nearly as fun to them as it was making the mess.
This is the trouble I went to to get a tissue from the bathroom!
As I had hoped, our first week of summer vacation went well and left the kids exhausted. Of course, Friday evening found these two moping in the yard because no one would be back for two whole days.
Hubs had to work so the minis ran errands with me. Somehow, we came home with fake nails, new nail polish, games, and a Lite Brite. Then they quietly played while I put things away.
I picked up my new (purple) glasses and that just made the middle mini for envious of glasses. He picked out some "fake, real ones" at Toys R Us. Read that story here.
We spent this past Sunday at Raccoon River Park (one of our faves) fishing, celebrating the mini's birthdays, playing at the park, and swimming in the lake with family. We had such a great day!
Of course my minis had their fill of fishing and played in the rocks.
Picnic in the park.
Celebrating birthday's. Elizabeth was ticked because we couldn't light the candles.
The lake was the perfect place to practice swimming strokes.
They were exhausted after a full day and chose to end the day with burgers on the grill, a movie, and early bedtimes.
Sunday night = deep cleaning night for me.