Mother's Day Weekend

After our busiest week ever (read about that here), we kept things low key, while doing things we had to get done to make this week run smoothly. Last week Elizabeth received her dance costumes for her recital. This week is costume week, which means she has to attend class on Wednesday in full recital garb. After sleeping in Saturday morning, we went to the Theatrical Shop for new tights, tap shoes, make up, etc. I treated the kids to Big Acai Bowls and we checked out the little shops in Valley Junction. We even got our grocery shopping done just in time to have a Mother's Day dinner with my parents.

The highlight of my week was discovering what my child had drawn for art class. I consider it a win when I can end a week and begin a weekend knowing that I'm doing something right in this whole parenting thing.

Acai, granola, chia seeds, and berries = big bowls of deliciousness. The minis loved these so much that we had to grab more chia seeds from Trader Joe's and all of the fixings for our own acai bowls.

It was chilly and damp outdoors, so we made the most of Big Acai's room with bags and space to do cartwheels.

Of course this child would manage to walk off the incredibly wide sidewalk and step in the only mud puddle on the block. Typical.

They started ball throwing inside, but we moved it outside when things got a bit too crazy. There was also basketball and soccer played.

The minis are the best card makers. Max made this for my mom: a tablet that shows Best Grandma or Mom #EVER 

My momma and me for our Mother's Day dinner.

We noticed the beautiful way the sun hit the tree tops as it went down and I went outside to capture it. Of course, I had it on selfie mode first.....Max, who was watching from the window, thought it was hilarious that I snapped a picture of myself before I corrected it. Relentless teasing and laughing from the (almost) 11 year old. If he only knew how often this happens....

Then we have Mother's Day. I bought myself flowers from Trader Joe's the day before, so I was treated to new coffee mugs, donuts (that the minis asked for, from Chu Chu donuts), sleeping in, a personalized "show" that the minis choreographed, and a walk through Water Works Parks looking for the mountain lion roaming the city (true stuff from Des Moines, Iowa).

All three of the minis did readings, sang, danced, and played instruments for me. It was quite special. I particularly loved that they chose THEIR favorite songs to dance to and sing rather than mine! 

I had many moments of extreme pride throughout the weekend. I'm fairly certain my Mother's Day gift was knowing the things I'm teaching my children: to be open minded and accepting of everyone, to get the most of out traveling, to be themselves and express themselves, do the things that make them happy. These things made me enjoy their show even more.

In all truthfulness, my favorite part of the morning was Elizabeth trying to put the guitar in her doll Tenney's hand. It wouldn't fit, so Matt suggested trying it in the doll's other hand. She set the guitar in the other hand and let it slide through. She then made a wonderful face with wide eyes and said "see!!??!" with a tone. Between the look she gave and her tone, she may as well have told her dad, "you dumbass that doesn't work." I died as I tried to stifle my laughter.

One of my many pieces of jewelry they made me.

I had no idea they had a close idea how to square dance and do something that resembled an Irish jig.

New mugs. A comically gigantic mug (that I turned into a flower vase because nobody needs that much coffee, not even me!) and a Super Mom mug.

It was a cool and wet day, so that kind of limited our activities for the day. I had really wanted a hike, but I settled for Water Works Park. As you may have heard, there's a mountain lion making it's way through Des Moines and has been spotted numerous times. Harrison (the middle mini) requested that we go on a mountain lion hunt, or as he said "I don't want to kill it or get it or anything. I just want to see it with my very own eyes. No cages or leashes or anything. But I don't want it to see me!" I love that my minis have a sense of adventure and I love that I'm able (and willing) to say yes to every little adventure I can. 
The plan was to walk on the (paved) bike path so we didn't have to deal with muddy shoes. Of course, that didn't last long. Almost instantly the youngest mini went off the path and lead us through the mud. This doesn't surprise me in the least.

"Oh my god! Mountain lion prints!" - Harrison. 

The boys wore the headsets to talk to each other and "headquarters" in case we came across the mountain lion. Those pipe cleaner headsets would have come in handy then!

Our fearless leader. I'd love to plan a trip to the Grand Canyon soon(ish) but I have serious concerns about her running, twirling, skipping off the edge!

"Mom! Mom! Is that the mountain lion or a log?" Just a log.

Skippin' rocks in the river by the railroad tracks. 

My greatest surprise of the day came as we were leaving Water Works Park. A mom and her two children walked up to me with their arms full of flowers and offered me one. They said she wanted to spend her Mother's Day giving other's a smile. It sure made me smile more!

Mom's choice for an early family dinner was taco pizza (turns out the minis LOVE Casey's taco pizza) and a nap on the couch while Hubs took care of showers for the minis.

We usually travel on or around Mother's Day (hey, it's mom's choice and I'll likely always choose to travel), but since we have our big summer road trip at the end of next month, I didn't want to take anymore time off. It might not have been one of our ultimate road trip weekends, but our mountain lion "hunt" made it more than adventurous!