#1: Our Mini Family
Our four oldest went on a trip with my parents to Toronto this week. It has been such a strange feeling having only 4 kids at home! It was a completely different dynamic.
Having a whole lot less laundry was really nice....although I will be in laundry overload tomorrow when 4 "grown" teenagers/young adult come home with 5 days worth of dirty laundry!
We certainly missed all the kids and are looking forward to all being together tomorrow. One really nice thing, though, was not having to wait up for teenagers at night! The other nice thing was that Jay and I were the last ones to go to bed and the house was dark and quiet....Mike, and sometimes Andrew, usually stays up really late watching t.v.!
#2: Focus on the Littles
With the older kids gone, I wanted to spend the week focusing on our younger crew. I wanted them to feel like they had a little 'staycation' week.:) My main focus was to make Ellie feel special...and not just feel like she got left behind!
#3: Starting With a Bang!
I blogged about two of our adventures earlier in the week. I had a beach day with the younger group and my parents on Sunday. Then, on Monday, I took Ellie, Luke and Kate, (Peter was still in school), to Edaville Railroad for A Day Out with Thomas.
#4: Time Out For Mom
Tuesday was a catch up day. Unfortunately laundry and bills don't go on vacation! But, Tuesday night was some special time for me! I got to go shopping at a large outlet mall with several of my friends. It was so.much.fun! Two of my friends in the group are total fashionistas! They were our fashion consultants for the evening!
My friend, Beth, went through stores shopping for herself and pulling things off the rack for me to try. Most of her picks were winners! I came home with 3 dresses, 3 skirts, 2 pairs of capris, and some shirts! I love what I got!
We had so much fun that we are going to set a date for a girls day out shopping trip in the fall! That way, we can shop all.day.long!:)
Insert blissful sigh here!
#5: More Adventure
Jay took Wednesday off so that we could do a day trip. We threw out several suggestions, and in the end, Ellie picked going to Water Wizz, which is a fairly local water park. I haven't been there since I was a teenager. Ellie was so excited to go! Since it was a water park and my phone was in the locker most of the day, I didn't get a ton of pictures. I did take a few at the beginning....
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| Ellie and Luke |
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| Daddy and Kate |
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| Boy shot |
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| girl shot |
We stayed there for almost 5 hours! Kate was asleep before we got back to the highway. Jay took her out of her car seat, put her on the couch, and almost 2 hours later she was still "out"!
I snuck out for an hour after dinner for a "smoothie break" with another friend. I know, I know...two nights out in a row! What is the world coming to!:)
Even with the long, late nap Kate was still in bed by 9:45! Jay and I were exhausted and quick to follow!
#6: Down Day
After the exciting and exhausting day at the water park, poor Jay had to drag himself to work and the rest of us laid low all day. Thankfully, most of the day was cloudy so we were out of the sun when we were outside! I spent a lot of the day doing some deep cleaning because this weekend is party weekend at our house. Saturday is Jon's graduation party and Sunday we are hosting my sister's (very small) birthday party.(My parents are bringing the food. She always wants a clamboil. I will be making my grandmother's recipe for stuffed quahogs. Yum!)
I also spent time making a grocery list and solidifying the menu for the weekend. The older kids will be home at lunch time tomorrow and I will be running out shortly after they arrive to hit the grocery store! I'm not doing anything crazy menu wise...but I still want to make sure that it is special for Jon!:)
#7: He Said
Luke:(on Tuesday) "Where's Michael?"
Me: "He went to Canada."
Luke:(in his high, squeaky voice)"Forever!?!"
Me: "No, just until Friday."
Luke: "Oh. What day is Friday?"
Jon:(searching in the cabinet for a hamburger bun to eat his second lunch of the day): "What kind of monster eats just the top half of a hamburger bun?"
Andrew: "#first world problems"
Enjoy the last June weekend!
