This weekend is near the top of my list as far as favorite weekends go. We didn't go far or spend a lot of money. We didn't have a lot on the calendar but we enjoyed a lot of quality time together, which is a dream come true as far as I'm concerned.
Friday night we took a long walk around the pond across the street and played at the park for awhile, the weather was beautiful, the neighbors were all out too, and everyone was happy. Kael played basketball with a couple of the neighborhood dads and later one of them told me, "He is one of the politest kids I have ever met. Just such a nice kid." Is there anything a mom loves to hear more than that?!
My fun-bullying ways have started to rub off on Kent because while Friday night was lovely and relaxing, by late Friday evening he said, "We should do something fun tomorrow. Like go to the High Trestle Bridge or go to Saylorville or The Ledges or something." Music to this fun bully's ears. He threw out the idea to go pick up donuts and head out to the lake, which I loved. We were all up early on Saturday morning so we hopped in the truck and didn't tell the kids what we were up to. I *heart* surprising them. After a quick stop for a "white circle one with frosting" (Kael), the "one with the most sprinkles I could find" (Kylee), one without frosting (Kase), one chocolate with chocolate frosting (me), and one with nuts (Kent, who later admitted, "I got distracted by the fact it had nuts on it and didn't even pay attention to what kind of donut I was getting! I didn't mean to get one with vanilla frosting!), we went out to Cherry Glen and found a picnic shelter where we could enjoy our breakfast. We played at a park there for a little bit then I drove the truck around to the next park while Kent and the kids rode in the back of the truck. Perhaps you don't agree with that parenting decision but it was early and no one else was on the "road" if you can even call it that! We used to ride in the back of my grandpas truck siting in lawn chairs and I turned out fine. The kids thought it was the greatest thing ever. We are such city folk. ;)
Soon we made our way down to the water to skip rocks. The kids edged their way closer to the water and eventually were knee deep splashing around. Kase was about as happy as I've ever seen him. A couple walked by and smiled at our early morning impromptu "swim" saying, "these are the things your kids will remember". Kylee must have agreed because she kept saying,
"This morning is perfect. Just perfect."
Back home Kylee and I went for a bike ride while Kase slept and Kent helped Kael with a school project. I was so thankful that Kent was able to work with Kael and they created a pretty cool Power Point!
Next we went to Kael's baseball game and both my parents and Kent's parents were able to join us. Kael had a great game and we went to Dairy Queen to celebrate.
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| Thanks to my mom for taking pictures! |
After DQ a classmate of Kael's was playing at the park so Kael invited her and her brothers over to jump. I was talking to their mom who told me, "you know, a few months ago my daughter asked if she could walk down to Kaels house to play. She had never asked to play with a boy before..." While I am hoping to steer Kael away from all the "he/she likes so-and-so" discussions that float too frequently around his classroom, I am happy for him that a girl feels comfortable enough with Kael to seek him out and see if he can play.
Shortly after they left I thought Kylee was going to die from the heat. "This is like the hottest I have ever been in my whole entire life," she declared in a familiar (as in, like me) melodramatic tone. So we busted out the slip and slide and invited a few neighbors to join in the fun.
Can you even believe we had this much fun before the weekend was half over? After the water fun, yet another second grader was at the park so he came over to jump on the trampoline with Kael.
Kase took a long afternoon nap and Kent had time to mow, weed eat, and fertilize the lawn.
We wrapped up the evening by making homemade pizza and playing at the park.
Sunday morning my dad texted early asking if we wanted to go for a boat ride, which we did. We had a lovely drive to Big Creek and back. :)
Kent did a few garage projects, we played outside some more then Kent grilled burgers for lunch, and headed to dance practice (I just love saying that. Kent is doing a Daddy/Daughter dance for Kylee's tumbling recital so he has to go practice every so often. I love it). While he was gone the kids watched a movie and Kase slept.
Sunday afternoon we headed out to the park and ran into some friends. Their son came to play Wii with Kael for awhile then we decided to turn sprinklers for all the kids to run through. More neighbors joined in soon. I knew Kael and Kylee would have fun with sprinklers but I couldn't get over how much Kase loved it. He was right in the mix with all the big kids just cute and happy (and tan!) as could be.
Sunday night a huge storm rolled through and we were completely, admittedly unprepared. The trampoline blew over the fence but luckily Kent and some neighbors were able to get it home before it could blow farther or do any damage to anyone else. One of the arms that holds the protective net up is awfully bent but the trampoline itself seems to be intact. Whew! The kids were so worried as the storm grew more and more fierce but remained impressively calm. When Kent ran out to save the trampoline I overheard Kylee praying, "God please help my dad be safe out there and help him work quickly so he can get back inside. A trampoline is just a thing but family is what matters." Wise beyond her years, that one.
In the meantime Kase fell down and bit his tongue hard. You know the kind where the blood is so dark and thick it looks purple? Poor guy.
Even though the end of our weekend was pretty intense, I still consider it a fantastic weekend. How was yours?
