A nice, normal day!

We have had a nice, normal day today. And that feels awesome! With all the traveling we have done this month, it felt really good to take the kids to the park this morning and then get groceries.

Yes, it was a little too much to do in one day and the kids made me pay for it at the grocery store, but it was good for all of us. Our time at the park is not, shall I say, a walk in the park. My kids play hard. They love the monkey bars (the Prince can do them now! Princess has been able to do them for 2 year), walking/running the trails, climbing the jungle gyms, and swinging. They play hard at the park and I encourage them to do so. We all need exercise.

Next week my plan is to get back to the gym so I can get some walking in while they play in the playroom and then let them swim. That is so good for us. Everyone comes home tired and happy. Tomorrow we are supposed to get some rain so I may take my trio to a free movie. They love going and it makes for a pretty easy morning for me.

A Walk in the Park!

Friday night fun at the park!





Last night after supper, we headed out for a walk after supper. Even though it was about 100 degrees, the kids needed to use up some energy.

In a way, it was a monumental occasion. The Knight walked the full half mile to the park and half mile back! He wore out a bit at the end and DadOf3 gave him a ride on his shoulders, but he did great!

The kids played nicely at the park and the Prince even shared his scooter with another little boy. Princess was able to scoot all the way to the park and back but the Prince was too tired towards the end so I carried it back for him.

Saturday Night in FamilyOf5 Land!

Saturday was a busy day. We decided to once again go exploring the parks in our fair city. Because of all of the rain we have gotten lately, they opened the dam near the river. We loaded the kids and a lunch box full of snacks and headed out to see the show. There really wasn't much to see but we had fun hiking and letting the play at a new play scape. We also saw a boat ramp and watched lots of boats go into the water. We walked down one of the sidewalks right into the lake. Princess climbed the rock wall at the park. I was impressed. She is a very strong little girl!

Still Barf Free!

We are still barf free down here in FamilyOf5Land. Thank goodness! It was not the greatest day to head to the park but head to the park we did. MomOf2Boys was there with JW and JR.



<--Prince and Princess Digging at the park










<---MomOf2Boys six year old
















<---MomOf2Boys three and a half year old












<---Knight on the tire swing. He didn't want to get off today!















<---Princess is very strong and can do the monkey bars all the way across the playset!











<---Princess and Prince took turns pushing the tire swing!

Monday of B and BZ's Visit!

On Monday we finally made it to the Wine Festival. Believe it or not, they actually had some fun things for kids too! Before we headed out though, Uncle B got a chance to fly our little helicopter. It was fun! The kids really love that thing. We thought maybe we had broken it the night before. BZ and I were flying it with the kids , the Prince and the Knight were both running for it, grabbed it, and broke off two chunks of the helicopter. DadOf3 was able to fix it though and the helicopter flew again! BZ cut my hair that morning and I was SO happy! She did a wonderful job and I think it looks cute. There is a picture of DadOf3 and me and my new haircut. What do you think? Uncle B did a great job of entertaining the Knight while BZ cut my hair. As we were driving to the Wine Fest, it started to pour down rain, Princess started singing her "Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Golden Mr. Sun" song and just like that! it stopped raining and the sky turned blue! It was pretty amazing! The Wine Fest was a lot more kid friendly than I would have expected. They had a nice water fountain for the kids to jump in (OK, I think we made this "attraction" for ourselves but other kids were doing it!) They had inflatable jumpers, and they had face painting (arm painting). This woman was absolutley wonderful and I took her card for a future birthday part! It was a nice day outside with fun for everyone!

Saturday of GrandmaOf4's Visit!

We had a fun day today! When the kids woke up, they played for quite a while inside. The Knight woke up at 5:30 - yawn! The Prince and the Princess slept until 8:00 - almost unbelievable - especially since they had a sleep over last night. They did a really good job with that though. GrandmaOf4, the kids, and I headed out about 10:00 for a fun time at the park and a picnic. The Prince rode his trike the entire way. We played for a while at the park on the swings and slides and then settled down for a peanut butter and jelly and juicebox picnic. It was a fun time and everyone ate their lunch - it doesn't get any better than that! After lunch we went for a hike. Even the Knight was able to keep up without being carried. A first! The Princess liked hiking so much that she wanted to go a second time. The boys didn't want to go so I took the Princess for another go-around. She was a little tired by the time we got back. She is in such good shape from all of her running at school though! We met back up with the boys and Grandma playing in the sand and then headed home to see DadOf3. He stayed home and worked on the deck all day long. The kids asked if they could help DadOf3, and he agreed. They were very good helpers and DadOf3 was able to get lots done! He is making some good progress. I will add some pictures. These blogs are turning into more of a play by play than any intellectual thinking. Maybe someday I will get my mind back and surprise you with my insights into Motherhood! :)

Fun with Arboretum Cows, Ducks, and Ice Cream!

Whew! What a fun morning. I took the boys to a little park in our Arboretum area. We met my MOPS group, played with the cow statues, played in and around several fountains, fed the ducks, geese, and turtles, had a picnic, and ate ice cream. The Prince did a great job of listening and I moved him to SUPER STAR when we got home. He listened and stayed near me. The Knight's behavior was another story. He was everywhere! My goodness. I put 8000 steps on my pedometer just chasing him around the park. Thank goodness the Prince was good! There were three other Moms there with their kids. They brought 2 kids each so there were 8 little "rug rats" running around the park. It always amazes me how quietly other people's kids play. Not mine! Mine talk and yell and run and jump and are just very active. Wow! There were two other 2-year-old boys there today. They both sat so nicely and didn't run away from their moms. The Knight ran away several times and he is getting fast! It is a good thing that there were stairs to slow him down! When I yell at him to stop, he just starts to giggle and runs faster. I will add some pictures. I am not sure why the pictures started posting smaller. I choose "medium" size or "large" size and yet the pictures post small. I re-booted, so let's see if that helps. :) Yippee! It looks like re-booting worked. You might be asking why the Knight was not as well represented in these pictures as the Prince. Well, it was because I was either carrying him or holding his hand while snapping the pictures. I took lots of photos today. I think the day is documented well enough! The Princess will be home from school in about 10 minutes. When DadOf3 gets home, it will officially be the weekend. Thank goodness. I am ready for a nice nap with the kids tomorrow afternoon.

Fun At The Princess's School

Yesterday was just a beautiful day: 70 degrees and sunny! To take advantage of this beautiful weather, DadOf3 and I took the three kids to the Princess's school to run around and play on the playground equipment. We took turns running around a little track that goes around the playground. It is a third of a mile. The kids have to run around the track one time every day before recess. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they run twice! I ran around it once without stopping but it was rough on me! I knew that I was out of shape, but wow! I think the kids and I will go to this park a lot this summer. They can play while I run the track and get back into some sort of shape again! There really were lots of things to do. We even found some spare basketballs on the playground and practiced shooting hoops! The Prince would really love to be taller so he could make some more shots. The Knight just wanted to run and chase balls. The Princess did an AWESOME job of swinging all the way across the monkey bars! She is a very strong little girl, let me tell you. I don't remember ever being able to do that in grade school, or after that if truth be told! She impresses me! The Prince tried to swing from the monkeybars and he did a great job of holding on. I told him that was the first step to being able to swing all the way across the monkey bars. We really are going to need some activities to do this summer. The Princess is not going to be content with coloring in the kitchen this year. I ended up ordering some lessons for during summer vacation and her school website has lots of ideas too. I may try to think of a pseudo lesson plan for the summer so we can keep her reading and writing on target for next year. It will also give the Prince a taste of what school will be like when he turns 5! Speaking of the Prince turning a year older, his birthday is less than two months away now! Soon I will have a 4 year old again. Crazy!! Time does fly!