Busy Weekend

After the frantic pace of painting and putting in a bathroom, it felt very strange to just be able to sit and watch tv on Wednesday night. We went to bed pretty early the next few nights, and tried to catch up on our sleep. By Saturday we were ready for some serious "family time". So after lunch we headed out to the Morris Arboretum. We recently got a membership, and it was the first time we went. It was gorgeous! There were fountains for the kids to play in...

sculptures to climb...


but my favorite was the rose garden where a ground hog was also enjoying the beautiful surroundings...

And in the end we took a little train ride around the garden, which E and N loved, but K wasn't so sure about. She was game as we waited for the train to start, standing in my lap and looking over the side of the car. But once it started to move, she moved toward Ed and snuggled against him the entire time, taking in the scenery from the safety of his arms.

As we walked around we noticed that there was one portion of the garden that looked sadly neglected, with only past-bloom azaleas, lots of weeds, and even a couple of dead plants. It was a huge contrast from the lush, carefully planted sections, so I am wondering what is going on.

Saturday night we spent at a fun first b-day party for Addie that was well attended by family and playgroup friends. Even though we were out after a long day, it was nice to not have to cook, and have the extra bonus of seeing our friends, and of course celebrating with little Addie.

Sunday after church we headed out for the zoo. Our membership there is about to expire this week, so we thought we would take advantage of it one more time. The kids enjoyed all the usual rides- swan boats, draft horse, electric train. We were disappointed that the line was so long for the balloon. Ed has been wanting to go up in it, but it is always closed when we go as a family. N was especially disappointed and burst into tears when we left the line. I felt bad for him, but I wasn't ready to wait an hour in a line, at that time of day.


Oh yeah, and we saw some animals too.(hippos in the water in the background)

When we got home, I made dinner and then we went to "Everybody's Playground". It was so much fun. I have heard that it is super hot in the summer because there is no shade, but it was perfect in the evening. K loved crawling around on the soft surface, and the kids chased each other over and around the huge structure.

Ed also walked K around on all the ramps and he decided that she was ready to walk.


So we set her between us and she walked a couple of steps from Ed to me before falling into my arms. We tried to get her to do it again, but when I let go, she would just stand there and then fall to her knees. She can be such a stinker sometimes- we think that she purposely doesn't do what she know we want her to do. Like say "Dada", or sign "thank-you", or even to look at me when I am taking a picture. She will purposely turn her head the other way, with a little smile on her face like,"I know you want me to look at you, but I won't". Case in point- this picture taken at the Memorial Day picnic on Monday.



So I spent much of Monday cleaning the house, but we did go out in the evening to a picnic with our C-group. Those not up on the lingo, it is short for Community Group, the new name for Mini-church which was the new name for D-Group. In all cases, it is a smaller group within the church that meets on a regular basis in someone's home for prayer, fellowship, and discussion. Anyway, we had a picnic together last night. I think the highlight for N was the motorized mini-car. He monopolized the vehicle the entire night. The only problem is he is a terrible driver, running down several children through the course of the night, and backing into all sorts of things. He was very sad to leave it behind. I was not.

This morning things are back to the usual schedule- playgroup today, and then babysitting for the remainder of the week. Hope you all had a great holiday weekend!