On Saturday, we picked Gabe up and headed to the pool for the day. It's the pool in the Prusas neighborhood, complete with a big water slide, so all the people were happy, including myself, because all 3 boys prefer to be in the cool water while we swelter in Texas-like heat here.
On Sunday, we had our normal church morning and then our church had a community picnic afterwards. They grilled and everyone brought side dishes and desserts while we sat out on the lawn. They set up tons of water activities for the kids- baby pools, fishing, bubbles and a huge slip n' slide-- and then some big canopy tents for us to sit under because again, the heat is killing us. The picnic was fun but it was SO hot... I'm going to vote we do it again the fall next time BUT I stuck it out nonetheless and waited with bated breath for Chad and his mission team to arrive home. They had been gone a week, and although our week was great, I had lots of help from my mom, and I wasn't worn out at all in the parenting without my other half department, I was TOTALLY missing my friend-- you know, the person you tell about your whole day and talk through all the nuances of life and such-- it was so weird to have him and me experiencing totally different things in totally different places but not catching up and filling each other in on it detail by detail. Truth be told, we stay in touch ALL the time, and I just love it and him. So seeing his face at the end of the picnic was truly the highlight for me. We capped off the night with a family dinner at our favorite BBQ place and then all hit the sack early after long weeks.
On Monday, after my morning workout at the gym (which is one of the boys favorite thing because they love Kids Club at the gym... the get to play video games and watch movies and run around like crazies!), we loaded up the van with everything we own and headed about 12 miles down the road to Galt's Ferry Beach on Lake Allatoona. My friend Jolynn has been telling me about it so I decided it was high time we check it out-- which was a great decision. I mean there is a lot of set up and tear down that goes into such an outing, but it was so fun-- the sand, the sun, playing and floating in the lake, and a picnic. Like I've mentioned already, it was sweltering, so I just kept myself in the water while the boys played. Gabe snorkeled, without the snorkel, the whole time-- all I saw was the back of his head, his backside, and his kicking legs while he swam with his goggles watching all the fish. He also tried (in vain) to catch them with his bare hands and a bucket. Jack did well in his float and playing on the shore and in the sand. I did make him miss his morning nap, but he was happy anyway, thank you baby! And Max swam some, splashed some, watched Gabe, floated some, played in the sand some, and just enjoyed him time. And he pitched a royal fit when it was time to go, but thankfully it was the 30 second version. Our friends Jenny and Mason, and Anna and her girls also came. Because of all the "work" involved with the tent set up and small kids who can't really help carry things, I can't say that we'll be going every week, but every few weeks, for sure!
On Tuesday, we set out on a true adventure... mainly because we headed off to a destination that I had only read a tiny snippet about in a magazine and had never really heard of, seen, or knew of any real people reviews. Once again, after my morning workout, Anna and I freshened up in the locker room, and then got all the kiddies settled in the van, before we drove over the river and through the woods. We headed up to Cumming (about a 45 minute drive and where I grew up) to Adventure Kids. On the way, we had to make two pit stops:
1) At Target because I hadn't packed any flip-flops to go with my clothes, and my gym shoes just didn't go, in a nerd mom alert sort of way.
2) At Dutch Monkey Donut which I had only heard of but never experienced and I can I just say, OH MY WORD... I know we'll never by hungry in heaven, I hope it's because there is one of these on every corner, AMEN!
Then we finally landed at Adventure Kids. It's an indoor play place with a large playground filled with real, fine, soft, cool beach sand-- the kids loved it. They also have one inflatable for small kids, and another for bigger kids. They have air hockey, a train table, a lego table, and this trampoline with trampolines sides as well. It was a great change up to the normal Catch Air that we go to regularly and love and like I said, the sand was a HIT for all 5 kids, which spans a big age bracket. BUT unfortunately, at the end, I noticed this aquarium at the front desk, that happened to have a S-N-A-K-E in it-- like a big nasty, moving around and crawling up the edge kind. And I almost died right there-- so that means we'll never be able to go back again. I haven't broken the news to the kids yet-- and I'm pretty sure they won't appreciate my dramatics....
This was also mine and Chad's anniversary and we celebrated by.... Chad working late and me having corn dogs, apple sauce, and movie night with the boys... oh the life of parents :) The boys watched Cars 2- Max loved the first Cars and Gabe loves any movie so I thought it would the perfect fit for them. They ate their dinner in front of the tv, and then I made popcorn to cap off the experience. They were thrilled. Don't you just love that about kids??
On Wednesday, we started off the day with our gym visit and instead of heading straight to an activity, decided to let the baby have his morning nap for the first time all week. It was a good idea because he was starting to go from low tolerance to no tolerance... poor guy! While Jack slept, Gabe and Max played in their new sprinkler that they got from Grandma and Grandpa at Christmas. I guess it wasn't technically new, but this was the first time it made it out of the package. This activity was a HIT! I got all sorts of things done, the baby got to sleep and I got cute pictures... win/ win/ win!
Once Jack woke up, we drove through Chickfila for some lunch and headed back to Anna's pool. I think this was our best day at the pool, this summer. Everyone was happy, everyone wanted to be in the water, and Jack stayed strong until the bitter end. He is really getting good and relaxed in his float and will stay in for 30-45 minutes, which is crazy! That gives Max that many minutes to swim to me, which wears him out, and naturally Gabe dominated on the slide. By the time we made it home, our SPF 70 had worn off, and we were all ready for sleep. It always amazes me how fun in the sun is so fun and then once you're back inside, you realize how much it wears you (and small people!) out!
That night, we all headed over to West Cobb to hang out with our youth group who was skipping bible study for a night of kick ball. There was a great turn out, some people mistook Gabe for a 6th grader, which made him proud, and he played hard wit the kids. Jack terrorized all the adults but zeroing in on their drinks and anything that could be used as weapons and also tried to take swipe at Miss Molly Bette, while Max played golf and baseball and chase and any other game they came up with, with his buddy Reed. Everyone stayed strong until 9pm, I couldn't believe it, and Daddy met us at the door when we got home to get everyone into bed in record time.
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| This is sweet Molly Bette Morgan- I just LOVE her ... especially in her shades! Now you can see why Jack was all over her! |
By Friday, I was cranky, seriously! All this running was a lot for even me, with all these boys, and record topping heat in Georgia, it just made for a sour attitude. But it was family fun week, and there is no grumpy or sour in fun. So we started off with the trip to the gym (thanks Anna for the accountability here) and then headed for the Sprayground. It was SO hot, in the 100's, literally, so if we weren't in the water, we were melting. So the boys played for about an hour, and then, even the water didn't bring enough cool and I was worried the SPF just wasn't enough. So we headed to a shade tree where we all enjoyed popsicles before heading home for naps. Friday night was girls night for my small group, which meant boys night for all my men back at the homestead. This thrilled my boys to death, and myself. I even stayed out until 1 in the morning-- I haven't done that in years.
Family Fun week came to a wrap, but not without a lot of fun, a lot of cute pictures, and a multitude of giggles and smiles and gracious hugs from my three boys. Just in case you were wondering, being a mom his really awesome-- I highly recommend it!
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