Date Night

Almost a year ago, Jason and I went to a Cubs game on a blustery April afternoon. We watched part of the game in our seats; then watched more of the game from the Captain Morgan lounge.  That day we bought Will a Cubs jersey and a Blackhawks sweater.  Yesterday the tags finally came off the hockey shirt when Will chose to wear it.  He put it on after his bath last night, wore it to bed, and is still wearing it today.

 

After work last night Jason and I got away for a dinner and movie date thanks to Uncle Ryan's baby-sitting services.  We had a quick dinner at a newer restaurant near our house called Eddie Merlot's.   Since we didn't have time for a full dinner, we ordered a bottle of wine and an assortment of appetizers.  It was all delicious!  Then it was off to see Oz in 3D.  I'm not sure we needed to see the 3D version, but it was a pretty movie, and I liked the story.  I definitely wouldn't take young kids.  There is nothing cute or funny for a little kid (there is no Munchkins Lollipop Guild song. . . ) and there are some dark and scary parts.

Work Travel

I've spent each of the past two weeks (Monday-Thursday) in Connecticut at a client.  This week was particularly exhausting; I just don't have the endurance for business travel!  There were a few cute things that have happened these past few weeks that I wanted to document:

Week 1:

• I brought Will home some wafer cookies with a hazelnut filling from the airport gift shop.   He was very happy to have one for breakfast on Friday morning.  I bought him some "week two" candy the same day and just hid it in the kitchen until today!  White Plains doesn't have the same selection of cars and planes as La Guardia.  White Plains makes Wichita look like a big airport!  But I do love that it only takes 7 minutes from the time you show your ID to the time you're putting your shoes back on and exiting security.
• After work on Saturday night, I met the guys at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner.  This is Will's favorite place for dinner out.  He ate his entire kids meal AND an appetizer that we had to order him after he polished off his food.
• Will went with me to get a pedicure on Sunday evening.  There was only one other occupied chair, so he could have had his own and watched the ipad.  But he snuggled on my lap and rested for most of the time on my shoulder.  I couldn't believe how tiny that chair got with an almost 4 year old on my lap.  Anytime I moved in the chair he was certain I was going to drop him into the foot bath.   He also asked lots of "what's that?"as the nail tech was working.  He picked me out a lovely shade of purple, after I talked him away from the bright pinks he really wanted.

Week 2:

• I was worried when I woke up to snow on Thursday morning, but it turned to rain and my flight left on time.  It was the last flight out that night and full of commuter travelers.  There were 9 passengers (including me and my two teammates), so we each had a row to ourselves and a row for our roller bags.  Normally you carry your bag plane side and they gate check it.  But this time they brought our bags up into the plane and said if they didn't fit under the seats (the overheads are very small on this plane) that we should seatbelt them into a row.
• My car was in the shop for scheduled maintenance while I was gone.  The dealer loaner was a red, and Will insisted that Jason drive them in that instead of Jason's car.  On Friday Jason picked up my car right before getting Will at school.  Will was very disappointed to go back to the black car.  When they picked me up from the train, Will told me that when he's 16 he's going to get his own red car.
• We went out to BWW (again!) last night and ran into one of Will's classmates and her family who was already there.  After dinner they came by to say good-bye and she gave each of us a hug. That's a first!      

Flowers

My wonderful husband surprised me with flowers at work for Valentine's Day.  They were red (my favorite color); pink (Will's favorite color) and purple (our family's favorite color: Go Wildcats!) After the first week, the orchids were past their prime, so I trimmed the stems on the remaining flowers and rearranged them for this beautiful mix: 

I have loved having them on my desk these past 10 days.  They've really brightened my spirits; and they smell so great (now that the orchids are gone :-))!

Swimming Lesson

Yesterday we took Will to a free swimming lesson at a local swim school.   Our friends take their girls there and speak very highly of it.   Since Will has been having so much fun taking soccer lessons at school, I thought he might be ready to try this.  He was very apprehensive once we got to the pool, but once Coach Mike worked his magic, he didn't want to leave!  I would love for Will to have formal lessons to go along with our family time at open swim at our gym.  I want him to be safe on our vacations, and I also think swimming is a great lifetime activity.

 

Campout

Will is going through another faze where he wants to sleep on the floor instead of his bed.  This is the campsite he has made most recently.  His favorite pal, Curious George, has also been demoted to second favorite with the recent addition of Hamish, one of the triplet brother bears from the movie, Brave.  Will received his "little bear" as a party favor at the Princess Party.   Oh, and I can't believe I forgot to mention that he doesn't want to wear pajamas right now.  He sleeps in just undies ("because I'm at home, so it's ok" as he always says) and the shirt he wore all day.  Pick your battles, right?!  I'll take asleep versus a fight over clothes or bedding!

 

Princess Party

Several of my co-workers have kids around the same age.  The one we spend the most time with has two girls.  One of her daughters had her 6th birthday last weekend.  The theme was Merida from the Disney movie Brave.   The birthday girl was dressed like Merida; her sister (same age as Will) was dressed as Belle; and the other guests (4 more little girls) as various princesses or just in cute party dresses. That's right:  the princesses and Will wearing his Star Wars hoodie and jeans. 

Will doesn't seem too bothered by being the only boy.  In fact, he always asks about going to Ava and Hannah's house.  He LOVES their play kitchen, and they have a lot of other non-princess or fairy toys to play with as well.  Plus, we usually go for birthday or pool parties, so there is always fun food and cupcakes!

(Side note: I didn't realize that fairies are all the rage now for 3-6 year old girls. . . .Now I know.)

FAMILY

My sister-in-law had a great idea for a gift for her parents' anniversary this week.  She asked the other siblings/in-laws to send her pictures of each of the grandkids holding one of the letters in the word FAMILY.   Then she printed them in black and white and put them in this long frame.   The finished project turned out great, so I had to share the results and give her kudos for her clever idea and execution! 

 

Happy Valentine's Day

Ooooh!  Candy and stickers for me?! Wow!

Great Wolf Lodge

What better mid-winter getaway than a trip to a waterpark with friends?!   Jason, Will and I packed up and drove to Kansas City for a fun filled weekend, including meeting this new baby girl!

We stayed two of the nights at the Legends at the Great Wolf Lodge.  If you want to know how to get two little boys to sleep soundly, the answer is take them to a waterpark!   I didn't take any pictures while we were inside the waterpark, but we were all worn out from the climbing and sliding.

Just as we always hoped (before we had kids), our boys played like the best of friends.  They had a slumber party in their Kids Kamp on Saturday night and at home on Sunday night.

Super Bowl Sunday with three kids was relatively tame - starting with Cabela's for the boys and a lovely brunch with a friend for me.  That evening we watched the game and filled up on tasty treats before all heading to bed at a mostly respectable hour.  (FYI, the Babylandia commercial was one of my personal favorites!)  On Monday we packed up and headed home. Will was an outstanding traveler for our roadtrip.  He was very low key with a minimal amount of whining.  On Friday he spent most of the drive working on a coloring book, and on Monday he napped (me too!) and played with his Cars.