A Slice of Summer

Once again, it's raining on Monday morning, but I don't even care because we had such a great weekend!    Just a warning to you, my friendly reader, this is a long post!  I'll try to break it up with lots of pictures though.

Matt had a field trip on Friday to a local nursery, and then his class spent the rest of the day at a playground.  I feel really bad because it was pretty cool in the morning so I sent him to school in jeans, but it warmed up considerably in the afternoon, and he must have been really hot.

Right after school a local church was hosting a Spring Fun Nite.  It wasn't what I expected, but we had a blast.  I was surprised by how few families were there.  They had an obstacle course, tug of war, and kickball set up and the families were split into three teams.  The parents were fully expected to participate!  I wish I had photos of the relay race because it was pretty hilarious.

You had to run weaving through flags, crawl over a mat, jump through hula hoops on the ground, jump rope five times (not consecutively, and thank God, because we would have been there until the apocalypse), run and jump over three (very very small) hurdles, attempt to land three rings on an orange cone, and *finally* tag the next person on your team.  The jump rope was about 100 feet too long so the little kids were having a lot of trouble swinging it over their heads, and the parents were way too out of shape to actually jump.  Matthew did great, and he was the only kid to make any rings onto the orange cone!

Lucas and I went together.  We ran through the flags, I helped him do a roll over the mat, and we jumped (slowly) through the hula hoops.  Somewhere in there I lost a flip flop and had to go back for it.  Definitely not the best choice of footwear, but, again, I wasn't expecting to be in an Olympic tournament.  Obviously a two year old can't be expected to jump rope, so I grabbed it and astonished everyone with my mad skills!  Yes, people, I am capable of jump roping.  It shouldn't be so impressive!!  For the hurdles I just picked him up and jumped with him, and he was giggling hysterically for that, and finally we reached the ring toss, where I didn't make mine, but Lucas, from a distance of 0 inches, made both of his.

The three of us needed a water after we were done, so we each grabbed a bottle. The water was warm, but oh well.  Next up was tug of war.  Matt had fun, but Lucas and I sat out.  All three of us were wearing jeans.  I can't believe Matt had the energy to go on, especially after being on a field trip all day!  After the kids got tired of tug of war we went back to the obstacle course and played with the hula hoops.  I cannot hula anymore!  I guess I lost my rhythm.

Then it was our turn to play kickball.  Most of the parents sat out and let the kids and the teens from the church play.  Matthew has NO IDEA how kickball works!  I thought he would have played it in school, but apparently not, because he was running ALLLLLL over the field.  It was funny, and since there was no competitive edge to the game at all, no one minded the crazy kid that ran around all the bases every time he kicked the ball. 

Finally it was time to go back inside and eat.  Hot dogs and lots of homemade side dishes were served and the boys mowed face.  Lucas especially enjoyed the watermelon and grapes, but wasn't a fan of pineapple.  Matt made me proud of his healthy choices, taking a big serving of salad, but as soon as he was done he went straight for brownies, cookies, and chocolate covered doughnuts.  Eh, he's 6, what else could I expect?

After we left and got home what did Matt want to do?  Go right back outside and play with his friends!  So we all finally changed into shorts and went right back out.  Kohl's called and wanted me to come in on Saturday.  Luckily the shift didn't start until 4:30, so we also had a busy Saturday...

It was Farm Day at the Farmers' Market.  There were lots of animals to see: goats, alpacas, sheep, bunnies, and pigs.  Last year they also had chickens, so I'm not sure if we missed them or they just weren't there.  The boys had a great time petting the animals.

Lucas got frustrated when it was time to move on and threw a fit.  One of the girls from the 4H club that sponsored Farm Day came up to us while he was mi-tantrum and offered to let him pet her rabbit.  Very seriously she said to me "I find that the best cure for tears is laughter."  Oh, why thank you for the tip, 9 year old little girl with no children!  Out loud I said, "Yeah, you're right.  Look, it's working already."

We made our way around Center Square a few times, just browsing, jumping in the hay pile, splashing our feet in the fountain and soaking in the sights and noise.  When the heat got unbearable we had lunch at McDonald's and the boys played with their new Spy Gear from their Happy Meals.

On the walk home we picked some very pretty and sweet smelling white and purple wild flowers.  I cut them and put them in a vase on the kitchen table, and now the whole living room is filled with their fragrance.  I had a couple of hours to relax before work, and I took advantage of them, sprawling on the couch while Lucas happily took a nap.

I worked yesterday, and I think all of my boys spent the day being lazy and I don't blame them.  Today I have a ton of housework to catch up on: two nights worth of dinner dishes, a mountain of laundry, and Eric buzzed his friend's hair last night and left the cut hair in the tub, so I get to do that, too.  SO... I guess I better get started. ;)

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend!