If the quality of a long weekend can be gauged by how dirty and sticky your child was by the end of it, I’d say this one was pretty damn awesome.
I mean, any time a weekend starts off with your husband letting you sleep in while he takes your toddler with him to procure the most delicious donuts in the world, you know it’s going to be a good one.
(I returned the favor on Sunday).
(With waffles).
(I cheated and used a mix, but it’s the thought that counts, right?).
LJ’s best friend from daycare came over for a play date on Saturday afternoon, so I spent the morning cleaning the house like a crazy person. Because, well, LJ’s friend and her mom were going to be walking through our house on their way to the backyard. And I didn’t want them to judge us too harshly. And, well, you know… crazy person.
K had a much more productive morning than I did.
If I had known what a hassle it was going to be to get this swing set in working order, I’m not sure that I would have gone the “free swing set from Craigslist” route. But, then again, we did save ourselves about $500 this way. Plus, I’m told that putting one of these suckers together from scratch is a weeks long ordeal.
The moral of the story is: if you’re going to put a swing set in your backyard, save your pennies, buy a really good one, and then pay someone else to put it together for you. We were not going to save enough pennies in time for this summer. We were probably not going to save enough pennies in time for next summer. The “free swing set from Craigslist that needs some work” option was a fantastic runner up.
The playdate went really well… Although attempting to make two almost-three-year-olds share a backyard full of toys when they only ever want to play with what the other one has? Exhausting.
This might have something to do with the fact that we watched How to Train Your Dragon for the eleventy billionth time on Saturday night.
Sunday morning featured the aforementioned waffles. Lilian wanted to help, but she also wanted to stay the hell away from the waffle maker. I can’t say I blame her, that thing belches out steam like one of her dragons. I usually try to make her help with stuff like this (building good habits and all that jazz), but this time I was totally fine with her doing her own thing in the kitchen corner. She did, however, help decorate the tray.
In this post-Mothers’ Day era, Lilian has decided that any tray bearing breakfast must also have a vase full of flowers on it. I told her we didn’t have any flowers, so she grabbed these fake ones that we have on a side-table. I like her style. That kid is resourceful.
K wanted to get some yard work done, so after breakfast LJ and I went on an “adventure” to bring Auntie Beans some refreshments at work. Auntie Beans works on an organic farm. So we had ourselves a little picnic.
(The picnic was not very organic).
We stopped at a local cafe, picked up some sandwiches for ourselves, and some cookies and lemonade to share with Auntie Beans. We put a blanket under a tree, and ate our little spread. Is there anything nicer than sitting under a tree, feeling the breeze when it’s 80 degrees out? No. No, there is not.
When your best friend works on an organic farm, you have to go where she is if you want to see her during the warm months. Which is not exactly an onerous imposition when she works at such a beautiful spot. Added bonus: we picked up some tomato and hot pepper seedlings for our garden.
We also had a little fun with our Auntie.
That evening, we went shopping at Assembly Row, because Kristian’s work shirts are all slowly disintegrating and this is kindof a bad thing. I took LJ with me to the Loft and Express outlets, because K had an actual shopping need and I was just along for the ride. It’s kind of hard to try pants on when your toddler wants to pull down everything in reach.
So, yeah, apparently my little fashionista is a perfect angel if you let her pick out things for you to try on. Also, she is great for the ego and terrible for the wallet. She says that everything looks good on you. I’m pretty sure she’s lying, however, because she will start saying how great you look when the dress is still all tangled up around your head.
(In about 10-15 years, she’s going to be rolling her eyes and telling me how lame everything looks on me, so I’ll take it when I can get it).
I ended up picking up a few new dresses and a couple new shirts. Most of it was things that I would never have picked to try on myself, but was pleasantly surprised with when I got into the fitting room.
We finished off the evening with dinner at a Mexican restaurant, where Kristian was served a margarita that was approximately the size of his head. LJ was fascinated with the salt around the rim. I’m getting thirsty just looking at that thing.
We also had a walk along the river, and played in this awesome playground that they recently put in. I’m now exhausted just remembering all the stuff we did in one day!
Kristian and Lilian headed home together, and I stayed behind to watch Pitch Perfect 2 with a friend. Acca-awesome! I’m not usually into a cappella music, but both Pitch Perfect movies are hilarious. You have to love a movie where the best cameo isn’t President Obama (for the record, the best cameo was the Green Bay Packers).
Monday morning, we did the lazy thing and let Lilian play with Kristian’s iPad while we both stared off into space for some precious few extra minutes. I’d like to pretend that we had a stimulating and intellectual conversation with her while consuming organic omelettes, but sometimes you just need to watch a little My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and then eat cereal. Parenting is hard enough, I refuse to feel guilty about these things.
We did go to Music Together later that morning. Well, LJ and I went to Music Together. Kristian went and got coffee all by his lonesome. Sometimes, you just need to consume caffeine and stare off into space a little bit more.
Then, we all piled onto our bikes and took a trip down the Minute Man Bike Trail. I was positive that Lilian was going to start howling to get down from her bike seat about 15 minutes in (she doesn’t like having her feet strapped into the carrier). I told her that, if she feels frustrated about her feet, she should put her hands up and wave her arms around. She hates sitting still, but waving her arms was just enough movement for her. I am still kindof amazed that this worked.
We managed a seven-mile (total) trip. I couldn’t believe we made it that far! We did, however, stop at the halfway point and let her run around a playground for a half hour or so. Every time we biked past a park, she had been telling Kristian “I need to play there! I need to play there!” We’re not monsters, people.
We finished the day off with a cookout at our place with some good friends and their little daughter. We finished the weekend off with some ice cream from the sketchy truck that stopped across the street.
At some point over the weekend, I finished up my latest sewing project. I honestly can’t remember when that was. Sunday morning, I think? It’s all kindof a blur at this point. I will post pictures as soon as the person that I made it for receives it.
After all that weekend, I think I need another three days off.