Labor Day Weekend 2015

This Labor Day Weekend we headed down to my bonus mom's house to spend the weekend with her & Donna's mom & dad. We arrived friday night to a super yummy Swedish meatball dinner, Marie always spoils us with her homemade meals! The boys played with & loved on Grandma before we finally got them settled enough to attempt bedtime. After a short while of musical beds everyone finally settled in & went to sleep. The easy days of putting all 3 boys in one big bed are gone & they each prefer their own space, which there are plenty of at Grandma's between the crib, toddler bed, bunkbeds, futon & full bed (spaced out between 3 rooms of course.)

Saturday we made an indecisive trip to Ikea. The store is way too overwhelming to make any decisions in, add in 3 kids & we might as well stayed home & shopped online, lol... Only 2 of the boys wanted to play in the playroom when we got to ikea but there was a waiting list. I signed the 2 up that wanted to go & we headed off to attempt to shop while we waited. By the time we were called Kellan decided he would play too but they wouldn't let him because he wasn't on the waiting list. Boo Ikea! We couldn't let 2 go & make him wait so we didn't let any go & we left the store empty handed with 3 crying boys who wanted to play. We made it up to them though with lunch at Chuck E Cheese. Spoiled I know but I was really displeased with the decision by ikea not to let him in with his brothers. I should have put them all on the waiting list, lesson learned, but seriously they couldn't let one extra sibling in?! Oh well, if we ever decide on what we want I think we will order online & just pick it up instead of attempting the store again, it's too big, too busy & has too many distractions!

Sunday we prepared for a feast of grilled goodness from Marie's newly built (still awaiting the granite top) grill. My brother in law did an awesome, awesome job on the grill/fireplace combination!!! I wonder if we could convince him to come build us one???

Donna's parents came over for the cookout & we all had a good visit. The boys showed off some of their new, school learned behavior & dance moves (I had no idea they danced at school!) We were all worn out just by watching them.

Later that afternoon we took the boys to the splash park, they love this one & always have so much fun at it but their fun was short lived as an afternoon thunderstorm rolled in closing the park. Originally they were just going to close for 30 minutes due to thunder, so we headed next door to the playground which is equally as fun but we were chased out by raindrops soon after.

Garren

Kellan

Caden & Kellan

Mommom trying out the maze of a playground

The boys were well worn out after their little bit of playtime & we relaxed at Grandma's the rest of the evening & munched on leftovers from our cookout.

Monday we headed out to Donna's parents for another visit before getting on the road & heading home. It's been nothing but hot & stormy all over Florida this summer & this weekend was no different. We headed home right into a nasty thunderstorm, once we made it through the rain we were backed up in traffic from a bunch of accidents, I think we passed 5 different cars run off the road & saw one run off behind us not to mention the two rear end accidents we passed. The rain brings out the best drivers on the highway, lol... The good news is, there didn't appear to be any serious injuries and we only lost about a half hour of driving time. It was a good weekend with family, I miss my dad of course, with every holiday & also when we go to their house but I know he was there in spirit watching the boys have fun & admiring my grilled goodness, lol... He was the one that took the boys to Chuck E Cheese for the first time & grilling was always his forte'.

Labor Day Weekend & Our Furry Family Comes Home

We all had a great nights sleep on our fist night home from vacation!

My Dad & Marie arrived about 10:30 am on Saturday with the pup pups & kitty cat. Donna had run to the store so I went out to help bring our furry family in. I was pleasantly greeted with kisses from Haddie right in the car, Eason was wagging his non existent tail so hard I thought he'd throw his back out, lol... I brought them in the house first before going back to find little miss Murphee. The boys were so excited to see the pups & the feeling was mutual, the dogs chased the boys & the boys chased the dogs, it was hilarious! Murphee had hidden herself away under the front passenger seat & didn't come out willingly but I did get her out & into the house of chaos. She joined in & greeted each of the boys not quite letting any of them touch her. Garren was dying to see her so I held her so he could give her a kiss & hug.

It was a pretty lazy day. We were still recovering from vacation exhaustion & just hung out around the house visiting. Marie had brought everything to make dinner, she is good like that, lol... So I cooked up the peppers, onions & brats & we had a summer feast with pasta salad & potato chips.

Sunday morning we took the boys swimming at the pool & Sunday afternoon Donna & I headed out for an afternoon date. I made dinner that night & we ordered an on demand movie after the boys went to bed, another sort of lazy day.

Monday morning Marie helped me go through the boys' closet & reorganize it which was a huge bit of help. She took 4 boxes of clothes to give back to my bonus sisters, I packed up a box of stuff for my expecting sister, 3 boxes of stuff to donate & I had 2 boxes of trash when we were done. It's amazing the amount of stuff that was in there & it is still pretty full but there is now space to walk in & some shelf space for storage. We will have to stock up on winter clothes soon but we're waiting until the last minute so the boys don't outgrow them before they wear them. Currently Caden & Kellan can still wear 2T pants but I'm afraid they may be in 3T by the time the weather gets cool. They are in 3T shirts already. I think that Garren will be fine in 2T clothes since he is a little shorter than his brothers (for now) but I'm not taking any chances, lol...

My parents left right after the boys went down for naps & Donna & I lounged around for the rest of the day soaking up the last few relaxing moments before our vacation was officially over & she headed back to work Tuesday morning.

Labor Day Weekend & More "Firsts"

My dad & bonus mom came up Saturday morning to spend the weekend with us, while I had great plans for the weekend, it was just too hot & humid to be outside for too long. So Saturday we got a couple things done around the apartment since we had a couple of extra pairs of hands to wrangle the boys. We have wanted to add a little color to the walls, but painting has proven challenging with the boys, so we took advantage of having a little help & got at least a.little color added to the dining room. Marie also helped me rearrange the boys furniture in their room & organize their clothes, now to just get rid of some of the stuff they have outgrown.

After dinner we decided it was time for the boys' first swim in the big pool...

Kellan loved it! No qualms about it, he went right in & started kicking around, he leaned his head back in the water & even attempted the floating position all on his own. He also really liked standing in front of the jet. Lol...

Caden was pretty unsure at first, he cried a little but eventually warmed up to it. He liked being in the raft the best & towards the end he was comfortable enough to lean back & attemp to float.

Grandma & Caden

Grandpa & Kellan

Garren also had no issues with being in the water, he even attempted to let go & swim, of course he sank & his face went into the water but even that didn't seem to bother him much.

Mommy & Garren

A rare occasion... A photo of me with Caden.

Grandpa & Kellan

Caden & I

Thursday night when I was out getting groceries for the weekend, I stopped in Goodwill. I've been keeping an eye out for wooden dining room chairs to hold booster seats. Our dining chairs are fabric & we didn't want to put the boys on them. Well Thursday I finally scored 3 chairs for a whopping $9.99, so Friday I put the high chairs on Craigslist & Saturday while we were out getting paint we stopped in Target & picked up booster seats. Sunday morning was the boys' first meal at the table. It was different for them & has taken a little getting use to but it's so nice to not have to squeeze between the table & the high chairs & even nicer not washing high chair trays!!!

Caden, Garren, Kellan

Garrens expressions are so funny, he's like really, are we doing this again, pictures while we're eating?!?!?

Caden is a happy camper!

Kellan doesn't care where the food is
as long as there is food!

Sunday we took dad & Marie out to St Simon's Island.

 Kellan, Garren, Caden, Grandma & Grandpa

 

 

And Sunday night Marie & I made homemade pizzas!

Another rare photo, myself & Marie

Marie

The finished products

Monday was sort of a lazy day, we hung out at the apartment while dad & Marie got ready to head back home.

It was a fun fun weekend, I always love seeing the boys with their grandparents & it is so fun watching them intract with them, make my heart warm :o)