Today started off with Travis up at 6:30 - and for once I didn't get annoyed with him being the early bird! (Although Emily did, cuz he climbed up to her bed if she was still here...)
Once I got everyone roused and dressed, we started the day off with doughnuts and chocolate milk from Krispy Kreme. The boys each ate two doughnuts and Emily had a kreme filled and a chocolate cake - just ORDERING all the chocolate made me not want any, so I had a strawberry creme and saved the blueberry cake for later (in the box we brought home with the extras for daddy).
Then, we went to get the oil changed (not fun for today, but necessary to do the canoe trip next weekend!). They said it would be an hour before we'd be done, and at least 45 minutes before they'd be ready to talk to me about what to do on the van. So, we walked to Burlington (same strip mall/shopping centre) and browsed about (no purchases, just sussing out what's possible for back-to-school). we got back only 30 minutes later and they said "we're just about done..." - WTH? Oh well, no annoying "you really need to get this done on your van" convos this time! It always costs more than I want since it's a minivan (more oil) with high mileage (special oil). But, once a quarter isn't bad fr this.
We decided to kill the rest of the morning at the park, but it was PACKED with bikers and kids and possibly a family reunion. So, instead we dropped the van at the house and walked to the boys' school (about 1/2 mile - UPHILL). We played on the school equipment for about 20 minutes, after Travis gave me a full tour of the facilities ("these are the bars where people try to do flips or just climb on top", "this wheel makes a LOT of noise when you spin it", "these are the racer slides" - you get the idea). The favorite apparatus was either the curvy monkey bars (both boys can get all the way across unassisted, but Trav can do it with just one hand per bar!) or the parallel bars where they play "Fuzzy Taco". Yeah - don't ask on the name, we have NO IDEA. However, the boys taught me and Emily to play and it's FUN! And one heck of a workout! [Ask me and I'll try to explain it to you...]
After Em & I nearly got wrapped up trying to double jump in the single jump rope we found, we saw it was already 12:20. We all had to hurry back down the 1/2 mile to the house to grab the van and rush to get sissy to work on time; she works at the "kiddie pool" in the concession stand or front desk. We made it with about 5 minutes to spare (wipe sweat from forehead).
The boys and I then headed over to watch "Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince". I had to warn them several times that it was a much longer movie than they were used to and there were some slow parts, but they still couldn't talk or move around. Movie was pretty full, but not as bad as I expected for a first weekend Saturday afternoon. We had sodas and a large popcorn to help us through the time. :-) They really liked it but had a lot of questions - some expected since they are only 7, some because the move wasn't all that clear in places. I will post another page with my thoughts on the movie...
We decided it wasn't really that warm, but we'd still try swimming at "Sissy's Pool" anyway - mostly to harass sissy! So we grabbed our suits and towels back home and headed over to the kiddie pool. We harassed sissy a little and then got to swimming. This was my first time there and it' not a bad little pond! The boys go there once a week with camp. After about 90 minutes though, I'd had enough and I was REALLY hungry for some fairly real food after realizing that our lunch was the large popcorn and we hadn't eaten since the doughnuts!
We said bye to Emily and headed over to get dinner. McDonald's was out as an option, even though that would have made the day "perfect" in the boys' eyes. I decided the boys could use a few veggies after all the crap today and they really like Subway, so we headed there. Eating out simply meant I hadn't had to cook or clean ALL DAY - YAY ME!
After eating dinner we chilled for awhile watching the end of Shrek and part of a Pirates movie (Black Pearl I think). I shooed them to bed at 8:30, both of them whining that they weren't tired but both asleep before I turned off the light! I'm currently enjoying the REST of the Pirates movie while typing this happy list.
SO -
While it might not have been the HEALTHIEST or CHEAPEST day, it was a really FUN day with the kiddos. Limited fighting, nice weather, silly games and just reconnecting. They'll have to eat lots of fruit and veggies over the next few days, I'll have to attack the cleaning (dishes, laundry, yard, etc.) pretty hard tomorrow, and we all have to swear off extra expenditures until the next payday, but all in all I think it was worth it! :-)
