Kristy's Vacation - Days 0, 1 and 2!!

Friday after work, about 2pm, I started my week-long vacation! Emma had been looking forward to this week since she got out of school!!

When I got home, Tony was on his way home with the kids, so I started cleaning the bathroom sink and toilet...I was just about done when I heard the kids arrive home, and it took about 3 seconds for them to get up the stairs and shout "MAMA!!!! HAPPY VACATION!!!!" They were so excited! :)

We went to dinner at Fuddrucker's with my mom and dad (which included a live performance of Bradlee singing "Old McDonald"...something I have to figure out how to upload from my phone!) and then did some grocery shopping at Kroger (of which I saved about 46% of my bill!)...then we came home. Tony put Bradlee to bed, and I spent some quality time with Emma. She has been asking for some "Mommy-Emma time" for quite some time, and I was happy to give it to her, and to have the time to give! We brushed our teeth, washed our faces, and used our mouthwash together. Then we went into my room and watched a movie and I asked Emma if she wanted to sleep in my bed with me. The first thing she asked was where Daddy was going to sleep...so she wrote him a note that said:

Daddy,

I love you.

You can sleep in my bed.

Love,

Emma

I also put the date on it, 'cause I just knew Tony would want to keep it. Fortunately, we had just turned out the lights when Tony came up, so we were awake when he saw it and he loved it! :) As we were drifting off to sleep, Emma hugged my arm and whispered, "Happy Vacation, Mommy!" :)

Tony had to DJ on Saturday, so I took the kids down to Kat and Garrett's new apartment to help them again with their unpacking and moving excursion...Here are a few pictures I took at the gas station....notice, they are BOTH looking at the camera!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course, Bradlee didn't fall asleep on the way down, so he started getting a little cranky. I took him in the bedroom and put some pillows on the floor around the edge of the bed and the boxes that were there also. I laid down and sheet and found a flannel sheet to use as a blanket and I laid Bradlee down with the TV on the "Soundscapes" Comcast Channel. He was asleep within 4 minutes! What a cute kid, even when he's sleeping! :) At that point in the day, it was probably the BEST help he could have given us!!!

Once he woke up and Kat was back at the apartment (she had been running errands with our Dad), she thought of a GREAT project for Emma and Bradlee. We had noticed that the paint on the railing on their deck rubbed off really easily, so she gave the kids a bucket of soapy water and a washcloth (one for each of them) and they went at it. Such a good project for them! :) They had a ball...of course, I don't actually know how clean the railing actually got! Bradlee loved getting the washcloth soaking wet, putting it on either the table and slapping his hands down so it would splash, or putting it on the ground and then jumping on it! HIS cleaning time ended when he took the soaking wet washcloth and put it right on his head...good thing I had a change of clothes! Emma likes throwing the washcloth (wet, of course) up onto the glass door and watching the patterns it made. Then she would "accidentally" throw it off the balcony and then Kat would go down and get it and throw it back up. They were hilarious to watch and not only made them happy, but kept them out of our hair! :)

This morning we got up and dressed, ran a few errands and then went out to Flushing. I forgot to mention that we had been dog sitting this weekend, also! Gracie, who lives with Tony's parents, was our visitor this weekend, and the kids loved having her here. I don't know that she'll be back, though, 'cause she had a real hard time with the wood floors, especially going up and down the stairs. But she's a really good dog it was nice having her, even if it was to enforce the fact that we are NOT ready to have a dog! :) Here she is in the car, MORE than ready to be back at her home! :)

The kids went to the "old time circus" with Tony's parents and Tony and I had an adult dinner at a local restaurant that neither of us have ever been to! My parents love the restaurant and got us a gift card for our anniversary back in June! It was SO good! We were so full when we left (and still brought half of our dinner home!) that we went to Kohl's and walked around, then we back to wait in the pool for the kids to get back home!

As I was putting Emma to bed tonight, we were laying in her bed and she said, "Mama, I just love you so much." I asked her if she was my favorite bud and she said "Yes, I'll ALWAYS be your favorite buddy and I'll ALWAYS love you!" I said, under my breath, "Just remember that when you're 15!" LOL She smiled and said, "Mama, I might not remember everything, but you can remind me!" HA! I have to get that in writing! What a sweet little girl!

We have some fun activities planned for the week...you'll have to stay tuned to find out what they are! :)