Loong Weekend

This weekend felt like it was never going to end. Which is kindof a good thing, I guess. Madeline didn't have school on Friday, but it was a crazy busy day anyways. She had her first dentist appointment at 9am. I got totally lost trying to find the place and didn't end up getting there until 9:30, which of course meant we didn't see the doc until 10. I was worried about Madeline's gums where she had lost her tooth, they looked like they were receding and really red. Apparently, that's totally normal, and they're looking better every day. She also had a look at Zach, which I thought was really nice, since he didn't have an appointment, and told me to go home and throw away his binkie immediately. I know he's a little old for the binkie, but just never had the heart to throw it away. I guess it's messing with the alignment of his teeth, creating a little hole in the front when he closes his jaw. Why don't pediatricians tell us these things? Our regular doc has seen him tons of times with "the B" (as he calls it) and never said anything.

My plan had been to go out for some late breakfast after the dentist. By the time we got done there we were all starving. We headed over to Perennials, cause I was craving their Santa Monica Waffle (yum). When we pulled in, both the kids started whining that they didn't want to eat there. I'm ashamed to admit, I threw a little kid fit right back at them. Told them I was tired of the constant whining, and nothing I plan for them ever being good enough, and that they could just forget going out to breakfast, that we'd go home and have cereal. Then I got half way home, and decided that I didn't want to punish myself for them being whiny. So, I pulled the car over and we had a serious chat. I don't know if any of it actually sunk in, but they promised not to whine and complain, and I promised to stop being mad, and we all decided to give the restaurant a shot. Unfortunately, they were out of waffles :(. Then, they lost our order. So, it ended up taking them almost 40 minutes to bring us our food. The kids were really good about it, bless their hearts, and didn't whine much at all.

After breakfast/lunch (since it was 11:30 by the time we got our food), we had only a few minutes to cruise back to the house so I could gather up my home decorating file and head over to the cabinet place to firm up plans for the downstairs office. Let me tell ya, taking a meeting with the cabinet designer with 2 crazy kids in tow is not my favorite activity ever. It was hard to concentrate, and I was definitely getting irritated with the chasing and screaming. The guy was totally cool, since he has a couple kids of his own the same age as ours, but it was still a pain.

That night we tried to get over to the Balloon Fiesta Park for the "Glowdeo", but we got a late start and the traffic was insane, so we turned around and decided to get ice cream and watch the fireworks from afar instead. It was fun.

Saturday morning we decided to drag ourselves out of bed and go witness the mass ascension close up. I thought we had got an early enough start, but we ended up seeing about half of it from the car on our way into the parking lot. It was still cool to see it from even that distance. We got down to the field for the last wave. It was SO COOL. You actually get to go down on the field right next to the balloons and watch them inflate and take off. They were everywhere. We also got to see a bit of the dawn patrol show while we were driving, before the sun came up. That was spectacular. The glimpse I caught last week was nothing compared to seeing them up in the sky, glowing in the darkness. I think I got some good pics, we'll have to see.

After we got home, Clark took a nap while I wrangled the kids upstairs, then he went to the gym. When he got home it was time to clean house for a few hours (my mother inlaw is coming today), then we headed back over to the balloon park for the final glow of the fiesta. We got there early this time, so we got good parking, and had some time to cruise the booths and buy some hotdogs before the show began. We were lucky to get a good seat on the field, right next to a very pretty green and orange and yellow smaller-sized balloon that was just going up. For the glow, they don't launch, they just stay on the ground, but unfortunately it was a tad windy for the big balloons. They did one 'all glow', where the audience counts down and then all the balloons fire at once, before about half of them went down in a gust of wind. The ones that stayed up did some twinkle glows, where they all fire on and off to create a twinkling effect, and a few more all glows, it was beautiful. The guy we were sitting by stayed up the longest, and really put on quite a show. The fireworks were amazing, much more impressive from close range, and we all had a great time.

Yesterday was cold and rainy, and we pretty much lazed around the house. Clark took the kids out to McDonalds to play in the playland for awhile since they were getting a little stir-crazy, so I got a couple hours home by myself. Aah, silence. You forget, when there are kids in the house all the time, how nice it is to just be able to be home in the quiet. I got some presents wrapped for Soph (I know, officially the latest birthday presents ever, but I will get them sent this week I promise!!), and got to eat lunch and read my book in blessed quiet.

My mother in law flies in at 2pm today. The house still isn't as clean as I'd like it to be, and the laundry still needs folded. I need to shower, fold laundry, and do some last minute straightening before she gets here, but I did schedule a lunch date with my honey. The next few weeks are going to be pretty insane, and I wanted to have some time with him before the insanity begins. I'm nervous about spending this much time with his mother. I'm also nervous about how he reacts to her being around. We are trying to keep the lines of communication open, since we both tend to shut down under stress, so hopefully that will help. After Pat leaves, my parents will be here the next weekend, and the weekend after that one of Clark's oldest friends may be visiting. The weekend after THAT, is my trip to Seattle. Whew.

I probably won't be blogging much while Pat is here, but I may surprise myself, who knows. I just have no idea what I'm going to do with her during the day while Clark is at work. Not to mention I have no idea what to cook for her. She doesn't have many dietary issues, but she does tend to have a very sensitive stomach when she travels, so I'm trying to think of quick and easy meal ideas that won't challenge her digestive system too much. Any ideas?