Fall Break

Well, it's been a great Fall Break weekend!  Brian treated Thursday like a normal day, as did we at home.  We had some new friends over for dinner that night, so I sent all the kids outside to play while I straightened up some.  They played "country," as in out-in-the-country.  They've discovered a spot to call "home" way back up in the woods.  Our lot is entirely fenced in and goes twice as far back as you can see.  So the kids feel like they're on a big adventure when they're all the way up at the back fence.  They came back to the "city" (back to the house) to get "supplies" for their work out in the "country" (namely lunch at the time), and I was so thrilled that they were all outside playing together that I sat down with a book for a good 20 minutes in a very quiet "city." 

Dinner was with the Luthins, a family with 2 boys, ages 3 and 5, who are new to STL.  Bill is currently deployed with the Air Force, and Regan is fabulous.  We look forward to spending more time with them.  I was so excited for Patrick to have some boys his age to play with!  But my sweet boy was so tired from playing outside all afternoon that he fell asleep on the couch after dinner but before they left, lol!

Friday I had an early morning date with Sarah Frances at BreadCo (aka Panera) where she read some while I worked on preparing to tutor Monday morning.  When we got home, we got all the bikes ready and packed up a picnic lunch for a family bike ride around Forest Park.  Brian and the older girls rode from our house to the top of the zoo road, and I drove Patrick, his bike, my bike (thanks, Marne!) and Lillian to meet them there. 

We were a sight!  We rode in a long line--Brian pulling Lillian in the trailer, Catherine, Sarah Frances, Patrick, then me--from there to the bottom of Art Hill where we unpacked our lunch and threw the frisbee for a while.  The ride back to the car was a good bit tougher, especially since we stopped and played at the waterfalls some.  Patrick hit his wall of tolerance probably half way back, but eventually we made it.

There is a huge pond with many fountains at the bottom of Art Hill.  It so beautiful there.

Brian and the kids in front of the Art Museum.



Enough pictures, Mom!


On a side note, when I went to pick up the bike from Marne, we noticed that Halsey and Patrick had on B'ham rival high school tshirts.  So cute!

Later Friday afternoon Catherine went to the zoo for Virginia Lee's 5yo birthday party where they got their faces painted and rode the carousel.  Brian took Sarah Frances out for some 1:1 time, Patrick explored in the back with Peanut Butter (the dog), and Lillian slept while I finished prepping for Monday.  Catherine came home transformed into a rainbow butterfly.

To top off a perfect day, we fed the kids a mac-n-cheese dinner, put on a movie for them to watch together in Patrick's room, and Brian and I enjoyed a grilled steak dinner in front of a great movie, new to us.  Ever seen 500 Days of Summer?  We really liked it.  Too much language probably for a high school movie night, but there are definietly some GREAT scenes that describe a post-modern world-view.

Saturday brought a sick little girl, a yard-working-for-money husband, and three big kids who raked our yard and the yard next door.  I kept Lillian home from the girls' 3:00 soccer game and texted Brian regularly with Auburn updates.  He got home at half time, and we watched Auburn beat an undefeated LSU at home to remain undefeated themselves.  It was a GREAT game!  And a great day for me because if Lillian was awake, she was snuggled up in my lap reading a book until she fell asleep again in my arms.  So sweet!  And therefore an entire day of rest for me too.

Hope you had a good fall break too!  And WAR EAGLE!