Abby, Zoë and Enzo

For the afternoon we decided to hit some local thrift stores and do some geocaching along the way.  I finally found one geocache, after searching around for it.  Chris asked if I had tried pulling the cap off of the handicapped parking sign, which I had, but I gave it a better try and sure enough it came off, with a string attached to a hook underneath the cap and that was attached to a long tube.  We also found a couple park and grab caches.

We checked out St. Vincent du Paul's thrift store, but their prices were too high for thrift store so we moved down the road to the Goodwill next door.  We came out with a pair of Adidas for the girls, a pair of dressy flats for me, and a Batman backpack for Enzo.  Next was Salvation Army, where their discounts were different from what we expected.  Red tagged clothing was only .50 cents, there were 75% off items, 50% off items, and 25% off some things.  We got some new tops for me (and Reanna), a hat for Enzo, and a swim top for the girls.  Grandma Cindy also got some super cute sandals and a sun hat for Isabella and a Diego water sprinkler (new in its package!) for the kids to play in and to keep for when Elijah and Isabella are here this summer.  After the haul here, it was time to get home to put the lasagna in the oven an dmake a green salad and fruit salad for dinner and dessert.

This morning the girls and I got on our leggins and t-shirts and got ready to go jog around the bark mulch track that runs around the park down the road.  Grandma Cindy decided to get the dogs leased up to come with us and Daddy ended up coming along as well.  The track is a half mile loop, so after doing one lap we played at the playground a little and then the girls and I did some timed laps and some more playground time before heading back to the house so that I could have paninis made for lunch by the time Papa Norm came home to eat with us.

After Papa Norm got home we all went to Skinner Butte Park and played at the really neat playground.  After the kids played for a while we walked the path along the river and into the rose gardens.  The bushes weren't in full bloom, but there were some with very fragrant flowers.  We went to the special tree that I refer to as 'the climbing tree', that Auntie Reanna, Uncle Tommy, and I used to climb as kids, but it's now being held up with poles and lines and has a sign asking people not to climb it.  After walking through some more of the flowers and trees, we walked back and on the way home we stopped to use a couple of our Groupons for the Drunken Hog BBQ to have along with some salad for dinner.

In the morning the kids and I went along with Grandma Cindy on her errands, since the places she needed to stop all wanted to see her grandkids.  First we stopped at the bank, where Grandma Cindy has been banking since I was living here.  I even banked there before moving back to NH.  All of the ladies that have been there all along were working and oohed and aaahed over the kids and gave them a bunch of stickers.  Next we went to Lane County Animal Shelter, where Grandma Cindy is the Behavior and Training coordinator.  She trains the volunteers in how to safely assess new dogs and handle themselves around dogs with problem behaviors.  She also assesses the dogs themselves to determine which ones can be trained to unlearn their issues that keep them from being homed and which ones have problems that stem from mental issues and are too unsafe to be homed.  It's an emotional job many days, but since she's been there many dogs that were just misjudged and were going to be put down have been saved and trained and eventually homed.  Zoë and Abby just loved it there and they wanted to give all of the dogs treats and love on them because they felt so bad that they all had to be in their runs.  There was one dog in particular that must have been in a home with kids previously because he was so happy when the kids walked by his run.  Even Grandma Cindy said that he really likes kids, but he had a 'warning' collar color because he was still fairly young (not quite puppy, but young adult dog) and might knock kids down trying to play with them.  We saw some little kittens and the kids even got to hold a little chihuahua with a diformed leg.  They wanted to take a dog out in the 'yard' with Grandma Cindy, but we didn't have enough time.

While Chris, Enzo, and I were at the store, the girls made Emmy the Great birthday cards for her 86th birthday today.  Once we were home from grocery shopping we quickly unloaded the groceries and all went to Emmy's house to pick her up and take her to dinner.  Abby had again gotten to ride over in Papa Norm's truck and then we put the booster into Emmy the Great's suv since Papa Norm was driving her in that, what with her still recovering from hip replacement surgery a few weeks ago.  We went to the Olive Garden and all got some yummy dinners and Enzo had excellent behavior despite being super sleepy.  After dinner we went back to Emmy's house and Chris loaded pictures that I'd picked out earlier onto her digital photo frame.  Pretty soon it was time to get the kids home for bed, and Zoë, who had gotten to ride back from the Olive Garden with Papa Norm and Emmy, went with Norm to stop and pick up a Red Box movie on their way back to the house.  The girls and Grandma Cindy are going to have a sleep over out in the shop (Grandma Cindy's little detached building that she does trainings and things in) and watch the movie and eat a special dessert tonight.

It actually got hot enough today for the kids to get into their swimsuits and play in the sprinkler!  After a while I dried Enzo off and got him dressed to go with Chris and I to pick up a few groceries at Walmart while the girls stayed at the house with Grandma Cindy to sunbathe and watch the rest of a movie they started together yesterday.

I was up at about 6:15a.m. local time, after about four hours of sleep and then Abby was up pretty much right after that.  Zoë slept a little later and then Enzo came waltzing out.  We had a pretty slow morning, playing in the back yard, getting some breakfast and some of us getting showers.  We walked down the street to say hello to the woman I used to work for in her daycare and then Papa Norm arrived home to meet us for lunch.  He was on his motorcycle so I changed into some jeans and borrowed Grandma Cindy's motorcycle gear and rode with him to Jalisco's while everyone else met us there.  After lunch we went home and tried to get Enzo down for nap but he could hear everyone else and told me, "It sounds like they are having lots of fun!" and then he had to poop so nap time was scrapped.  We played outside a while longer and when Papa Norm got home from work he had some things for the kids.  Enzo got a cowboy gun with a holster and the girls each got a little Polly Pocket set.  Later on they got even more surprises when we went to see Emmy the Great - meeting her for the first time in Enzo's case.  She had a monster truck for Enzo and Zoë and Abby each got a new fashionista Barbie!  We didn't get a super long visit this evening because Enzo started begging to go, being sleepy and hungry.

On the way over to Emmy the Great's Zoë got to ride in Papa Norm's truck with him and on the way back Abby got her turn.  Enzo was upset that he didn't get a turn, but the booster seats are a lot easier to move than his.  Abby and Papa Norm stopped at a Little Ceasar's on the way home and picked up two already ready pizzas ($5 a piece, not too bad) for dinner.  The kids did some more in and outside time and then we got everyone's teeth brushed and put them to bed.

We spent the day finishing up packing and getting the house ready for us to leave.  Uncle Corey will be at the house working while we're gone, so we should have some new stuff to see when we get home.  The kids kept asking me all day if it was time to go yet, and finally, around 3:00p.m. we got out the door.  Since we were due to be arriving at the airport on the C&J shortly after 5:00p.m. we figured we should pick some food up to make sandwiches to go along with all of the snacks I packed.  Market Basket was oddly packed and everyone seemed to need the deli.  It took 20 minutes in the store, and that was with me sprinting down the bread aisle and over to the deli.  This put us very tight time wise to get to the bus station.  We ended up ariving just as our bus was pulling in so Chris let the kids and I off with the bags while he parked the car and ran back to get on the bus.

We were at the airport with time to spare so we used the bathroom and then sat at a table to eat our sandwiches.  While we were eating a woman came over with a nearly full container of V8 fruit splash saying that they had just opened it and poured out two glasses and were going through security and wanted to know if we'd like it since they couldn't take it through with them.  We finished it off no problem and then also headed through security - avoiding the full body scan - and let the kids burn off some energy in the play area before getting to our gate and pretty much boarding right away.  It took a while for any of the kids to be ready to get to sleep - first they had to get their drink and snack orders in and enjoy their treats - and when they were all finally ready to admit that they were exhausted it was hard for everyone to get positioned to sleep.  All three kids slept off and on, Enzo a bit more fitfully.  Our plane arrived about 20 minutes ahead of schedule and we had to wait a little bit for a plane to leave the gate we were pulling into and then the girls and I headed outside to wave down Grandma Cindy.  Grandma Cindy had bought a car seat for Enzo to use that she saw at a yard sale and Papa Norm was able to borrow two nice high back boosters for Zoë and Abby so I situated them in the backseat and then Daddy and Enzo came out with our bags.  It was around 11:00p.m. West Coast time, so the wee hours of the morning for us.  Despite this we stopped along the way to get an actual meal and then on towards Grandma Cindy and Papa Norm's house.

I got up just after 6:00a.m. and the girls were already awake and getting dressed!  I sent them back to bed, clothes and all, and told them and try to get some more sleep while I showered.  They were back again before I was even done getting dressed, saying that they just couldn't sleep.  I had found Zoë's Mother's Day card under my pillow when I went to bed last night, but I was a good Mommy and didn't peek, so I pulled it out when I got up this morning and read it before my shower.  Abby had left hers downstairs so she gave it to me when we all went down.  Enzo slept in until after 7:00 a.m. (more of a present to me than me getting to sleep in, is him sleeping in!) and was excited to give me the card he made for me too!

Enzo decided to stay home from church with Chris, so the girls and I walked in, in time for them to practice for singing today with the kids choir.  It's been a while since I've sat through the sermon and stood in one place during coffee hour, so that was kind of nice.  We skipped Sunday school to walk back home and see what 'the boys' were up to.  Chris suggested that we head to the beach since it was low tide, and let the kids run in the sand for a little while.  It wasn't the 80 degree day we had yesterday, but it was mid 70's and nice enough weather for running around together.  We got back to the house and Enzo watched some Dora in the kids' room while I started to get things together to pack for our trip and then Chris asked if I wanted to order sushi for dinner....yes!  Enzo and I went to pick it up and after we ate the girls got right to doing the clean up.  Enzo's been saying especially sweet stuff all day and keeps giving me kisses and telling me he wants hugs to be glued to me all day.

Grampy came over this morning, just before lunch, while Chris and I were finishing up mopping all of the floors then we made a big yummy salad for lunch and afterward we got our bag of outside toys and met the Valley's and Kate at the park.  Enzo brought his remote control car and we played frisbee and all sorts of running around in the nice hot sunshine.

We got ready after breakfast to drive down to see Uncle Matt's family and Nonna, who just arrived a couple of days ago.  The drive down was fairly easy, not much traffic and we were there in one and a half hours.  Natalie was awake and alert for our arrival, so we got to see some of her cute little expressions.  Zoë and Abby were eager to take turns holding her and then Abby turned her attention to reading a book to Lila and Macy.  Enzo ran straight back to the play room and entertained himself there before all of the kids were ready to play outside.

Macy ended up being my pal today, which of course made Auntie feel special.  She wanted me to push her on the swing and read to her and Enzo back in the house and when Caitlin took Natalie to breastfeeding group to get weighed and such, she wanted me to carry her up to her crib for nap, while Matt carried Lila.  Zoë and Abby played some Wii games with Uncle Matt while his girls were sleeping, and even Enzo got to play a racing game with them.  Matt was in the back room with Enzo when I heard his girls wake up from nap, well Macy woke up, which woke Lila up, who wasn't really ready to be awake yet.  I headed up the stairs and Macy was happy to see me and let me take her out of her crib - Lila cried for Caitlin at first, then Matt, who was right up to get her - and then when it was time for Macy to get a diaper change, she didn't want Matt to do it, just me.  I got her and Enzo a snack and we read some books and then Caitlin came home with Natalie.  Nonna and Uncle Matt took my kids out to play in the yard once more before we packed up to go.

The drive home was traffic laden and ended up taking four hours!  We stopped along the way, after already losing more than and hour to traffic, at Trader Joe's and picked up some baby carrots, some guacamole hummus dip, a falafel plate for the girls to share, and a greek flatbread plate for Chris and Enzo.  We grabbed a limeade and headed to the car to set everyone up with their food before getting back on the road.

We have a laundry room!  It's so nice not to have to go down to the basement for laundry, and to be able to use a washer and dryer that's not 10 plus years old and actually cleans the laundry!  After Corey left last night, Chris took Enzo to Home Depot to get some more parts and stayed up late to finish up the electric and water hook ups.  The kids got to watch some Curious George while I helped Chris and then we all went down to the basement with flashlights in hand for Chris to turn the house power off for a few minutes.  The kids got to stay up late so they didn't mind all of the work going on.  After getting them all to sleep we finished up and then did our first load of laundry!  Corey and Chris got the units stacked with the stacking kit so that we have more space in that small room and for now the waste water hose is hooked up to drain into the utility sink that's next to the washer and dryer and we have a 5 gallon bucket under it so that as the basin fills up we pull the plug and let the bucket fill up and then plug the basin again and dump the bucket of water (into the toilet so at least the water gets reused to flush the toilet) and so on.  Even with the bucket dumping, it's less of a hassle than having the washer and dryer in the basement.  Although we'll eventually have a waste water pipe, for now it's kind of neat to watch how dirty the water is until the end of the rinse cycle, when it's finally clear and clean.  I finally feel like our laundry is clean and sanitized, and having fun washer and dryer is an added bonus!