Beautiful *cough* *sneeze* *cough* Weekend

It was a great weekend with the kids--and it would have been even better if I hadn't caught Keith's cold. Ah well. Colds happen.

Thursday I had to leave work early to take over watching the kids as John had his first golf league night (he came in second--and that was with TWO shots sinking in the river). I took the kids to the grocery store for a snack. We then headed to the park where the kids had the equipment to themselves and just played, and played, and PLAYED. I spent my time walking around the playground trying to keep warm and trying to use POSITIVE ENERGY to ward off the germs that were starting to plague my body.

It was so fun to see the kids having so much fun. They weren't fighting or bickering or spitting at each other or threatening to kill each other with sticks or plastic light sabers. I let them play for as long as I could possibly take it (and longer!). I lived in the moment as much as I possibly could.

Friday John took the kids to see Earth. We'd already seen parts of it on TV. The kids liked it--sorta. But between the animal attacks they'd witnessed in the movie, and the somewhat violent Clone Wars we'd watched that night, both Keith and Mary were up several times in the night. Izzy was being a bit of a pain, too. So I ended up crashed in our bed with Izzy (barely coherent to the other kids' issues as the cold had taken CONTROL at this point) while John and Mary ended up sleeping on the couches in the living room.

Needless to say, none of us felt very perky for an early morning drive to Niagara Falls on Saturday. We dragged our feet (hey! we've got all day) and finally made it out of the house and actually on the road by 11:00 (I was completely in the COLD ZONE by then and had the "I'm going to ENJOY this if it KILLS me" game face on. Ugh.)

We took the kids to the Aquarium first (John: this is LAME. Me: yes, I know, but the kids LOVE it). Then we walked around the American side and just enjoyed the beautiful weather and the perfect day. The kids just had a ball--especially when the wind would pick up and practically blow them down the path! No complaints at all!

(I do wish I hadn't fell into the sick zone so much that morning and had bothered to pack a lunch. $7.00 for a hot dog and fries is just too extreme. I regret it every time I don't pack food.)

We drove back to town that night and went to the mall to the food court where we begged Mary to try different food rather than hamburgers, hotdogs, peanut butter, or a cheese sandwich. She finally tried a veggie wrap--and basically liked it. Even though she didn't want to admit it.

We bought some desperately needed spring/summer clothes for Izzy (trying to find clothes for her to wear in the 80+ degree weather on Saturday was a freakin' joke). And Mary got a couple of not-so-desperately needed clothes. Because she's a girl and can't ignore a sale--just like her mama.

It was unbearably hot in the house when we got back. I blew up the air mattress, the kids got out their sleeping bags, and we crashed in the cool den while watching Spongebob.

(The rabbit kept waking me up while digging at WHAT, I don't KNOW, in his cage. The cold just kept waking me up cuz that's just what colds DO. And finally at 7:00am, I mailed it in and snuggled back into my warm, comfy bed and refused to stir until 8:30. Still. Ugh.)

Sunday we did our usual couple of chores and then Mary had a play date while Keith went to a birthday party. And Izzy got a new pair of shoes!!!! (Yes, she is FOUR exclamation points excited about that!!!!)

Great weekend. Great way to chill out with the kids before the EXTREME of baseball/softball starts taking over (five practices and the first GAME this week!).