Labor Day Weekend Continued

I think we did a fairly decent job of having a fun last weekend of summer with the kids. Gran and Granddad visited; we had a big fondue dinner on Friday night at home (not something Mommy enjoys preparing for, but they are always fun!); we went to the Air and Space Museum; we went to Red Robin (a kid favorite); we had donuts at Fractured Prune; we had a lazy day Sunday after church and Subway lunch including a nice drive in the evening; we went to Silver Diner for a special lunch and milkshakes on Monday; and the kids all got to pick out movies at Blockbuster which we watched later in the day. Not to mention our daily family walks/bike rides, playing the Wii and Scrabble, and just hanging out.

As you can see in the photos above, Gracelynn had her first real milkshake. In the past, when we ordered milkshakes at other restaurants, she was still eating or too tired to want more. She loved it! In fact, both she and Tommy were drinking Mommy's chocolate malt! Aha! I have two companions in loving malts! (Mike greatly dislikes them.) Another new this weekend... Mommy found someone else to love shrimp! I only pulled out about 1/2 pound of shrimp for the fondue on Friday night, figuring I was the only one who would eat it. Wrong! Grace ate almost all of it!!! So, she has good (albeit expensive) tastes! I think I may hold off introducing her to lobster. She's three... she's supposed to enjoy hotdogs and chicken nuggets... y'know, the cheap stuff. I guess I forgot to mention in the previous post about our fondue meal. The kids just love fondue, but I'll admit that I don't make it much since the preparation and clean-up is usually long. It was Grace's first experience with fondue. It took her awhile to figure out that food doesn't come immediately onto the plate (and thus, dinner takes awhile), but once she learned that she loved the shrimp, she was a happy girl. We only had two minor burns when Reagan forgot that the skewer will be hot after removing it from the pot... but they were extremely minor. And of course, Mommy and Daddy did all of Tommy's and Grace's cooking (and eventually Reagan's!)

On Sunday, we had more of a laid back day. We attended church and saw a great trio of singers from Mercy's Well. We didn't stick around to buy the CD, but plan to look online soon. After church, we went to Subway. Ha. Our days of $12 bills at Subway are long gone. $35!!! When two kids eat full-size meals and the other two can pile away a mini-sub and chips, the cost adds up quick! Geesh. That afternoon, Ben and Reagan were quickly entertained by Gran, who loves to play boardgames and card games with the kids. (This is not one of Mommy's fortes!) Gran and Granddad went back to Fredericksburg to be with Mamaw, and later in the day we all took an hour long drive to see the pretty countryside. I love our town... close enough to a major city to go to events, airports, etc.... yet, a stone's throw away from beautiful farm land, horse country, and rolling hills. The kids were less than excited and asked a million questions. "Where are we going?" (nowhere) "Are we almost there?" (no) "How long are we going to be?" (just sit back and watch) "Why are you looking at that house... are we moving?" (no, not now) "Why not?" (just 'cuz) Mike and I have always enjoyed just driving around and seeing what's out there. We went down a few one-lane roads (having twice to squeeze to the side to let an ATV, or worse an SUV, through) and saw some gorgeous "dream homes". Yeah, won't be moving in this real estate market... and not on one main salary, that's for sure!

On Monday, we took a long walk in the morning and later went to lunch at Silver Diner. Mike and I agreed it was easily the most enjoyable and least stressful meal-out that we've enjoyed with four kids yet. No complaints, no whining... and only maybe 6 times did we have to ask Tommy and Grace to sit down (and not stand on the booth seat!) Oh... and we each only had to take Grace/Tommy to the potty once. That's a record. Both seem to be addicted to public restrooms (yuck) and want to go potty all the time when we are out...and it always seems as though one mentions it and BOTH have to then go. At Cheeburger Cheeburger last weekend, we had a total of FOUR visits to the bathroom with these two in the course of one hour... the manager actually felt bad for us. At Silver Diner, I had a crabcake melt on focaccia bread. Yummy!!! The scale did not like me this morning, but my tummy was happy.

All four kids at Silver Diner.