Sometimes Tuesday Feels Like Monday!!!

Claude and I returned home last night (Monday night) from spending the weekend with the mini-Marx's. What a treat. But we are both feeling like today is Monday and we are just starting our week when really we are a day into it. Hopefully we'll get our equalibrium back by tomorrow.

Plotting their next move!!!

We arrived Friday afternoon, had some play time, picked up dinner, met Daddy (Michael) at a park and ate dinner as a family. Then Andie and Michael headed off to Indianapolis and Claude and I began the grandparent journey. We stayed and enjoyed the park a little longer. Then we headed back to LaGrange, did the bedtime routine and all settled down for a good nights rest. I've written about this day and night in a previous blog. Just let me say that these 2 little bundles of energy slept very well at night. They never got us out of bed until at least 7:30am. Thank you Hayden and Bailey from 2 grateful old people!!! Saturday we started our day with cinnamon rolls and fruit. Claude went to a Farmer's Market in Georgetown Friday morning and purchased some fun breads for the weekend. Claude had a basement project to finish. He was cleaning, etching and painting the concrete walls in the Marx basement while we visited this weekend. We played around the house until about 11am with Claude working in the basement cleaning and etching the concrete walls with Hayden's help. Bailey played upstairs with me. This gave me plenty of time to try and french braid our little Miss Animation's hair. When Hayden came up we had some apples Bailey and Andie picked at a local orchard that they wanted to dry. I pulled out the dehydrator I brought and set up a bowl of Fruit Fresh water to bath the sliced apples in. Hayden and Bailey provided the bathing and placing on dehydrator trays. We needed a place to plug this dehydrator and Hayden suggested the outlet on the front porch. Since that is a covered area, we carried our full dehydrator out and plugged it in. It was fun to check during the days to see how the apples looked. Occasionally Hayden would do a tasting to tell me if they were still too chewy. This was a fun and very easy project with the Mini's. Claude finished the first step in the basement project and we determined we would make a run to a local park. Bless Andie's heart she had done the research for several things but we enjoyed playing together so much till we didn't make it out in the morning. We piled in the Marx Mobile and headed out to find a park. Claude and I knew where one was in LaGrange and Hayden confirmed that was the park to go to. They climbed and jumped and slid and swang (this just seems like the wrong word) and had lots of fun at the playground.

Bailey picked our dinner location. You guessed it...McDonald's!!! As we drove Hayden told us what a great sense of smell he had and that he could smell McDonald's all the way to his house. We used the teaching moment to tell him he had a great olfactry (I'm sure I didn't spell that one right) system. By the end of the weekend he was able to tell Andie about his olfactry system. Hayden and Bailey ate very well, loved the cars that came in the Happy Meals, and played on the playland and with the Ronald McDonald statue. Then it was time to head home for quiet time!!! Bailey slept well, Hayden played quietly, I checked eMail's and Claude slept well. After quiet time we spent the afternoon playing in the yard. We ended up in the backyard playing the wading pool and watering the plants. Claude used this time to put the 1st coat of paint on the basement walls. This put him ahead of his timeline for finishing his project over the weekend. The kids ate chicken tenders and watched the Cars movie before bedtime. Sunday Claude took the kids downstairs for breakfast and let me get a nice long shower. Then I took over kid patrol and Claude put a 2nd coat of paint on the basement walls. This meant he was finished once the walls dried. It looks so nice. He will do the floor another trip. The kids and I made puzzles and train tracks out of Lego blocks. Then it was time to load up in the Marx Mobile and head to Westport to see the Ohio River. As we drove to the river we found a herd of buffalo in a pasture by the road. Claude stopped and backed the car up so the kids could see these beautiful animals.

Thre is a beautiful view of the river here. My heart skipped a few beats as we walked out on one of the boat docks to see the river up close. At first Hayden was eager to get on down there and see the river. Bailey suddenly decided this was not the best idea anyone ever thought of. So I sat on a park bench and told Bailey she could sit with me and watch Hayden and Claude walk out on the dock. As soon as Hayden and Claude headed on down the dock, our gutsy little wonder sprinted to the dock and I had to quickly gather up camera to catch her hand before she headed out down that dock. I could see one of us having to dive in after her. She grabbed her Pa's hand and they walked all the way out to the end and down each walkout of the dock. Then we all went back up the hill and across the parking lot to a little playground. Hayden and Bailey climbed the frame made for climbing. The slides were wet almost like they had a rain the night before. We did some running around their horseshoe pits. Bailey sat in one and put sand and gravel in the pipe that you throw the horseshoes around. Hayden assured me this park was too small. Then it was time for lunch. I think our little guy was really hungry.

This time it was Hayden's turn to choose. He chose Dairy Queen. He was sure he really needed an ice cream cone and that Dairy Queen was the right place to get one. He was sure his parents would want him to have an ice cream cone IF he ate all his green light food before getting the ice cream cone. Hayden ordered chicken tenders. Bailey ordered a hot dog. We sat at a booth where we watched the Corn Hole Tournament in progress in the parking lot. (If you don't know about Corn Hole, it is something like a bean bag toss. My guess is that the bean bags are filled with corn instead of beans. It is VERY popular in Kentucky. I know that Chiara new about it when she visited in June. I honestly don't think I ever heard of it until we moved to Kentucky. You can purchase Corn Hole frames painted with whatever you want on them. Hayden and Bailey made little ones at Home Depot. Andie got Michael a set for his birthday this year in Redskin colors.) Hayden ate all of his green light foods and totally enjoyed his ice cream. When Claude got up to clear the table, he had a hand FULL of used napkins. Hayden had a grin as big as Claude's ball of used napkins. When we went out to get in the car the ambulances and fire trucks were arriving to cover an accident that happened across the street. It was great excitement and we stood on the sidwalk in front of Dairy Queen and watched the action across the street. Then it was time to head back home for quiet time. We spent the evening watering the front flower beds and playing in the wading pool. Hayden and I were watering in the front. Bailey darted around to the back yard. I assured Claude he needed to watch our robust little chick maiden as there was a wading pool full of water back there. Sure enough, he hurried out back and she was wading around clothes and all. As soon as her clothes got wet Claude looked up and she had stripped to nada. I brought September Morn her bathing suit. Hayden finished his front watering and joined Bailey in the pool. We ended Sunday evening with dinner and a viewing of Lady and the Tramp. Then off to slumber for our little bundles of energy and two very tired old people. Monday's schedule would be a little different. Hayden goes to St. John's Pre-school Monday through Wednesday mornings. So Claude and I were back to a school routine. Let me tell you folks, it has been a LOT of years since we tried to keep up with a school schedule. But Hayden was up and playing in his room quietly until I had time to get myself up and dressed and ready for the day. Bailey woke up about the time I went to get Hayden. We all headed downstairs for a breakfast of Koshi cereal and some fruit. By 8:30am we were all fed, dressed and ready to take Master Hayden to pre-school. Hayden and I marched into the school while Claude and Bailey waited for us in the van. Hayden went straight to the bathroom and washed those cute little hands. Then we went down the hallway to Ms. Amanda's room. I gave her the note from Andie. Then Hayden showed me where he keeps his school bag. Then we looked at the pictures of all his classmates. I got a big hug and promised to be there when school ended to pick him up. We took Ms. Bailey back to the house for some playtime. We made puzzles and played with the blocks game. I personally love this game. There is a container full of blocks of about 4 or 5 different shapes. Then there are all these cards with simple pictures and you fill in a portion of the picture with the different block shapes. The time passed quickly and we headed back to pick Hayden up from school. The Claude took us to another McDonald's for lunch. We added two more cars to the Marx toy box. Quiet time...ahhhh...quiet time!!! Well, it was supposed to be a nice quiet time so the kids would be rested when Michael and Andie returned home. Alas...the best laid plans often go awry!!! Claude got Bailey to bed. I got Hayden to his room and set the alarm so he would know when he had been quiet long enough. I headed to the computer to check eMails. Claude laid down on the sofa for a nap. I had the monitor on and could hear what I thought was Hayden playing quietly. Finally I heard someone say, "I need Wah-Wah!!" Oh my goodness, Bailey was in bed with no Wah-Wah. I quickly went downstairs and located missing monkey, ran upstairs, quietly opened Bailey's door and showed her Wah-Wah. She gave me that wonderful Bailey grin as I gave her this treasured stuffed animal. Then she curled up and I was SURE she was headed to sleep. I trundled back to my eMail reading and listening to what I thought was Hayden quietly playing in his room. Then I heard a very loud, "Pa, come get me!!" I tiptoed to Hayden's room to assure him he had a little more time for quiet time only to find him quietly sitting on his bedroom floor playing. It wasn't Hayden I heard it was Bailey!!! Oh my goodness. We are over an hour into quiet time and Bailey is most assuredly NOT asleep. I determined to ignore her as long as she stayed happy. We managed to keep her in her room playing and occasionally calling, "Pa, come get me!" Neither child napped and both were wide awake when their parents arrived. Before Michael and Andie got home we did unplug the apples. They were dehydrated enough for Hayden's pallete and he enjoyed sharing his work with all of us. We visited with Michael and Andie for a bit, then bid farewell for a while and headed the bright yellow Jeep toward Sadieville. Lesson learned...a cell phone that takes pictures to send to parents who have left the two treasured munchkins for the longest time ever is a wonderful invention. Lesson learned...an outing in the middle of each day is a wonderful thing for the mini-Marx's. Lesson learned...new appreciation for the energy it takes a young mom with little kids. I must have had that at one time in my life for a raised 3 kids but the energy is not as great as it once was. Lesson confirmed...I love being a BlamMa!!!