The Little Weekend

Yeah, um, I'm not so sure what happened to last week. As a whole. Missing. Gone. Busy.
Whatever it is that has kept me from blogging, it sure has been keeping me busy. So let me just pop in over to the start of our weekend. That was only a few days ago, I can surely remember some noteworthy points of interest from then.

For the past few weeks, we have experienced incredible weather and perfectly comfortable temperatures both day and night. This is the same reason that on Friday night, Eric decided to build a fire in our fire pit and enjoy the almost-fall season. It's only the second time that we've taken both kids out at bedtime to cuddle on our laps and watch the fire, but surely just the beginning of a nice tradition. The last time, Lincoln was entirely too wiggly and Elaina just wanted to eat marshmallows. Straight from the bag. This time Lincoln cuddled on my lap contently sucking his thumb and Elaina was endless help tossing kindling and sticks into the fire. Only one time did she get slightly closer than I would have preferred, but in her tender age of 3, I think she showed much respect and caution in regard to distancing herself from the fire pit.

The part I enjoy most about sitting by the fire in the night air, is that it reminds me of so many nights my family spent camping as we were growing up. We were always the family that had the biggest fire, the best popcorn and the biggest circle of old and new friends gazing into the warm, open flames. While we don't have any intention of camping until our kids are older, I so much want our kids to be able to reflect back on their childhood and have such fond memories of such simple things as enjoying a toasty, warm campfire.

On Saturday, Eric tackled some projects outside and Elaina and I baked cookies inside while Lincoln napped. After many delays and interruptions, we finally made our way to a fall festival I had read about in the local newspaper. We arrived a full hour before it was scheduled to end and everything had already been packed up, cleared out and cleaned up. Apparently, a light rain shower had passed through and they decided to close down early. I was hugely disappointed for the kids until we learned that the people at The Little Gym were welcoming everyone to play in their facility. And as we are huge lovers of PBS, and The Little Gym just happens to be a proud sponsor, I have always been curious as to what all it has to offer. This was a great opportunity for the kids to run, bounce, swing, play and slide with no limitations. The best part is that they practically had the place to themselves as there were only a handful of kids left playing.

Even though we missed the activities I intended upon, The Little Gym was great (free) fun for the kids. And while I'm not willing to make the 40 minute drive (one way) to enroll my kids in their classes, I was happy to see what it's all about. Do these kids look happy to you?

As much as I had been looking forward to a fall festival day with my family, I have to admit, I was very much looking forward to Sunday which was a girls' day out. Three of my girlfriends and myself ventured out early in the morning to make the hour and a half trip to Ikea in Pittsburgh. I proved to be a disappointment to myself because I was totally off my game that day and didn't manage to score any super-fantastic finds or even great deals. How did that happen? We even went to the mall and I found nothing. I must be coming down with something. All in all, it was a great day to spend with my friends and the better part was getting home mid-afternoon and still having plenty enough time to spend with my family.

How's that for a fun, little weekend update? This week, I'll try to do better.