February Vacation

We have been having a really great week during this February vacation. Dave is home with us and we don't have to rush off to school, etc. We have taken advantage of this free time and filled it with lots of fun playdates!

On Monday, we went to our regular playgroup but this time, Daddy came, too! On Tuesday, the boys and I went to EI playgroup while Dave and Mairead spent some quality time together. Wednesday morning, the kids and I traveled to an indoor playground to meet with my friend, Rachel, and her son, Kevin. They are visiting from DC and we were able to meet up for a few hours. I only wish we had a little more time to chat- the place was crazy busy and I was chasing kids in three directions most of the time. The kids had a blast, though. We lasted two whole hours- a new personal best for the traveling circus. Usually we move into crisis mode at about 90 minutes.

Of the two hours we were there, Jack played basketball for literally an entire hour. When he first noticed the hoop, there was no ball in sight. So, he wandered away. When I saw him continue to wander around the space, I realized that he was looking for a ball! He found one and sprinted back to the hoop as fast as his little legs could carry him. He shot hoops for the longest time- and he was pretty good! The hoop was too high for him to just lay the ball in, so he had to do a sort of 'diaper shot' (perfect for someone IN diapers), and he was getting it in more often than not!

Ben preferred snacks to basketball and spent some quality time eating goldfish. I swear, he would eat nothing but goldfish three meals a day if I let him.

After our playdate, I was able to get out on my own for a few hours (thanks to Dave!) and I returned home with the best gifts ever- sunglasses! The kids ran around with them for about a half hour. Ben would run back to me literally every 30-45 seconds yelling, "Halp! Halp!" because he took them off and couldn't get them back on. When I replaced them, he would yell, "Cool!"

My kids are very messy eaters. Charming, isn't it?

I'm Batman...

Today, Mairead and I went on yet another playdate. Thanks to the power of Facebook, I have been in touch with a good friend from college whom I have not seen in forever! Meredith has a three year old little girl, too, so we set up a time to get together. Mairead and Lily had fun playing and doing some crafts while Meredith and I could chat. It was a really fun and relaxed morning-- thanks for having us, Meredith and Lily!

When we got home from that, our favorite babysitter, Stephanie, came over for a few hours so that Dave and I could go to lunch and just take some time off together. The kids love her so they had a lot of fun playing 'jumping bean' while we were out. Tomorrow brings yet another playdate-this time at our house- with some moms and kids from a mom's group I belong to. Such a busy week! The kids are doing great with it, though, especially Mairead. Ben needs to work on his social skills as he has recently decided that if he wants a ride on toy and another child is on it, he should just grab that child and pull him off. He has done this twice in public and I have been HORRIFIED by his behavior. I mean, talk about embarassing- we really need to put a stop to this, so I hope we figure out how... quickly.

Mairead has been awesome this week. I think it's because she has not had school at all- everything has been on our terms and our schedule, with something different every day. I do think Mairead enjoys school, but I also know that it is stressful for her. This week, she has been talking more, answering questions like a pro, playing pretend, trying to engage Jack and Ben in games, etc. She has also been voluntarily sitting on the laps of the grown ups who live here, reading books with more patience, and just so many other great little things. Maybe she is just having a great week, who knows? I have to admit that this week has been great, but it has made me wish we could have weeks like this all the time!