On Tuesday we had a busy morning getting out of the house and to our 8:30am dentist appointment in Westerly with shiny clean teeth. We made it just in time and all three kids did so well sitting in the chair and having their teeth cleaned and getting X-Rays. No cavities, a plus! I was a proud mama bear and I brought them all do the Dollar Tree to pick out whatever 3 items they wanted in the whole store. They could not believe that they could have ANYTHING in the store, never mind THREE of anything. The kids had been making money for hanging up their coats (10 cents), putting their shoes away (10 cents), clearing their dinner plate and sleeping through the night and NOT waking up a sibling in the morning (1 cent). They had fun picking out their items and counting out their "hard" earned money to pay for them. They were proud. We then got pizza to go and went home and Myles had one of his best buddies over for a play date the rest of the afternoon. The kids all played so nicely together and before we knew it dinner had arrived and bath time had come and gone.
On Wednesday it was Molly's turn for a play date. Her friend Elliott, who has two working parents, got dropped off at 8:30am and spent the entire day with us. We had so much fun! Elliott is the easiest and happiest little girl who seems to enjoy the company of both Molly and Myles so this is a fun trio to watch. We decided on going to the Mill Store to do a project and we invited Michael and Jen (our neighbors) to join us. So Jen and I and 5 kids piled in the mini-van and traveled to North Kingstown so the kids could paint their very own wooden crate. Two hours and lots of colors later we piled the kids back in the car with their master pieces and brought them to lunch at McDonald's, the one with the indoor playground. It was crazy crowded but the kids had a great time. Jen and I treated ourselves to Chipolte (at McDonald's) so we were delighted not to eat fast food and to watch the kids all playing so well together. The time flew by and before we knew it we had to leave to get home for dinner and in time for Elliott's dad to pick her up. What a good day!
Thursday brought a morning of questions. The kids all wanted to know what we were going to do that day. Apparently, there was NO WAY I was going to get away with staying home and lounging around the house and playing with toys or simply taking it easy. I really wanted to take the kids ice-skating but I was nervous to do this without another adult to focus on the kids. Jen and Michael were willing to join us and excited for yet another adventure but still Jen and I realized we needed another set of hands. So we ruled out ice skating and decided on ....the Casino. Oh yes, we all piled in the car and drove 35 minutes west toward Mohegan Sun. Jen and I had never been there but we read online that they had an enormous gaming room for the kids. So, we were determined to entertain and headed to CT. We got there in no time and ventured from the parking garage through the casino full of slot machines and noise and smoke to the children's arcade room. We stayed about two hours and allowed the kids to play games and win tickets and pick out prizes. We then allowed them to ride the escalators up and down three times, make a wish in the wishing-well and then back to the car we all marched. Thankfully, we remembered where we had parked! On the way home we stopped to eat at Mystic Pizza II, and I must say, our kids were little angels. They had all chosen Lava Playdough like stuff as a prize and they played and made creations while we waited for our food. They were so nice and quiet and well behaved. When our food came they all ate with no complaints and they all were just so still in their seats and content. Jen and I were proud mamas! Another good day.
This brings us to Friday. Friday Shawn and I both worked and grandma had her own adventure with the kids. In grandma's words:
"On Friday I had all the kids because it was winter vacation week. Abby had her kids the other days, and Peyton and Hailey went to their other grandparents. I decided to take them to the URI pool which has family swim hours; and they all love to swim. Peyton and Hailey and Myles are very good swimmers. Molly can 'dead mans float' and go underwater for a long time. Hudson can go underwater very well but cannot yet swim so he still wears a life jacket. We had lunch before we left my house at about 11:30. I had asked them all to put on their bathing suits under their clothes. Hudson wanted me to help him with his suit; and then we packed up towels and clothes and piled into the car (I had traded cars with Abby so I had the minivan and everyone could fit in it). We ran across the parking lot in the pouring rain, and headed for the gym which had the pool. Everyone pulled off their clothes to jump in BUT Myles said 'uh oh, I don't have my bathing suit on'. The lifeguard said he could not go in the pool in his underwear, so he sat sadly on the bench and pitifully watched us. Eventually I phoned Shawn who was working at home and he was a hero and brought Myles' suit over to us! Myles grinned from ear to ear when Shawn showed up. As Abby said, we hope this makes Myles a better listener! URI has two pools. One for families which is warm and only about 5 feet deep. The other is very deep with a low and a high diving board. Peyton and Hailey jumped off the diving boards. Well actually Peyton was not quite brave enough for the high diving board; both times he walked out on the plank, he returned and climbed back down; but Hailey jumped at least a half a dozen times. Once Myles was in the water, he wanted to try the diving board too, but I did not dare to let him. The pool closed at 3 and we had to leave; everyone dried off and clamored into their clothes. I took them all to McDonald's which is a huge treat (for them not me). And we returned safely home, with everyone pretty worn out. A fun time for all.
Yesterday Abby and I and her friend Kim did a little shopping and then went out to dinner at a Mexican place that we like. And today I am going to make several lasagnas. One for us, for Clays and Abby's family and one for a coworker who is battling cancer. It should be a cozy day." ~Grandma
So February 2011 brought a busy week for the Juenger crew. We had some adventures together and made some really nice memories to always cherish. We are back at school and work and back into our routine and as Molly and Myles said last night, "six more weeks until April vacation". I can't wait!
I'm so happy that you started blogging :)
ReplyDelete