It’s Monday after a busy weekend — time to reflect.
Fun ‘n’ Stuff – A Good Start
I suppose the most logical place to start would be on Friday – afternoon to be precise. I took the afternoon off to attend the last of the G-man’s 3rd Birthday parties. We decided to have it at Fun ‘n’ Stuff which in spite of their terrible website is a GREAT place to have a kid’s birthday party. It had been about 15 years since I took Amanda on a date there (talk about throwing my ‘A’ game!) and they’ve done a TON of upgrading since then. They now have indoor skating, bungee jumping, bowling and a ton of video games. The kids had a great time in the bounce house and of course with the pizza and cupcakes. The staff did a wonderful job and from a parenting perspective it was near perfect – no clean up, minimal setup and the kids pretty much entertain themselves. The only thing that would have made it better? Beer. (Gotta give the nod to Chuck E. Cheese for that one)
The Zoo – Let’s Roll
The boys did us a solid and actually slept in on Saturday morning — awesome. It was an absolutely gorgeous day so we packed up and off we went to the Akron Zoo. We decided to buy a pass for the summer so we wouldn’t have to squeeze everything in all in one day. For those of you that have never been to the Akron Zoo it’s awesome… it’s much smaller than it’s Cleveland counterpart and just about perfect for a quick trip. The best way I can describe it is it’s the JV to Cleveland’s varsity. One thing that I noticed… about 99.9% of people at the zoo have kids – lots of kids. “Sturgis for Strollers” is the way I described it on Twitter. Simply amazing. Amanda and I went to the zoo a couple of years ago before G came along and noticed it then, but it really stuck out during this trip. I’ve also decided that the zoo is an outstanding place for people watching. In fact, I think I had a better time looking at the people than the animals.
Church – A Big Mistake
After the zoo it was home for nap for the boys (too bad dad didn’t get to partake in that too). We got everyone dressed and it was off to church with Grandma, Pop & Great Grandpa. Amanda and I are strong believers in “keep the kids in church rather than in the playroom”. At least we have been historically. G decided that this would be a good time to take a tour of the church. C was good for about 12 minutes and then decided that he’d had enough. He’s weighing in at about 28 lbs now and I got the good fortune of holding him throughout mass. Needless to say, my back was hurting on Sunday morning. (Imagine holding a 30lb weight that doesn’t want to be held for an hour – it’s fun). Toward the end of mass, the priest (who married Amanda and I and baptized both boys) said, “the mass has ended… go in peace” and I could have SWORN that he nodded toward me as he said it. So off we went.
Dinner – A Bigger Mistake
All joking aside, the boys were actually pretty good in church. That said we were simply pushing our luck by going out to dinner afterward. An hour of church and an hour and a half at dinner is just too much to ask of anyone. Hell, I needed two drinks to get through it! Thank God for bread, Goldfish crackers and crayons. Incidentally… is it too much to ask for a high chair that actually has the straps that work? My boys simply will not sit still for that long… those straps are there for a reason. I had to improvise and use my belt. Thanks to Pop for his quick thinking MacGyver idea.
Sunday – A New Tree & Dinner @ Grandma’s
About a year ago we bought and planted a new tree out front. Of course it was nearly dead yesterday morning so we decided to see if we couldn’t get a replacement. Petitti’s was awesome and allowed us to make an even exchange. One face plant and bloody lip for the G-man later we were on the way home with our new tree.
It was grandma’s birthday yesterday so after nap it was off to her house to celebrate. A trip to grandma & gagi’s means one thing — mowing. And edging… And blowing. As I said in a previous post, the G-man loves all things power tools. As were were sitting around the dinner table G turned to his aunt and asked, “So… how’s work doing?” Absolutely precious – he gets me every time.
It was an awesome weekend… busy but damn near perfect.
Next up? Amanda’s going out of town leaving me and the boys to fend for ourselves… should be interesting!
