The Weekend

The kids and I really enjoyed having Mike home all weekend. It went by entirely all too quickly.

Saturday we woke up and had breakfast and headed out by 9:30am. I still had not officially come up with anything to do, and really only had one idea which I wasn't too sure about. I told Mike, and after we ran to the bank, we just went with that idea. It really ended up being a nice day.

We went to Woodfield Mall and walked around for a bit. Our plan was to take the kids to Rainforest Cafe for lunch and then treat them to a new furry friend at the Build-A-Bear Workshop. So we walked into the mall right near the Rainforest and Braeden commented right away on all the animals. When I asked him if he'd like to eat lunch there, he was very excited. In fact, he was asking to go to lunch by 10:45am and then again at 11:30 and by then we gave in and headed over for a little early lunch.

Service sucked. We waited a good 15-20 minutes for our server even came over to our table. I was parched and wanted a drink like no other. Mike finally had to get someone else's attention and then she had to go find our server. I don't know what the deal was - the server had walked past a couple times before, so it's not like she didn't see us sitting at her table. But - back on track - it was a nice lunch together as a family and the kids enjoyed the thunderstorms and the gorillas and the butterfly on the tree nearby. It was really neat. It was our first time there - all of us. So not only was it a nice family outing, but it was something new we all got to experience together.

Afterwards we headed over to Build-A-Bear. There was a line because of some weekend promotion, so we waited ... and waited. Mike took the kids in one by one while we waited in line, so they could see the animals and pick which ones they wanted. Braeden picked a cute little dog, and Kaelynn got an adorable bear. They had fun "helping" stuff their new animal, and pick out an outfit for them.

We ended the day by heading back home, relaxing for a bit and then giving the kids dinner, getting them tucked into bed, and then relaxing ourselves by indulging in pizza and watching Saw 2.

Sunday we got up, had breakfast, and then went out for a ride. Ended up way out in Newark, Somonauk, Sandwich. But, the sun was shining and the kids relaxed, pointed to things out the window, and napped. When the littlest offspring started to get restless, we stopped in a closeby mall just to walk and stretch our legs. Window-shopped a bit, and then on our way out bought a few boxes of Girl Scout cookies to a troop that was selling near an entrance. Took the kids to lunch, and then back home for naps.

It was nice. I loved having Mike home - and it wasn't so much that the kids weren't entirely my responsibility for the entire weekend - it was nice to have him to unwind with once the kids were in bed, and to have a warm body beside me in bed. It's hard getting into a cold bed at night, with no one to snuggle up to or even just to bask in the warmth from their body.

So with that, I will end, as there is a cold bed beckoning me.