While Daddy's away: Part II

January 20th, 2014

Big mistake and lesson learned.  I will not tell the kids next time we have company coming to visit the next morning- A 4:55 am wake up call from Lindalee {I would expect that from Christian, but not Lindalee}.  She was in a great mood and proceeded to holler for "Bra-Bra!" until he woke up as well.  Ugh.  Everyone was fed and 1/2 dressed by 6:00 am.  What's a mom to do?  Yoga!  

Instead of waiting for Betty, Jo, and family to arrive, we were at the Museum of Science before it opened.  Ready to go!  I can't complain, both the kids were very well behaved and in great moods.  It just threw my schedule off for the day, and I'm a schedule person.

  

Lindalee playing with colorful magnets, with Christian working hard in the background.

  

Not sure what to call this activity that captivated Christian for almost an hour.  It involved, blowing air, balls, and magnetic pipes.  This little engineer developed quite the setup, and took it very seriously.  An older boy came over and started messing with his design and Christian shouted, "Stop!  I am working hard here!".   

Hard at work!

The Lundborn family met up with us at the MoS, but the kids and I had to head home shortly after so we could ALL have a little rest time.   Despite being up at five, walking to the museum, running around all morning, then hopping, running, & laughing most of the walk back  {we ran into the Meybaum girls}, Christian did not take a nap.  Where does he find his energy?

We were all happy to spend the afternoon with Betty, Jo, Aunt Abbi and Uncle Rick.  We walked to the Public Garden followed by hot coco for the children {Lindalee was talking about "Coco" until she fell asleep tonight}.  We ventured back to our apartment, through the "sewers", and had some dramatic {the lack of sleep finally hit Christian}, but fun playtime with the cousins before they headed home.

An attempted "cousin" shot.  Where's Lindalee?  Screaming in the middle of everyone.

We are very thankful for our special visitors.  Also thankful for the fact that Daddy will be home tomorrow night.

While Daddy's away, we will play!

January 19th, 2014

On Friday, Chris headed to Vegas for a long weekend.  I'm actually really happy he was able to go; funny how everyone seems to sigh and feel pity for me when I tell them where my husband is.  He deserves some time away to relax and it gives me a good excuse to escape into the woods of New Hampshire with the kiddos.  As much as I love
{love, love, love} city life in Boston, I couldn't do it without an occasional retreat to the country.  {Never mind the help I receive when I'm there.}

Sweet Meme {and sweet Papa for picking up her slack at work} met me to get the kids on Thursday so Chris and I could spend some time together before he headed west.  We enjoyed an early dinner out, focusing more on getting our lives situated for the following week.  Nevertheless, it was nice to have some {quiet} time together.  

I took Chris to the airport the next morning, did loads of cleaning and organizing {it's amazing how productive I am when I'm not chasing two little ones around}, then walked into the city for some yoga.  I called my mom when I was driving up to NH and she said, "Are you okay, you sound so tired?".  No.  I was completely refreshed and relaxed.  Doesn't happen very often.  It felt GOOD!

When I arrived at Meme and Papa's, this is what I found:

Princess Lindalee

Happy to see mommy, and vise versa!

Superhero Christian.

We couldn't have picked a better weekend to be in NH.  Saturday was absolutely beautiful, 30 degrees and snowy.  We spent a lot of time outside and had such a wonderful time.  Everyone.  The children, myself, Meme & Papa, even Zoe had a blast playing in the snow.

Hanging out in the field on our way back from the lake.  The snow was just starting to fall.

The snow turned "Old Lady" Zoe back into a puppy.

Christian "relaxing" and Lindalee trying to get her favorite snack {snowballs} in her mouth.  It was a bit of a challenge with her neck warmer, but she figured it out.

Christian and Zoe were very excited to see Papa come out with the snow-blower.  

The children {of course} enjoyed some sledding, Lindalee even more so than Christian.

A little spill didn't stop this girl.

Christian had a great time playing in the lilac bushes.  I have very fond memories of doing the same.  It made my heart happy.

Bedtime was even more entertaining than normal.   Meme and Christian were reading a story; Lindalee climbed on top of them and forced herself in the middle, saying, "Me, me, me!".  She opened another book on Meme's face, grabbed the book Meme was reading to Christian, hightailed it into Christian's bed with the book, and then proceeded to tuck herself in.  This girl is getting a little attitude, and I love it!

We woke up to even more snow on Sunday, and the kids had some more fun playing in it.  They were also very excited about a visit from Uncle James and Auntie Pha.

  

Christian tackling Meme in the snow.

Christian was extremely excited for Uncle James to build him one of his {notorious} couch forts.  It entertained him for quite some time.

Silly girls!

Sorry, Christian, but I had to!  He demands having a table in the bathroom while he does his business so that he can continue to play with his toys.  This boy has the life!

My mother.  She is the definition of supermom/wife/Meme.  Even with all the things she had going on this weekend {my crazy children invading her house} she managed to send me home with all of this.  Homemade everything:  English muffins, hamburger buns {who makes their own hamburger buns?!} granola, baked beans, broccoli-slaw, fresh from the farm pulled pork, vegetable and turkey soup, and farm fresh eggs.  

When we got back to our apartment, I asked Christian if he was happy to be home.  He replied, "Yes, because I am close to Meme and Papa."  We are all thankful for such a fun weekend in New Hampshire.  We missed Daddy {lots} but a weekend full of snow and family helped.

A walk in the park

January 15th, 2014

We are loving this "winter" weather!  Fifty degrees and sunny, I'll take it!  Christian has been asking to go to North Point Park, a perfect destination for a day like today!  The kids had a great time running around the park, watching the trains, birds, &airplanes, and {of course} playing on the playground.  Going to a large park with two little ones is never an easy adventure, but Christian was such a great listener and so helpful.   It was a great morning! 

Thankful for a beautiful morning at the park!

Music and Yoga

January 14th, 2014

We started the day with our first {Boston} session of Music Together.  We were big fans of the Music Together program in Charlotte and I was excited to find out that it was offered in Boston as well!  We hopped on the T with our buddies, Mona and Ms. Laura, and headed to Harvard Square.  It's so interesting the ways our lives have changed in just a couple months.  Most places we go are on foot or public transit, unlike in Charlotte where we drove everywhere.  I much prefer my mode of transportation living here {minus the fussing that takes place in the stroller, but that happened in the car too}.

We all enjoyed our music class.  Christian and Lindalee were very happy to be there.  Lindalee hung around me most of the time, playing instruments and singing songs.  Christian hung out in the middle of the circle the whole time, dancing.  He got really into it and was putting on quite a performance.  The teacher commented on his "sweet" dance moves and he came running over to me, "Mommy, do you see my moves?  I'm famous!".

After Lindalee's nap, I took out the yoga mat and put on a children's yoga DVD I got from the library.  Rainy day yoga session!  Lindalee and Mona enjoyed it for the first five minutes or so, Christian loved it.  He watched the entire video and followed all of the instructions for the different poses.  It was great to watch him!

I am thankful I can share things I enjoy, like music and yoga, with Christian and Lindalee.  Even more, I am thankful that they enjoy them as well!

Playground games

January 13th, 2014

Another gorgeous day!  I opened the windows in the apartment and we headed out for a morning at the park.  On our walk, we ran into the Maybaum girls.  The children enjoyed a pit-stop at Tatte and was treated to a cookie with Mona and Lana.  Though, they were more excited for a unexpected play-date than the cookie itself.  They didn't eat them until after we parted ways.

After a couple errands, we headed to the playground attached to the little school that Christian and Lindalee occasionally visit.  Christian hasn't been in quite some time and I think he's missing it.  I, selfishly, have been wanting them all to myself to enjoy all the fun things here in the city.  I'll be sending Christian for a day next week after seeing how much fun he has with his friends there.  It was so neat to see him play with these children who I didn't know.  He has two best buddies who were just as excited to see him as he was them.  They played an intense game of superheros for the entire time we were there.  It was pretty entertaining to watch.

Christian and Bennett, the superheros!

Lindalee stayed entertained watching the big kids play.

The superhero gang.  Iceman, Superman, Batman and Green Lantern.

 

The superhero gang, plus some.

Thankful for more gorgeous weather and a fun filled day outside with these two little people.