We took a mini-vacation this weekend.  Eric took of Monday and Tuesday, and we went to the farm.  So we left on Friday night and got back last night and basically had a great time.  I wanted to get it recorded before I forget it all!  So here it goes…

Friday:  We decided that Eric would drive straight to the farm after work, and we would meet him there.  This meant that I did the organizing, packing, car-loading, and driving all by myself.  I also ironed, cleaned bathrooms, cleaned up the house (kitchen and living spaces), did laundry and cleaned out the van, too.  And with 3 kids needing attended, all of that made for a very busy day.  And by the time I got us all to the farm…I was BEAT!  But we made it, and we spent Friday night playing and generally enjoying the farm.

Saturday:  A pretty uneventful day full of playing – the sandbox, the pool, the swings, just running around.  You know, the regular fun-at-the-farm kind of stuff.  Eric and I even got to go out to dinner by ourselves which was very nice.  

Sunday: Church, hanging out, then a bonfire in the evening with some of the rest of the family over for hot dogs and s’mores and homemade ice cream.  Alex had a HUGE meltdown over my requirement that he put on a sweatshirt (he was shivering so hard he couldn’t get the ice cream to his mouth on the spoon!).  Eventually, Eric held him up so I could pull off his shorts, pull on his jeans and put his shoes back on.  Then Eric took him for a walk to get him back to his normal happy levels.  Which happened very quickly once they found the toad.  Yippee.

Monday: This was fair day.  I had never been to a county fair (I know, Eric was astounded, too), so we took the whole family.  And I do mean, the whole family.  All of us, Grandma Hogue, Eric’s two brothers, and Great-Grandma Powell.  We were quite the group!  But we had a good time.  The guys did lots of reminiscing.  The kids did lots of enjoying.  We ran into people we knew (even me!).  Megan got taped by a cameraman from the local news station as we walked by – she was out cold in the stroller.  And we tried LOTS of fair food…yummy!

Of course, for a number of reasons, the twins’ nap was very, very late.  Alex slept, but Erin did not. *sigh*  Still, we did have a pretty good evening.  We saw some other family members and did some more swinging, playing and goofing off.  Oh, and Erin learned out to ride the tricycle down the little hill without tipping.  She thought it was great fun!

On Monday night, Alex and Eric camped out in the tent we’d brought.  Erin started out there, too, and if I’d joined them, she probably would have gone with it.  But she was overly tired, and I had to sleep inside with Megan.  So the girls stayed in, the boys slept out…and we all had a good time!

Tuesday: On Tuesday, Eric helped Alan do some chores around the farm, mostly mowing and trimming weeds.  We played out some more, and after naps, we packed up to come home.  Of course, I got to drive home alone in the new car…which was also very nice!

Of course, this is all the shortened version of our mini-vacation, but as you can probably tell…we had a good time.  A very good time!

Today, Megan is 10 months old.  She’s a climbing, standing, chasing-her-siblings, people-food-loving, jolly, happy little monster.    

She always wants in on the action!

She’s quite the explorer…

Love that smile!

Happy 10 months, Megan!

I’ve been gone too long.  It’s been almost a month since I’ve blogged…yikes!  Oops…

What have we been up to?  Well…

I helped finish up a second writing project with my friends.  The book was sent to the printer last week.  That’s always a good feeling!

Megan is inching her way towards walking.  She now stands very well.  She’s got great balance.  She even ended up sitting on the seat of her sister’s tricycle the other day (with some help from Erin).  I wanted so badly to get a picture, but I was too afraid to leave her there for as long as it would have taken to get the camera.  Oh well…

Potty training is still in process.  That is, of course, a whole post unto itself.  The actual process of PT is pretty draining, and I just don’t have oomph to relive it through writing just yet.  But it’s coming. One of these days. 

I’ve actually gotten some reading done recently.  I’ve been reading the Percy Jackson series.  I’m ready for the last one now.  Which means that I’ve read 4 books in about two weeks.  Never mind that they are, like, 4th grade reading level.  I still count it a major accomplishment!

And I’m almost caught up with the Harry Potter movies, so I will be able to watch the final installment…only a few weeks late!

We’ve spent some of these ridiculously hot weekends at the farm (w/o AC, of course).  But it was great anyway.  The twins have discovered the utter joy that is a tire swing.  And best of all, my father-in-law had an ear implant put in during the spring.  It was turned on a couple of weeks ago, and praise the LORD, he can hear again.  It’s been really great to watch him start living again.  It’s a real-life miracle…there is no doubt. 

My MIL put Erin’s hair in pigtails the last time we were at the farm.  She looks JUST like I did when I was her age.  

Alex is working hard at learning to push the pedals on his tricycle.  I’m pretty sure he’s going to pick that up soon.  Which would make pedaling just about the first ‘milestone’ he hit before Erin did.  Yay for you, Big Guy!

But, other than that, our lives haven’t been so terribly exciting these days.  So I can’t really think of anything else to write.  Mostly, I’m just chin-deep in daily life.  Some days I tread water, some days I’m swimming strong, and some days, I’m just trying to hold my own against a totally in-my-face current of diapers, dinner plans, sidewalk chalk, snack requests, fusses, fights, lost stuffed animals, unexpected hugs, toddler renditions of Jesus Loves Me, and never-ending laundry piles.  

I’m sure you understand.  Still, I’ll try to be a more regular blogger again soon.  No promises though…

Happy Thursday!