Family Fun Weekend!

Ahhhh, another weekend (mostly) at home...it's such a novelty to be home when you start your summer completely buried under weekend trips.  Being home feels refreshing and productive and relaxing, all at once.  This particular weekend was even better because it was a three-day weekend!  I took off on Friday to start fulfilling my promise to Carter that he'd get some one-on-one attention before school starts, because after that point we won't be able to keep him home on a whim, and every sanctioned school day off will be shared with his brother.  So it only seems right to give him a few solo days with one or both parents so he has a little taste of what Jacob enjoyed for four years and eight months prior to his arrival.

We had a lazy morning (I had to work out and get a couple things done) but started our day with pizza at the same place we went on one of our special days in the winter.  The slices are huge (and there's always a BOGO coupon around), and we loved eating there together once again!

As big as his head!

We moved along to a new park nearby.  I guess I'd always seen the sign for this park, but it's sort of buried behind a church/school and the YMCA, so I had no idea what was back there.  It turned out to have a fun playground and an easy little hiking trail!  He had a blast on the playground, and I'm coming to appreciate the mild workout I get from being the participatory mom, climbing around with him.  I don't mind doing it when we're alone, but when other kids are around I try to let him latch on with them.  And he definitely did during our second playground stint, when he was rounding up four other kids (most older than him) and getting them to run from monsters and play hide-and-seek.  He's a funny little dude among a family full of introverts.

He wasn't thrilled about taking a little hike, but once we got into the woods, he did what he does best--checking things out, making up stories, and being his silly little self.  This path had a ton of downed trees everywhere.  I don't know if they're prone to rotting or what, but there were a ton.  This one had been sliced up and left, for some odd reason.

This one had rotted out hollow...but he wouldn't actually step into it.

This is a close-up of what was behind Carter in the log picture.  Hard to see, but the rest of the tree continues on dozens of feet beyond the break (some top branches are on the left).

One tree fell right across the path and Carter thought it was funny that we had to duck under it to walk further along the path.

The entrance to the path had a bridge over a creek.  It's actually a much farther north portion of a creek that backed up to the apartment we lived in when we got married.  I used to love sitting in our guest room during spring thaws or after heavy rain and hearing the creek rushing by.  Normally it's much quieter, and this section was particularly tame.  It was a very pretty spot!

There was one place where you could actually see the water flowing over rocks, and it was so peaceful.  For those fans of the old school Daily Show on Comedy Central (circa 1997 with Craig Kilborn), here is your "Moment of Zen"...

After another round on the playground and a trip to Wegmans, we headed home.  As we debated about dinner and our evening activities, the boys were playing a game of Wii Boxing, and the view from behind made Craig and I laugh.  I had to share it.

We decided to go to Minnehan's down near Geneseo to play mini golf.  It was a busy night so we had some time to kill between holes as we waited for the group ahead of us.  The result?  A family selfie!

Love my boys!

The course is so pretty at night...

We had a good time, as always, and Jacob once again beat all of us!  On Saturday we dropped the van off at the mechanic, hung out around the house, and did some yard work.  We grabbed dinner at Chick-fil-A--the first time we went as a family and it wasn't crazy busy!  On Sunday I had to go to Buffalo for a baby shower, but I was determined for us to go to church together for the first time in about six weeks!  It was nice to get back there and see some friends, but the highlight was that the sermon series is currently movie based and there was popcorn and candy afterward, not to mention this little photo op for our resident Star Wars nut...

On the way back from the shower, I happened to see this lovely rainbow.  It was a nice little sign after a rough week.

It was a half rainbow and actually looked like a double or triple, even if the photo doesn't show it.  

I ended the weekend with a two mile run that Jacob joined me on.  Well, he sort of walked then caught up, then walked and caught up again before finally running with me the last half mile or so.  He said he was feeling it today, but I definitely think he could use some more of that endurance training to get him ready for his upcoming lacrosse and basketball seasons!

Back to the grind today...and onward into my last month in my 30s!