A Celebratory Weekend

We had a couple special days over the weekend for two of the people in our house.  Jacob's birthday was Saturday, and Father's Day was Sunday.  While things definitely looked a bit different this year due to social distancing and all that's been happening lately, we did our best to have a couple special days.

On Saturday, Jacob requested cinnamon rolls for breakfast, along with a Tim Hortons' run for fun drinks for everyone (iced cappuccinos for him and me, and frozen lemonades for Craig and Carter).  Carter also downed a bunch of donuts!

Next we moved on to presents.  We had warned Jacob there wasn't a lot since one of his gifts was still in transit and he'd already recently gotten new clothes (including what he's wearing in the picture below) and a new gaming headset to finally replace the less-reliable Five Below ones--although his most recent issue may have been caused by his controller, which we were able to replace for free...but it's probably fine anyway since we know he'll use the headset a bunch.

He was eager to open the big one that didn't match anything on his list...

...and it turned out to be a shoe rack!  He loves his shoe collection (even the outgrown ones) and currently has a bit of a haphazard setup in his closet.  I figured this one could display them a bit better.  As you can see, he was happy about it!

He also got a pair of shorts he wanted...

I ended up buying him a bunch of snacks, too, just so he had something else to open.

Clockwise from the bottom left--a can of gluten-free Pringles-style chips, M&M candy bar in crispy (since most snacks with crispies aren't GF), Haribo Starmix (which he adorably tried to share with me, but I told him it was all for him), Ruffles Jalapeno Lime chips (complete with NBA branding), Cheetos Jalapeno Cheese, peanut M&Ms, Ice Breakers mints, and two Airheads.

He wanted some family time in the pool, which didn't work out ideally with Carter's current anti-pool attitude, but we did have some nice time with three of us.  The weather was perfect for it.  We also ordered Red Robin to eat at home (so good!) and we had cupcakes for dessert.

We finished off the night by watching a movie of Jacob's choice, complete with popcorn.  He seemed pretty happy with his day, though he's definitely looking forward to his party (whenever we do that) and his gifts that are yet to arrive.

On Sunday, we got up and watched church before getting ready to head out to Buffalo.  I was a little nervous because I woke up with a bit of a sore throat and some congestion.  I was hopeful it was just allergies, but I was a bit concerned because I gave blood on Thursday and had to take down my mask a bit to eat my post-donation snack.  I also didn't sleep that well, so I was hopeful it was just tiredness, but I brought my mask for indoor wearing, just in case.  I felt a bit better as the day wore on, but the post-nasal drip seems to be hanging in there bit today.  Before we left, Craig got his Father's Day gift--two 20-pound weights to complete his home gym.  They were very hard to find, so I was thrilled I was able to grab them last week.

They were hiding in my trunk, so I just brought them out to the porch and covered them with a blanket.

We spent the day with Craig's parents.  His brother's family headed out on their own weekend adventure, so while it was unfortunate we couldn't give our niece and nephews their birthday and graduation gifts in person, it was nice to have quieter time to spend with Craig's parents.  It was the first time we'd been able to hang out with them since mid-March.  We ordered dinner in and sang happy birthday to Jacob with amazing gluten-free cupcakes.

Pardon me with the mask in the background...

Jacob loved his first gift from them, which was a really cool throwback Raptors jersey.  After eating, we enjoyed some time in their heated pool.  The boys loved how warm it was and enjoyed having a deep end to keep things interesting.  Jacob felt pretty good once he realized he could swim across it just fine, since I think he thought he might have false confidence from being able to touch the bottom of our four-foot pool.  But he did well, which puts all of our minds at ease!  I think Carter needs to learn ASAP, because his floatie seems to be at its weight limit since he's not very high in the water anymore.  He'll be able to touch much more comfortably by next summer, but it's still pretty close right now--on his tiptoes and head held high in a slightly more shallow section of the pool is all he can muster currently.

We had a really nice time there, and since his cousins weren't there to hang out with, Jacob sat with the adults and got to hear some interesting stories from Craig's dad's time in the military.  I cherish the time I had to listen to my grandfather's stories of life on the farm and away at war, so I was happy Jacob had that chance, too.  And I know Craig's dad really appreciated having us there, too.  One of these days I'll make it up to my dad, who was OK with me not coming in--but I have time off coming up so I might go hang out there for a day or so soon.  

We got home just after bedtime and Carter was actually happy to go right to bed!  We weren't too far behind since it had been a long day.  As a whole it was a low-key but very pleasant weekend.  I'm looking forward to the continuation of Jacob's birthday at some point soon, and ready for another week back at work before two weeks off.  I'm hoping we can find a few fun things to do with our time during those weeks so we don't drive one another nuts!