A day in our life!

Today I am going to write about a typical day in our house. I want to be able to go back years from now and read about a normal day. This was our yesterday....which was a pretty typical day.

It was Wednesday, so I had the day off and Brian was working. Zayden woke up first. It is nice that the kids really vary on who wakes up first. I enjoy that because it gives me time to spend alone with each of them depending on who wakes up first. Since Z woke up first, we played guys of course. His aunt Tara just found the COOLEST guys ever at a garage sale, and bought 21 of them with accessories and some station thing all for $20. They are called "Rescue Heroes". They were popular about 8-10 years ago. I have been researching them and they are about $20 each and there are movies and stuff. The reason I like them sooo much is that a) Zayden loves them and b) They are all GOOD guys. Z has been fascinated with "bad guys" lately, and I am happy that he is now playing with the good guys and they are rescuing and saving people, animals, and things all day long in our living room. He has police officers, firemen, astronauts, construction workers, etc.... He is sleeping with them and taking them everywhere he goes!! Yay for the good guys....finally!

Anyway, we saved a fish or something, and then Ivy woke up. We both ran in to get Ivy together and Ivy was excited to see us! We all played together for a bit and then I made them breakfast. They had waffles and pears. While they were eating, I packed our picnic lunch, and packed the car up with our stroller, blanket, lunch, and all the other essentials.

Then I got the kids dressed in their swimsuits because it was supposed to be a nice day and we were heading to a concert at a sprinkler park. I lathered them up with sunscreen. I bribed Z to go potty before we left, nursed Ivy and then we left.

Driving to the park was a little draining. I LOVE what a great conversationalist Z can be, but lately I admit the car rides can drain me. He talks non-stop the entire time! He mostly asks a million questions, and if I don't respond he keeps getting louder until he is yelling. Of course in the midst of all the constant chatter he manages to make me laugh a few times. Like when he asked, "What are those buildings?" and I told him "Storage units" and he then asked, "Can we go there sometime?" I told him, "Sure".

We get to the park, and go camp out in front of a silly man playing a guitar and singing kid songs. Ivy immediately started dancing and clapping. She loved it. Zayden enjoyed some of it. He danced and participated a little. By 10:15 Zayden was already asking for the food I brought, so the kids started nibbling on that while we listened, danced, and sang.

We were there a full hour, and then the show was over and we headed over to the park. Unfortunately it was too cold to get in the sprinklers. Z threw a fit about this until he saw the cool tractor that he wanted to play in. Zayden wanted to "drive" the tractor, and was waiting his turn while bigger kids pushed and shoved to get a turn. I was trying to keep track of Ivy who was trying to crawl up on everything she could. She was having a great time. Then Zayden and another boy a little bigger than him got in a screaming match. They both were screaming "My turn!" and jumping up and down and pointing fingers at each other. I told Z he had to stop and be nice. He did not. I made him get off the tractor, and then he had another fit, naturally. Ivy then decided she kept wanting to try to climb up the slide on the tractor backwards. I made the mistake of letting her do this a couple of times, and then that is all she wanted to do. I had to keep moving her when kids wanted to come down. Well, Zayden and a few other kids saw this and they all decided to copy Ivy and climb up the slide backwards too, and this caused a little chaos for the kids wanting to come down. I couldn't get Ivy to stop trying to climb up the slide and Z wasn't listening to me, so I finally just decided it was time to leave.....with one last fit from Zayden.

We get in the car and we are driving home and I'm worn out emotionally from the 30 minutes on the playground. Z then starts crying and demanding his water. I finally agreed to give it to him, if he would stop crying and ask nicely. He did. Then I remembered his water was still in the stroller which was now in the back of the car. :( So I had to pull over in a church parking lot and dig that out for him. On the way home I talked with him a lot about good behavior and being nice to the other kids at the park. I told him we had to leave because he wasn't playing nicely.

The kids didn't eat much of their "lunch" so I drove through a taco bell and got them a bean burrito without cheese to split, and myself some unhealthy junk. We got home and ate lunch. I changed them both into regular clothes. I then put Ivy down for her nap. After Ivy was asleep I got Z and we read a few stories, and then I laid him down for his nap.

While they napped, I relaxed and got on the computer some. I also did some laundry and cleaned the kitchen a little. Ivy woke first from her nap. When she woke up, we read a few books together. Then Z woke up and he and I read a couple of books together. After that we went out in the front yard to get some more fresh air. We ALL love to be outside.

Almost as soon as we stepped outside we saw Zayden's pal Ethan drive by. Ethan is a boy 6 weeks older than Z that lives right next door. Zayden and Ethan have become really good friends lately! It's kind of funny because before kids Ethan's parents and Brian and I were not friends and barely spoke. Now we talk often as the boys play. Anyway, Zayden started running for Ethan's house screaming "Ethan's home!", when he saw him. When Ethan got out of the car he ran for Z too. I wish I could have had a video of their meeting. They literally ran to each other with arms outstretched and embraced! I carried Ivy over there too, and chatted with Ethan's mom a little while the boys ran around and chased each other. Ivy squirmed to get out of my arms so I let her walk around a little too while we continued chatting. The boys started to hug again, but it turned kind of into a tackle, and they fell. Ethan hit his head and started crying. His mom said he had to go in still and take a nap anyway, and they went inside.

Ivy and Zayden kept heading down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of our house. We then saw "the tripletts" and their brother out riding their bikes. The tripletts are 7, and usually ignore Z which kind of makes him sad it seems. Today they told him hello, and their mom was outside and she started asking me about Ivy and commenting on how well she was walking. Then the tripletts (all boys) asked if Z had a "rescue hero", as he was carrying one of course. They then told us that they used to all play with the rescue heroes. I told their mom to let me know before she gets rid of any, and I'd buy them from her. She said they also have all the movies! Next thing I know all four brothers are running in/out of their house bringing out all of their rescue heroes along with their dogs, police cars, firetrucks, ships, etc.... Zayden was in heaven!! He sat with all the boys and played rescue heros for quite awhile while their mom and I talked and I followed Ivy around as she walked a little, and then eventually she sat and played with all the boys too!

Unfortunately it started to rain a little, so we had to clean up and go. We thanked the boys for being so nice and sharing their awesome toys with us, and headed in. Ivy was getting fussy, and I figured she was hungry, as she is a bottomless pit. I fed her an early dinner while Z played.

Brian came home and then we all went to the new park by our house. While we were driving there Z told me he was going to play nicely with the other kids....and he did!! :) We were supposed to meet, David, one of the kids I work with there at 5:00. Zayden has met David a couple of times before and really likes him. David is 12. Soon as we got to the park Zayden was calling for David, and asking the other kids if they saw him. Ivy was doing her usual climbing on everything routine.

David and his mom arrived and then Z followed David around everywhere, while I followed Ivy. Then Brian watched the kids while I took David for a ride in our jeep. He has been asking to ride in our jeep for a long time now. I found a little area a couple miles from the park where we were able to do a little bit of off roading, and he enjoyed that! We had a good time joking around as we bounced around in the jeep. We went back to the park and the kids played more.

I let Ivy go down a slide on her own for the first time and to say she LOVED it would be an understatement! She couldn't get enough and was screaming in laughter and had the hugest smiles ever!! I'd set her at the top of a small slide and then go to the bottom. She'd inch forward and slide down, and I'd catch her. We did this probably about 25 times. It started to rain again, so we had to go home.

We got home and I fed the kids dinner: chicken and mixed veggies. Yes, Ivy ate 2 dinners. After dinner we got the kids in their pajamas and got them ready for bed. It was bath night, but it was late, so I decided we'd skip the bath....a little dirt won't hurt them. Zayden actually asked to go to bed first, which is rare for him. He was anxious to go read with me. So I took him to his room and we read a few stories while Brian and Ivy played. I laid Z down, and then nursed Ivy and put her to sleep.

After the kids were asleep Brian and I ate dinner, played on the computer, watched TV, etc... and I cleaned up a little. And that was our day....a busy day....but a very typical day in our lives!