Whirlwind

Holy cow, what a busy weekend. I had started scouring the house earlier in the week in preparation, and by Friday night, I was in no mood to cook. So I gave my family the option of going out, which they (read: Husband) jumped on immediately. He wasn’t about to give me a chance to renege, because it happens so rarely that I loosen the purse strings to eat out. The kids, of course, made friends with everyone they encountered, so it was worth it.

Saturday morning kicked me out of bed early so I could get in a run before the First Big Soccer Game. Oh dear. I have That Kid. You know, the one standing in the backfield checking out the dandelions while the other kids run like made in the other direction. The coach actually had to take his hand and direct him a few times. Sammy’s smile was huge from the attention (I don’t think he got the point very well). But I think he had fun, and he sure liked the snacks that followed. He’s one of the youngest on the team, and we (at least I) went into this as a learning experience. Dad, on the other hand, is a little frustrated with Sammy’s That Kid attitude, but I think they’ll reach a common ground after a couple of games. It always takes Sammy a little while to warm up to something new. I suspect it has something to do with the time of year he was born.

The afternoon whooshed by in a hailstorm of straightening up before the entire family descended upon us to celebrate Sabrina’s birthday. Allow me to pat myself on the back for managing to make, among other things, homemade bread for the festivities (yeast scares me, so this was a triumph). Sabrina adored the attention and the attendance, including her twin cousins with whom she may have been a little too, ahem, demonstrative. Sammy and the twins enjoyed opening the gifts for her, but she didn’t care. She had a blast, everyone ate aplenty, and all was good. Although someone left a pair of sunglasses and a pair of glasses glasses, so whoever you are, please speak up.

The, Sunday. Oh Sunday. Sammy went to Sunday school, then grocery shopping with me. He barely got a break before we loaded up to go meet Thomas the Tank Engine. Oh happy day! Sammy and I took a ride with Thomas (up and back in a straight line, but that’s no matter to a 4 year old), while his dad, grandparents, and sister waited (he picked me to go on the train – I’m not sure if that was good news or bad news). He posed for dozens of pictures with characters and posters, played in the train activity area until we graded him away (kicking and screaming of course), checked out the model train display (can I type the word train any more times in this sentence?), and was so overwhelmed by the gift shop that he couldn’t pick a souvenir (very weird, and something I’m sure to have to back fill in the near future). Sabrina was a real trooper for making it through without a nap. We even got to see Sammy’s favorite kiddie song singer (what do you call these people?), whose CD we have on heavy rotation in the van. Despite the winds blowing us all over, it was a huge success, and something we’ll be repeating next year as long as the interest of some kid in the family holds (we can probably skip the expense of the train ride and just enjoy the rest of the exhibits – score!).

So today, I am tired. But at least my house is clean.