Adventures

We have heard it numerous times, "you give your children a variety of experiences".

I laugh. We do?

It does not feel that way. We like to stay home, and force our children to entertain themselves, since we are not good at playing with our children. Hubby is better at this than I am. However, we would prefer sitting on the couch reading a book, sending the kids off to another part of the house, not to be seen, nor heard.

My children have not been on an airplane. The only other country they have visited is Canada. They have not been to Disney World, and have only been to the beach once, maybe twice.

Then again, my teacher friends remind me that some kids, in our area, have never left the state, let alone the county they live in. Their parent's may have never traveled out of the state. We at least drive to Pennsylvania for Christmas.

What really adds to my laughter, and a lot of guilt, is looking back on my own childhood experiences.

Due to a convergence of circumstances, our family lived in England for 5 years. When you live in another country, for, what you know will be, a limited time, you make the most of it. And, my parents did. We explored England, by the time I was JT's age we had seen the Eiffel Tower, the Mona Lisa, skied in Italy, vacationed in the south of France, and I had kissed the Blarney Stone, in Ireland.

Even our school class trips were more exciting. When I was in the 3rd Form (4th Grade) we took a class trip to Wales for the weekend. Was it Wales? It was a weekend trip, somewhere.

I should ask our 4th Grade teachers if they want to take the kids on a weekend trip.

The following year, 4th Form (5th Grade), our class trip was a week at Guernsey, an island between England and France. Any takers for taking 40+ kids on a ferry, and spending the week traipsing around an island? We were let loose, with no chaperons at times, and the only chaperons were our teachers, all 3 or 4 of them.

Times have changed.

However, that was my childhood; and had the convergence of circumstances not happened, we would not of had those experiences. Had we stayed for only one year, which was the original plan, instead of 5, we would not of had all those experiences.

To multiple my guilt I ordered Frommer's 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up.

Why? To give me some vacation ideas? We may have hit 5, maybe 6, of those places already, 3 of them are in our area. If you wanted to complete half the list you would need to be independently wealthy, and homeschool your children.

So, the bottom line is this, we don't all have the same experiences, and our children will not have the same experiences as we did growing up. We offer them what we have, with the resources we have.

Would my kids love to ride in an airplane, and visit another country. Yes. Are they excited to visit the local children's museum, or one of the local caves in our area, yes. They will grow up with fond memories of spending weeks in Canada, camping with the family, and all the times I dragged them to Niagara Falls, since we were driving by on our way home from Canada.

Niagara Falls, to my kids, will soon become my Stonehenge, when my family lived in England. Friends and family would visit us, and one of the the places we took them was Stonehenge. "Not again, they are just a pile of rocks sitting in the middle of a field."

Really, adventures are lost on the young.

Halloween

We made it through another Halloween without spending any money on costumes.

I don't sew, so nothing is "home made" in that sense. I'm minimally creative when it comes to costumes. So, if I'm not spending money on the costumes, the kids are on their own. (Saturday night we were at a friends house, when the friends started talking about having a themed party. 60's night, 70's night, 80's night? My blood pressure began to rise. Costumes are not my thing.)



So, I send the kids to our dress up box.

Can't you tell?

The dress up box I replenish AFTER Halloween. 75% off at Target, y'all!

Still wondering why they put out decorations so early, and combine so many holidays together, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Every good shopper knows you wait until AFTER the holiday.

ED was POL-H


His own creation, part clone trooper (last year's costume, which were bought at Walmart, 6 months before Halloween, for $5 each) and part Optimus Prime (75% off post-Halloween.)



EM was Daphne, from Scooby-Doo. Another costume bought post-Halloween. Oh, and the scarf, a pair of tights.




JT was Nate the Great. Well, he was several days ago, at school. That evening, he became an undercover detective.


We started with the big hat. And, then it became too scratchy, so he went inside for his baseball cap. Which started the great hat war of 2010!

Note the winter hat

Which put everyone in a less then festive mood. We eventually rallied, salvaged the evening, and as JT said, at the end of the evening, "it ended on a happy note".


Again, we only made it through half of the neighborhood. Our neighborhood is not that big, but our kids are that whiny. Apparently, we need to walk more. Not even the promise of more candy could motivate them to finish the other half.


Then again we took the uphill direction first, with some steep driveways. I'm all for tiring them out, before the great candy fest of 2010 begins.

"I remember when we trick-or-treated, and we had to walk uphill both ways."

Then again, Mom and Dad were not complaining that we ended early.

In Search for The Great Pumpkin Patch

I love fall.

I love the cool weather; or I love the cool weather when it finally arrives. (It feels like it finally arrived, and looks like it may stay for a couple days.)


I love the decorations; the mums, leaves, pumpkins, and the colors of fall.

I love the parties and gatherings this time of year; the Relief Sale, pumpkin carving party, barn party, sit around the fire and roast marshmallows party, trick or treating.

I love pumpkin spice coffee. This year I discovered pumpkin spice beer. Life is good.

Pumpkin spice muffins, cookies, pumpkin bars, ....


And, our family trip to the pumpkin patch. Over the years, this has become a tradition.



It started when we first moved, 6 years ago. Friends of ours were gracious enough to invite us to a nearby patch. They knew we needed to get out of the house.

The following year, I don't think we made it to the patch. At least, I don't have any pictures of the patch. With an infant in the house, I'm not surprised. We probably picked one up at the Relief Sale. Guess what, I don't have pictures of that either.

Carting a baby, a toddler, and a preschooler tends to limit your picture taking ability. It also limits your ability to remember to take the camera. Remembering those days just increased my desire for a nap.

The year after that we did make it to the patch. I had to push everyone out the door, into the car, out of the car, and into the patch.


It was one of those days. Even though it was spitting rain that morning, we were getting out of the house, and having some family fun. So everyone have fun, NOW!

The following year we visited a different pumpkin patch, which was more fall amusement then pumpkin patch. In fact, we never made it to the patch. We paid the admission, and let the kids play all afternoon. Then we picked some pumpkins off of a shelf, paid for them, and went home.


I like traipsing through the field for my pumpkins, so the following year we found an old fashion pumpkin patch. No admission fee, no games, wagons for the kids to push, and large, sharp clippers to let children carry, and just pumpkins, sitting in a field, ready to be picked.


And, please make checks payable to Myer's Pumpkins.


As in Michael Myers. (The mailbox, where you leave payment, used to read Michael Myers. Unfortunately, I never took a picture of it till this year, when they changed the name on the box. Why? I don't know, because leaving money in a mailbox labeled "Michael Myers" is perfect for this time of year.)

The Joys of Parenting

Friday, we each enjoyed a free Chick-Fil-A meal.

All we had to do was dress up like cows.

Seriously, I love doing this kind of stuff. Crazy, cheesy stuff, like dressing up for a free meal.

My friends never get into this kind of stuff. They are all too mature for such antics.


All my friends, since elementary school. Why can't I attract cheesy enjoying friends, or maybe that would be too much cheese for everybody?

Maybe, my self-conscious seeks the mature people as friends, hoping that some of that maturity will rub off on me.

My self-conscious is still seeking.

Sorry, I digress.

So, I had children. So I could make them do these cheesy things with me. Of course, we don't call it "cheesy," we call it "confidence building."

The conversation usually goes like this:

Me: Who wants to dress up like a cow?

:::crickets:::

Me: No takers, then who wants to eat at Chick-fil-A?

All Children: WE DO!

Me: Then you will dress up like a cow. No cow, no chicken!

While standing in line Friday, ED was having a grumpy attack. I told him this was supposed to be fun, and that his grumpy gus attitude was defeating the fun aspect.

He told me I was crazy.

The mom in front of us, told me her son was having the same grumpy gus attitude. She told him that if he wanted to eat Chick-fil-A, he needed to wear the costume.

I think I just found a cheesy friend.

Christmas Is Coming

Our town celebrated the beginning of the Christmas season with the annual Christmas parade (or, is it called the holiday parade? Oh well, this is my blog so I'll call it what I want.)

And, regardless of what all the stores have been telling us since the end of September, I say that the holiday Christmas season does not begin until the 1st of December, or the day after Thanksgiving if you are really anxious. Of course, that doesn't explain my home town who hosts their holiday Christmas parade sometime in the middle of November?

This year's parade theme must have been a gingerbread theme because most of the floats were decked out as gingerbread houses, and a lot of people wore chefs outfits, or dressed in their PJ's, carrying mixing bowls and cookie sheets. PJ's and cookie sheets?

***Edited to add: I've been informed, the parade theme was "Sweet Dreams."



This was our first parade, well the first parade the kids got to see, live. As you can see, this momma's a parade novice. No one told me we should take blankets, chairs, and hot chocolate. Well, the kids told me, after we arrived.

So, to keep the kids warm until the parade began they ran up and down the street. When the street is closed to vehicular traffic one might as well take advantage of it and tell their children to play in the middle of the street. Bwahhahahahaha


I'm disappointed this picture did not turn out as well as I had hoped. The band was marching close to the curb, and there my kids sitting near marching feet, covering their ears because the music was loud. (They thought it was loud. Some day I wish they could hear themselves yelling inside the house, now that is loud.)

Random guy ridding a very tall bicycle.

Some day I would like to learn how to take night-time pictures.

And the end of the parade, Santa Claus.

The kids loved it, though they alternated between loving the parade, and complaining about how tired and cold they were. Hubby and I briefly discussed walking over to the local ice cream shop for peppermint ice cream, but my feet were freezing, the ice cream shop has only outdoor seating, and all but one child would not have enjoyed the walk, even if it was for ice cream.

The next sign that Christmas is coming: a trip to the tree farm (along with the many concerts and recitals we have this week.) Hope for dry weather, or it may be our last.

This Time I Chose the Ice Rink

Somewhere in the great blogosphere I stumbled on $11 tickets to see Disney on Ice.


We have never taken the kids to see anything like this and thought they would enjoy the program, more EM then the boys, but thought the novelty of the outing would appeal to everyone.

Now, $11 doesn't place you too close to the ice. We were in the nosebleed section, but sitting up there kept us away from these guys:


Sorry guys, I know you are only trying to make a buck, but we like to hold on to ours.


Knowing we were up high, the second to last row to be exact, we brought binoculars. Knowing we were up that high I brought some Valium, just kidding. Honestly, I have nightmares about walking up and down steps with no railing, just steps hanging mid-air. Much like walking up these steps.



It turned out that the seats were not that high, and we could see fairly well without the binoculars.

It also turned out that the arena was only 3/4th's full, with lots of empty seats ... rows of empty seats. During intermission we moved down, we stayed in the cheap seat section, but without the hyperventilating and sweaty palms.

OK, question. Is this acceptable, to move closer, to seats which are slightly more expensive then your cheap seat, when rows of seats remain empty? We could have moved even closer, there were rows of empty seats in the very expensive sections, but we thought it best not to push our luck.



Speaking of expensive seats. This poor mom was probably regretting the money she spent on front row seats while keeping her toddler from joining the ice skaters.


Question. How do they skate in that dinosaur and pig costume? Now that is talent.


The outing was a complete surprise to the kids. All they knew was that we had a surprise on Saturday. I wrote it on ED's calendar, without telling him, I wrote "surprise" on October, 24th.

It took him a week or two, once we entered October, to notice the note. (Every day he crosses off that box, so I knew he would see it eventually.) What really cracked me up was when it was discovered the kids planned a meeting, in ED's room, to find out who wrote on his calendar.



We awoke early Saturday morning. The arena was 2 hours away, we left 3 hours before the show began. We gave ourselves plenty of time since we were driving into the suburbs on a Saturday morning, and after experiencing the traffic and parking nightmare at the women's conference I didn't know what to expect.

The trip went smoothly, as did finding parking. Which meant we arrived 1 hour before show time. This meant we were standing outside waiting for the doors to open, after having drunk a gallon and half of coffee, with a bladder that endured the birth of three children, fun times.


The kids had a blast. They loved it, the adults loved it, and now the kids keep asking when we will attend our next Disney on Ice.

***If you are curious what I meant by the title of this post, find out here.

Favorites from Our Weekend

This weekend was the Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale. Mennonite? You know what I'm talking about; the food, the auctions, the food, seeing old friends, and the food. Not Mennonite, then read about them here.

Our family looks forward to the yearly Virginia Relief Sale; everyone has favorites, many of our favorites revolve around food. We're Mennonite, most everything revolves around food.




I love the Friday evening meal, ending with ice cream.

Then Saturday's breakfast of pancakes. Our second breakfast, doughnuts, and then lunch followed by ice cream.



There is the added benefit that I don't need to cook. And if we spend our money right we will be snacking on doughnuts and potato chips for the rest of the weekend.

The kids talk about the pancakes. All. Year. Long.




And the moon bounce. They also talk about the moon bounce. All. Year. Long. If there comes a year there is no moon bounce ... well, it will be a very bad year for the Relief Sale.



JT was excited to see the Penny Power shed. He talked about it for several weeks leading up to the sale. There are two reasons he loves the Penny Power shed. First, machines are used to count the money. Change (and bills) are collected at individual churches in large water jugs. The jugs are delivered to the Relief Sale where they are dumped into the machines which sort and count the coins. Anything involving machines, my son is there.

Also, there is a table for people to count the change the old fashion way. Don't ask me why, but my ADHD son could spend a good amount of time just sorting coins, as long as he could alternate to watching the machines and helping to pour the coins into them.



Around the sale there are also some hands-on demonstrations. Friday night the boys helped to spin wool into yarn. Saturday they helped with the apple butter boiling.

It will take 8 hours for this pot of apple butter to be ready. That is 8 hours of stirring the apple butter. About the length of a school day. "Oh, you don't want to go to school today. Oh, you say school is too boring. Would you like to stir boiling apple butter all day? Your choice."



And then there are the auctions. We don't usually participate in the silent and main live auction. We also try not to participate in the children's auction.

Hubby and I don't enjoy the children's auction because children, at least our children, don't fully understand what an auction is, and what it means when you are not the one with the winning bid.

Several years ago it was ED, EM and me, sitting at the children's auction. ED had his heart set on a toy. We did not offer the highest bid. Oh my, the meltdown. It was a meltdown of Three Mile Island magnitude.

You don't know what I mean by Three Mile Island? Chernobyl?

{{{crickets}}}

Seriously, I'm not that old!

We eventually got out of there (carrying EM who was too young to walk and dragging ED who was too upset to walk) and headed to the main building, where they sold toys the old fashion way. While there a lady walked by, looked at ED and said "Oh, I'm glad to see he has calmed down." Yes, I now have The Kid who had a melt down at the Children's Auction.



Which is why we try to avoid the auction, until this year. Hubby and I plotted an emergency exit plan, just in case. Thankfully, we did not need to use the plan.




A fun time was had by all. We probably spent way too much money, but it all went to a good cause so no one can complain; and it was all very delicious. My hips are complaining, a little, but not much.

****edited to correct the word "Favorites" in the title; which, when originally posted read "Favorties." I blame it on my computer keyboard ... yes, that's right my 6-year-old computer keyboard. Six years of food crumbs, coffee spills, dust, residue from dust removal sprays, my children, ... has impeded the board's typing ability. Yep, that sounds convincing, don't you think? It is all my computer's fault and absolutely none of mine and my poor speeling;)

The Fair

County fair week has come and gone in our neck of the woods.



The last time Hubby and I went to a county fair we were dating. How long ago was that? Let's just say, long enough that we can now take our children.

This was the kid's first time at the fair. And they loved it. They rode a few rides, checked out an animal show. We spent a tad too much money. It can't be helped, no matter what you tell yourself. The county fair people know how to draw you in, they give you a false sense of cheapness ... and then whammo."

The kids got in free, we spent $10 on our admission. $20 on ride tickets (3 rides for each child). By that time the "good county fair adrenaline" was pumping through our veins. "Sure you can have ice cream." "Did you see they have funnel cake? I haven't had funnel cake in soooo long."

I picked up a free bag. (You know you are growing old when the highlight of your evening at the fair is a new shopping bag.)

A friend commented on how the fair was fun for her after experiencing it through the eyes of her 3-year-old.




This is Opal. I had to take a picture of Opal. EM's lovey is a rabbit named Opal. I'm thinking this Opal would eat EM's Opal as a county fair snack, stuffing and all.



Speaking of fair snacks. The other highlight of my evening at the fair, funnel cake. Ummmm! And fried Oreos.

The boys each earned a bottle of soda, thanks to a reading challenge this past spring (false sense of cheapness). JT drank his, and then proceeded to chow down on my funnel cake. I don't take kindly to funnel cake snatchers.

ED nursed his soda all evening. He finally finished it Wednesday morning. Yes, my son was walking around Wednesday morning, before 9:00am, drinking a soda.

It's summer. The kids are young. It is county fair week after all.

Our Fun, Fall Weekend ... Part 2

... After our final indulgence at the Relief Sale we rolled piled into the car and headed to Hubby's work for a Friends & Family Open House.

Now, usually work-related socials fall under two categories; RSVPs, reserved for fancy dress-up parties or a day at the amusement park. Give us a rough number by such & such a date would be used for picnics. This social was a picnic, but a very restricted picnic.

First, there were the registration forms sent out, stating that every employee could invite 4 people. If you wanted to invite more you were required to fill out a permission form. So, that family of 6 had to leave a kid at home if they didn't receive special permission. (Which I don't think happened to anyone, but hey some people have large families.)

We were given name tags and told to wear these tags at all times. Upon entrance at the plant gate we were given safety goggles, and once again told to wear these at all times. Have you ever seen a child under the age of 2 years of age wear safety goggles? Nope, neither did we that day. The tots I saw with goggles were chewing on them or throwing them on the ground to play that lovely game all infants and tots restricted in a stroller or high chair love to play "parent pick-up."

Sorry, I have no pictures to show you of our fun, family, goggle wearing picnic because cameras were not allowed.

Apart from the non-tot friendly goggles and name tags they did have some cool activities for the kids. Our favorite was the science experiment demonstrations. The experiments were hands-on. The kids went up front and worked with everyday items and performed some cool experiments.

Also, we were able to tour the plant, as long as our escort (Hubby) at all times. He took us over to see the production building that he has been working on, which was nice since he has worked on this project for 6+ years now. The kids got a kick out of seeing the large vats, hoses, controls, thingy-ma-jigs and whatcha-ma-call-its.

We stayed long enough for the tour, lunch, and the science experiments. It had been a long day and everyone was in need of a nap. It was later that afternoon EM developed a fever, thankfully easily controlled by medicine. Later that evening I came down with whatever the other two had (ED was sick earlier last week.) The sick part was not part of our fun weekend, but I'm glad we were able to enjoy everything else before the illness set in.

And for this weekend? It is shaping up to be another enjoyable fall weekend, we shall see what transpires.

Field Trip

I've posted before about participating in the Virginia TimeTravelers program. Today we headed to the P. Buckley Moss Museum. The museum was a nice break to our summer day. The museum is located 40 minutes from us, right off the highway, and I didn't mind burning the gas since admission is free.

The museum displays the art of P. Buckley Moss (in case you were wondering.) Though the museum is not designed for kids it does have two favorable attractions for children. The first that Moss' art certainly captures the imagination and my kids loved looking at the different landscapes and people in the paintings. Second, on the bottom floor they display a large doll house where 20+ mice are hidden, and for the kids to find. We counted up to 25, but were told there were more.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch on the grounds, where the squirrels are a little to use to people as one came very close to us. No, I'm not afraid squirrels, but afraid of what my children might do if a squirrel was close enough to touch.

And then we headed to Target. Obviously I did not learn my lesson from yesterday but I am still on the search for cheap swim goggles and there was a Target behind the museum. This time my trip to insanity was rewarded.

And, when I say "behind the museum" I mean RIGHT behind the museum (which is kind of a shock when you look at the museum's picture on their website and it appears to be in the middle of no where.) Actually, as we drove to the shopping center's parking lot I saw a path from the Museum property to the shopping center. Now that would have been fun; schlepping the kids across the museum property, across the parking lot, through Target, back across the parking lot and then up the museum property.

A Stop In Winchester

Yesterday we visited the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum, located in Downtown Winchester. The kid's favorite exhibits included the Simple Machines (playing with apples) and the Raceway room (rolling golf balls).

The stop was a nice break from our two-hour drive home, and even nicer since we have a reciprocal membership to the Harrisonburg Children's Museum. This means we can visit most (probably all but I haven't verified that) children's museums in the country for free. The money spent on a membership is well worth it if several museums are located near you, or your family travels often.

If your family finds yourself in the Winchester vicinity then stop at the museum for some play time. The museum itself is small, but the exhibits are all interesting and your child(ren) will find their favorite and probably want to spend hours there.

After your visit take time to explore the Downtown Pedestrian Mall, where the Museum is located. Better yet, plan a date (while the weather is still warm since it is an outdoor mall) with your girlfriends and head out without kids. There is a lot to explore, stores, boutiques, bakeries and restaurants.

With or without kids Downtown Winchester is worth the time to explore and enjoy.

... And the cycle continues

Last week, just as we were recovering from our trip to Canada, and the laundry was all washed, and folded, and put away, and all the bags were unpacked, and all the items from said bags, and the bags themselves, were put away, and when the piles of stuff (that somehow accumulates in your house while you are gone) was put away I found myself repeating the whole laundry/packing/traveling dance.

We visited my parents this past weekend. And though it was only a weekend visit laundry still needed to be done, the bags were packed, the kids were strapped back into the car, and off we went. Thankfully it was only a two hour trip, and the kids knew that a pool and Grandpa were waiting for them at the end of the trip.

It was a good weekend, lots of blogging material but all that will come later this week. My folks watched the kids Saturday night while my husband and I did some shopping and went out to dinner. Dinner was also courtesy of my parents, for my birthday ... which was in November, or is it for this year's birthday? For which ever birthday we appreciated the night out, with this crazy summer we haven't seen much of each other and it was nice spending some time together, alone. Well not completely alone, but we were without kids meaning we could enjoy a conversation without interruptions, other then the waiter asking if everything was satisfactory.

You Need to Keep Them Close

Virginia has this great program called Virginia TimeTravelers, encouraging families to visit museums across the state. For each participating museum you visit the kids receive a stamp in their passport and after so many stamps they receive a certificate signed by the governor.

The Virginia Quilt Museum is one of the participating museums. The museum is close to us, it is small and sounded like an easy stamp, so I thought why not. Well, I can think of several reasons why not, the big one being kids and quilts don't exactly equal a good time. At first I thought of making our trip a scavenger hunt by giving them a list of special designs, colors or quilts to find, but after checking the museums website I gave up on that idea since they don't show pictures of all the quilts. Then I thought of introducing them to geometry, or whatever mathematical whatever is associated with quilts. OK, so I just explained why that little idea didn't work; plus my oldest is 7, and none of them are Doogie Howser material. Then I saw that the museum has a Children's Room, bonus...let's go.

Before arriving I gave them the "so help me God if you don't behave" talk. We entered, I sat them on a bench so I could pay the nice lady behind the table. During this time my lovely angels discovered that the bench they were sitting on could move, and so began the shoving match, over the bench, trying to move it, with children wrestling one another. And this is where I found the title for this posting, once the kids were settled (and sitting in opposite ends of the room) and we paid our admission the very nice lady sitting at the table said "now you will need to keep them close." ".... Ummm, ... thanks."

Off we trotted, with much improvement in our behavior. We checked out the quilts, stood amazed at the old fashion sewing machines "you mean they peddled them, they couldn't plug them in?", tried to talk about patterns, pictures, and sewing techniques, and browsed the gift shop. Here, at the gift shop, is where we lost our new found composure. My oldest has sticky fingers, and not because they are always in his mouth. (No, he doesn't shop lift, he just likes touching everything. He is a tactile kid.) He likes to touch everything. So does my 3-year-old, however my youngest is still learning, my oldest should ... SHOULD ... know better. We both lost our composure when he, one too many times, reached to pick up something and I swapped him upside the head, a little too hard considering there was a lady standing next to us who probably noticed the loud "thud".

Oh, and for the Children's Room, it was closed due to a needle point, or some crafty type, guild meeting downstairs where the Children's Room is located. Oh well, I kept my kids close to me. We survived our visit, as did the quilts, and the kids received one more stamp on their passports. But one would think that if a museum is participating in a program for children their activities for children would be accessible, but that's just me thinking aloud. Plus, and this is just a suggestion, post some information on how quilts use mathematics, or their designs come from geometry, or whatever it is. True, quilts are amazing in the techniques used, designs, and colors. But there is a whole intellectual element that seems to be unexplored. Oh, can anyone else see the SOLs developing?

The Perfect Weekend

Yes, this was one of those perfect weekends, where one's to-do list is balanced by play time (and maybe a nap or two.) It certainly helped that my husband had a 4 day weekend, and that he offered to take our 5 year old to his Kindergarten Dr's appointment (the one that requires shots and where they are now old enough to put up a significant fight, as did my oldest at his check-up.) That gave me the time to bake bread. Friday night we enjoyed a production of The Wind in the Willows performed by JMU's Children's Playshop. Their season runs through July with two more productions and highly recommended for the whole family.

The rest of the weekend was a mixture of work (picking strawberries and preparing to host friends Sunday night) and fun and play (with the kids, time with friends and playing with the kids). Oh how I love weekends like these. I wish every weekend was a perfect one, but that is not always the case and it makes this weekend all the more special.