We survived! Leanne left Thursday morning to go to Tennessee for her brother’s wedding. It was just too expensive to fly all four of us to Tennessee, but it was important for Leanne to go. So, the boys and I were on our own for the weekend.

Thursday and Friday were pretty much the same as always, with me doing the morning solo and then Mia coming so I could go to work. The only difference was doing the evening solo. Thursday we all went to Gymboree and Friday evening we went to Costco to pick up a few things and eat a nutrious dinner of hot dogs from the snack bar – both were very easy (well, except for Grayson screaming for 45 minutes on Friday night that he wanted to go to sleep in our bed. No dice and he eventually went to sleep.)

Saturday morning we were all up bright and early at 6am (although I let/made people lie in bed and watch Sprout for an hour!) Eventually, we packed up and got to the mall when they opened at 9am. It was my first foray to the mall solo without a stroller. I did put their monkey backpack/leashes on them just in case, but I only ended up needing them a couple of time when they were getting a bit crazy and not listening! We exchanged a coat at LL Bean, rode every escalator in the mall, rode a few elevators, looked at the birds and bunnies in the pet shop window, shared a huge breakfast platter at McDonalds (yet another nutritious meal) and finished off by riding the carousel. Afterwards we went to Gymboree for class. Grayson was exhausted and fell asleep on the way home and then only napped for 30 minute once we got home. That is always fun! Jurgen and Jen came over for a couple of hours to take the kids to the park and play in the playroom. Bedtime went much easier, thank goodness, and I stayed up too late starting to clean and watching stuff on DVR.

Sunday we were up again at o'dark thirty (6:30) and once again I kept people in bed to watch Sprout. We went to Panera for breakfast (where Carter forgot how to behave…over the table, under the table, ugh) and then we walked to the grocery store where the kids were good, but I realized I shouldn't shop when 1) I am walking up and down every aisle to kill time 2) I am hungry and 3) I am tired. When we got home I took the kids on a long walk and then to the playground. The kids were out for a nap immediately and rather than nap myself, I finished catching up on the DVR. Our friends Traci and Candace came over around 3 to take the boys to the playground while I cleaned. In 2.5 hours I cleaned top to bottom and was a sweaty and tired mess by the time they all got back. After they left we all showered and I plopped the kids in the living room with Signing Times at 6:30. They passed out immediately at bedtime and I wasn't too far behind.

All in all the weekend went really well. Of course we had our moments (Grayson coloring all over our white counter tops with his markers while I had my back turned making lunch and Carter taking a big bite out of Grayson after Gray tackled him in a WWE move) but over all everyone was really good. It also gave Grayson and me a chance to reconnect since when Leanne is around he is all about her and only her. We had a lot of nice cuddle time.

Leanne got back Monday after driving back from TN with her parents. I’ll have pictures from this weekend up next week!