A Weekend Full of Fun

Sometimes, housework needs to take a backseat to family fun. In addition to our long, leisurely picnic/playground visit with our friends yesterday, I decided to take the full day "off" and just enjoy my kids. So when they woke up from their afternoon naps, I asked, "Who wants to go to the library?" Our library has so many different activities to participate in, so many resources besides books and media. Liesl was all over the idea as soon as she woke up, and Ava loves to go anywhere (really, a trip to Home Depot is a big deal for her, so the library is like Cedar Point.) So off we went. Now that Ava is older and can fend for herself a little more, the library is getting easier for Mommy to do, since I can actually read two or three sentences in a book without having to restrain someone from shoving a drumstick into someone else's facial orifices. I even finished a WHOLE PARAGRAPH yesterday without incident. Amazing. After a full 2 hours at the library, we arrived home to meet Daddy and have a quick family dinner.

This afternoon, as suggested by our violin teacher, Liesl and I attended the spring concert of the Livonia Youth Philharmonic, and got to see a lot of our "studio-mates" on stage, performing pieces that they have been working on for many months. (They were wonderful, and they were excited to see Liesl arrive--surprise!) I had qualms about taking Liesl to something as formal as a concert (read: she'd have to sit still and be quiet for an extended time...and, well, she's 3.) Yet it turned out to be a very family-friendly event. Miss Sharon also came to the concert to see her students play, so we got to sit next to her and share the experience with her. Since Liesl was so well-behaved at the concert, and since Daddy was home taking care of Ava, Liesl and I treated ourselves to lunch (and playtime!) at McDonald's. It's the first time I've had leisurely one-on-one time with Liesl in quite a while, and it was fun...it reminded me of how much easier it was to have only one child.

And another something wonderful--the Morning Glories that Liesl and Ava helped (really!) to plant last Tuesday have sprouted, and it's been wonderful to have Liesl see the results of her work. We keep our seedlings--flower and vegetable--in a large, approximately 7'x8'x6' "box" that Tom built in the basement last spring. This creation was to give our many, many garden seedlings an enclosed, heated place to grow, since we had to move our office space and seedling stand out of our spare bedroom to make room for that additional kid. (Totally worth it, by the way.) This box is a small portable room, large enough for Tom to stand up in and move around in. We christened it the "Panic Room." However, our plants have no need to panic and are coming along very nicely, and Liesl gets to see (and provided endless commentary about) the fruits (flowers?) of her labor.

Tomorrow is our May violin recital. We three girls spent the post-nap period making cookies for the dessert reception after the recital. (I had help again. This time it maybe wasn't as "helpful," but it was still a fun experience for all three of us. There may have been some sampling involved. I can't be sure.) This is the first recital class that Grammie and Papa have been in town for, and Liesl is very excited to have them there to watch her play. The recital should round out a busy and enjoyable weekend nicely and end it with a bang (ok, maybe that isn't the best idiom for musical events....) There is also a surprise in store tomorrow, so stay tuned! (Another bad music pun. Sorry. It's late.)