joy

I have finally found some time to type some more on the blog. We have been having too much fun this weekend for "Mama" to go upstairs, turn on the computer, and think of something to say. I had a weekend off!!!!!!!! Papa was home, too, so we decided that this weekend would be dedicated to our family. We came up with a follow a few rules for the weekend:
1. Stay in Duluth
2. Not drive anywhere out of town
3. Refuse to pass beyond the city limits of the current place in which we are residing
4. Not spend any money, especially if it involves spending money far away from home, say in another town perhaps.

We had a wonderful weekend. We tried to take advantage of the nice warm weather. Saturday started with Papa and Julia getting up early and making pancakes for breakfast. Then, it was off to the Great Lakes Aquarium, to pet the sting rays, watch the otters, and play in the water at the display of the great lakes. Julia threw some Kix into the carp tank and made them very happy. They were following her to the edge of the tank after that...just in case she decided to be generous again. Carp have these slobbery round mouths that remind me of suction cups. Ew. I hope to God I never run into one of those while I am swimming.

Mary enjoyed the parrot at the aquarium until he squaked at her. She promptly burst into tears and made him feel bad for squaking. Serves him right.

Then, it was home for naps, followed by a trip to the park. Julia has great endurance. She walked the mile and a half to the park, and still had the energy to play while we were there. She had missed the slide over the winter and broke it in again. Mary had her first experience in a baby swing and laughed out loud for ten minutes straight. It was hilarious and I wish I would have brought along our video camera.

Today after church we made homemade pizza, took naps, and then brought dinner over to our neighbors, who have twin boys that are Julia's age. I was able to GRILL our chicken!!! I also made a strawberry rum cake, which turned out to be quite a delicious experiment. After eating a piece of that, we didn't really care that our kiddos were tearing around the house...

Oh how I dislike Sunday night. Tomorrow is work. This week, I have clinic on Monday and Tuesday, and then I am on call every other night: Wed, Fri, Sun, and Tuesday. Oh Joy. Good thing we had some fun....now I will pay the price!

Here's to rum cake!