Adventures

Sunday during church, Renee and Mia (Steven's friends, my former yw) were nice and had Ruby sit with them for most of sacrament. It was good to have a little break from Ruby. She had been super fussy that morning. Primary left me still feeling like more of a teacher than a member of the presidency but that could be partially my fault. I probably could exert more effort. That evening Tyler broke out the treats that he bought the kids from Cedar Point and Ruby had a lollipop the size of her head. After that Lucy and Penny had fun playing with the hose. Boy can Ruby shriek but they were all mostly happy shrieks. She really loves water.

Monday morning I ran to Krogers to get a few things and when I pulled in to the driveway, a couple stopped to talk to me about my parents moving in across the street. They were the ones who wanted their son to buy the house. I felt super awkward. Like am I supposed to apologize that my parents got the house and their son did not? Shortly after I came back, Steven had his friends over. Mia was in town and she is very much the one that gets them all together in real life (and not just virtually on computers). My house was very full of junk food eating, video game playing teens. Also that morning, Julie invited me to meet her and her boys at the beach last minute. I took her up on the offer and me, Ruby and Lucy met her there. Ruby is such a fish, she loves the water and makes me super nervous. She loves being on her belly and lifting her head up- I call it her mermaid pose.We had been there about an hour when I got a phone call from the orthodontist asking where Penny was. I had Penny's appointment time wrong- I thought the appointment was at 11:40 but it was 10:40. We all rushed home and I quickly took Penny there. They are ready to do braces on Penny and want $5500 to do them. I wanted to cry. I gave them a flakey answer and went home and talked to Tyler about it. I think we will do them in January so we don't totally kill our finances this year.

That afternoon the teens were still at our home (even though Steven had left to work) and I had to go pick up my parents at the airport. I let them know that they needed to be gone before I came back. I'm so rude, lol. They did end up leaving shortly before I came back and they went to visit Steven at Taco Bell.

Traffic was awful on the way to the airport- it took me an hour to get the airport. It only took 35 minutes to get back home. When we got home, Ruby was not scared of Poppy and Grams Brady at all. It seems that video chatting weekly with them really did help her feel more comfortable.

Tuesday I chauffeured kids around and Grams and Poppy closed on the house across the street. They now own it- that happened so fast! But unfortunately the owner needs the home until mid July so they don't get to stay there yet. Such a bummer because they could be working on cleaning it out while they were here and we could really use that bathroom while Tyler remodels ours.

Tuesday evening we went to watch Ben's soccer game. He is currently in the high school summer league. The weather was questionable and we ended up getting rained on for the first bit but it wasn't a heavy rain. His team tied so not the most fabulous game but it is fun to watch. Ruby enjoyed shouting "Go Ben!" and walking on the slippery bleachers- of course she slipped once and gave us all a heart attack.

On Wednesday the grandparents took the boys- Ben and Steven- on a special outing to Dave and Busters and to Subway for lunch. I am glad they had some special bonding time. Steven is so busy working for Taco Bell so since he was off, we had to utilize that time. Then later for dinner Tyler, Poppy, Ben and Steven went to Texas Roadhouse. It was a boys day for sure. The rest of us had a very quiet day at home.

Thursday afternoon Grams and I went to Ikea so she could get some inspiration for her new place. We didn't buy anything, although there was a table mirror on display that she wanted to buy but no one seem to know where the ones for purchase were. We walked a lot of steps trying to find them to no but no luck. The traffic back home was awful. I hope my parents don't regret buying a house here with all the crazy traffic. 

Thursday evening was another soccer game for Ben. We went with my parents and Ruby again and the weather was actually decent. Ben's team did not win again which was a bummer.

On Friday the grandparents took the girls- Lucy,Penny and Ruby plus me- on a special shopping trip. We went to a toy store in Ferndale. I am not sure it was worth the drive but it did have a ton of stuffies so the girls were happy. It was an interesting toy store because it also had a lot of adult books, socks and things with bad words. It even had a p*nis finger puppet book that Penny put her finer in because she thought it said Penny and was not paying attention. Super awkward, she turned very red when I told her why she needed to put that back. The grandparents spoiled them and let them all pick out some things. Now we have even more stuffies consuming our home. After that we walked to a used book store where Poppy found some books. Then we drove to Detroit Cookie Co and got a dozen delicious cookies to save for after lunch. 

On Saturday we went to Frankenmuth. Everyone but Tyler (who was fixing the Surburban) and Steven (who had work) went. Our main goal was to get my mom her belated mother's day gift-cherry chocolate covered pretzels from Cherry Republic. We stopped at Bronner's first though and strolled the aisles. Ruby really loved the Christmas tree section and did not want to leave that area. Grams wanted to buy a purple Christmas tree to put in her new purple living room ;). The other 3 kids enjoyed looking at the ornaments and trying to figure out which one they are going to want for Christmas.

After Bronner's we went to the shopping center that had Cherry Republic. The kids all go crazy over there free candly samples. Poppy even gave Ruby a cherry chocolate covered pretzel and she managed to smear that all over her lips, looked rather creepy. We went to the t-shirt shop next but I was not impressed and neither was Ruby- she was getting super fussy. Grams was feeling cold though, and bought herself a sweater. Everyone went to look at a few more things while I sat by a creek and watched Ruby throw rocks in to it. She was really being a toddler at that point. On our way home we hit up Culvers which is always a good one.

We had a quiet night back at home- orange chicken for dinner and we watched "Arthur the King". I think Poppy liked it, it is a feel good movie.

Father's Day, FSY, Cedar Point

Sunday was Father's Day so the kids and I did a group effort to make breakfast for Tyler and his dad that morning. I made the bacon, Lucy and Penny did the pancakes and Ben made the eggs- of course they all needed some help but they mostly did it themselves. After a big breakfast Tyler opened his things- he got a dumb shirt from me, a Harry Potter Lego set from Ben, oatmeal cream pies and some candy from Penny and Lucy made him a card. Notice that Steven did not do anything for him *sigh*. Tyler's dad also brought Tyler some ties. I felt bad because I hadn't realized Tyler's dad would be here on Father's day so I had just mailed him a card with Lego Darth Vadar keychain and did not have any gifts for him. Hopefully the breakfast was a nice enough gesture.

At church the primary kids sang "This Little Light of Mine" which was really cute but I am not sure what it had to do with fathers...Then the RS went all out with a Superman Theme for the dads and meatball subs. Tyler's dad said this was the most recongnized he has been on a Father's Day Sunday in ages. I think he really appreciated it.

Also, Tyler got ordained and set apart as a high priest during church. This was the whole reason his parents came out, so his dad could ordain him. It was our whole family (minus Ruby) and the stake president, Pres Day. I think it was a real special experience for Tyler.

When we got home we had some chips and dips to snack on, watched Veggie Tales (which Tyler's dad thought was hilarious), laid down to rest for a minute and then Tyler had to take his parents back to the airport. It really was a short visit with them.

Monday morning the boys headed out to FSY. I was lucky to have people from church giving them rides so I didn't have to- it was at a university in ohio so a 4 hour drive round trip. That morning Steven was being particularly rude and Ben was being particularly pesky so to be honest, I was more than happy to send them on their way. Shortly after dropping them off with their ride, Ashlee brought her girls over for me to watch while her house got packed by movers. Her girls, Wynn and June, are really sweet and easy to watch. They played with toys, we walked to the beach and they tried (and failed) to catch minnows in the shallow water (meanwhile Ruby just sat in the water fully clothed), we colored pictures, we played games on our tablet, they played with Legos...it was a good day and I am going to miss them.

Monday evening I went to Walmart and grabbed a couple things to drop off at Melissa's house since apparently she was still having a lot of pain from the ankle surgery. She couldn't come to the door but thanked me from their Ring doorbell which threw me off and made me awkward. I shouted back at the Ring doorbell, like she couldn't hear me. I am such a goober.

Tuesday Lucy had her babysitting gig and I ran a couple errands with Ruby and Penny. I made the mistake of not putting Ruby in a cart at 5 and Below, she is not ready for that freedom and I had to carry her out of the store crying. Toddlers. That evening I took Lucy shopping for a new church dress, she's not loving rompers anymore, and that was a challenge. She is really wanting to fit in which means she was looking at lots of dresses that are not super modest. This is a whole new phase that I am probably not handling right. I tried to talk to her about what modesty means and I also told her that she should wear things because she likes them and feels good in them- not because of what other people say. I don't know that anything sunk in. She ended up getting a dress that will need a shirt under it and it barely covers her bum. Of course she looks pretty in it but that is just because she is pretty and looks good in anything. I think these next few years are going to be super tough.

Wednesday was the day that Penny finally got her cast on! She was so excited...until they started cutting off the wrapping that was on her and she started freaking out. She said she didn't like seeing her arm with all the stitches and there was a lot of crying and me having to calm her down. I thought this was supposed to be the easy part and I really did not expect so much drama. Of course there was a lot of waiting and that just made it harder. BUT luckily they had pink and she was able to get a hot pink cast which totally made up for everything. She was so excited to finally have a cast that her friends could sign. We had to go to Mimi's shortly after so Mimi could sign the cast before her family leaves on vacation. It turns out she will only have this cast for 3 weeks and then she can move on to wearing a brace. She might actually get to do some lake swimming this summer.

At 5pm there was a combined YM and YW activity for the youth who were too young for FSY. They met at a park and then walked down to Dairy Twist for ice cream. The time was earlier because of impending storms. I took Lucy, and Penny and Ruby tagged along. We hung out with Caroline and Lizzie at the park. I am starting to feel a bit disconnected with Caroline. No bad feelings or anything, just like we aren't as close as we used to be. While the ym and yw walked to Dairy Twist, I hopped in the car with Ruby and Penny and met them there. The ice cream proportions there are absurd. I bought 1 scoop for me and Ruby to share and 1 scoop for Penny but 1 scoop apparently equals like 4. It was a lot of ice cream and Penny had a hard time eating it one handed because it's not soft serve. Caroline was nice and at one point tied Penny's hair back so it wouldn't get in her ice cream. It was a messy outing for sure.

Tyler had the day off Thursday for Juneteenth. We all had a really lazy morning and then Lucy went off to her friend Claire's house. While she was there, Tyler, Ruby, Penny and me went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch. Ruby was terrified of the tube slide there but also loved it once she went down it. After we ate we stopped at Kohl's so I could find a shirt for Steven for his senior pictures. Tyler was annoyed at my indecisiveness but I appreciated having his help to pick something. Unfortunately every one decided to go shopping that day and the line was huge. Tyler was nice and took Ruby and Penny to the car to wait so I didn't have to deal with a toddler in line.

Friday morning Ruby and I went to Asher's home. They played outside at the water table and in buckets of water until a storm rolled in. Then we went inside. Julie told me she had been having stomach pain all week and unfortunately it returned while I was there and she was in bad shape. She decided she should probably go to the dr's and I felt bad just leaving her while she was not feeling well, but her husband was coming home and I think she was not comfortable with me being there. 

Friday afternoon Geli and Luna came over. Last time they got together they all seemed to get bored so I decided to take them all to Target while Ruby napped (Tyler was working from home). I thought it would be a good outing and it was mostly, but it led to more modesty struggles with Lucy. She was really wanting a tank top and I don't have a thing against tank tops but the once she chose is very low cut, tight and barely covers her belly. She ended up buying it with her own babysitting money and putting it on when she got back to the house. But I noticed her tugging it down a lot, despite telling me she feels comfortable and cute in it. I hear so many conflicting things about modesty and about the issues you can create by making a big deal out of things but as a parent where do you draw the line? What battles are worth fighting and what battles will only cause more rebellion?

Anyways, after Target we came back home and Penny and Luna struggled to find something they wanted to do together. Lucy and Geli do fine together but I feel like Penny and Luna are growing apart. Penny is still happy to do kids things and Luna is trying to be more like a teenager. Geli and Luna will be going to different school next year so I am not sure how much longer this friendship will last.

Saturday morning the boys came back from FSY and Steven was immediately angered at me because I was washing bedding and he needed the washer. So nice to have him back. Ben was better and told me all about his adventures. It sounded like it was a really good time for them. Ben ended up in a good group and made lots of friends and came home to 600 text messages from a group chat they had made (he had not brought his phone to FSY because Lucy needed it for babysitting). Ben also got a phone call from one of the girls in his group when he got home- he is not interested in her and she is only interested in talking about another boy she likes, lol, so I guess that's ok. Here are some pictures from their adventures.

After they got home, Penny, Ruby and me went for a walk to the library. I like our walks but it was a little toasty on the walk back, we are going through a heat wave. That was pretty much our only adventure for the day since Lucy and Tyler had taken the only car with a/c to Cedar Point. Lucy had used her own money to buy a ticket for Cedar Point so Tyler took her (she is feeling flushed with cash). It was obviously a hot day for them as well but they seemed to have a good time. They went on 8 roller coasters- the Gate Keeper was Lucy's favorite coaster. 

A story I forgot to document last week, maybe because it is not a proud parent moment... I was making dinner and in the "cooking zone" when Lucy asked me if Ruby was outside. Someone had went out the front door and hadn't shut it all the way and Ruby had escaped. Lucy had noticed the open door, thank heavens. We ran outside and Ruby was pushing her car we take on walks and was just about to enter the road. It was epic timing and I am so grateful nothing bad had happened.

Sidewalk Art

Sunday I took Lucy to her friend's brother's graduation party (Claire's brother). It was awkward since I only know Claire's mom so I talked with her for a minute and then sat for a little with Lucy and her friends. Lucy got tired of me being there very quickly so I didn't stay long. Lucy stayed but that is an awkward situation because Lucy is constantly competing with Brielle (who was also there) on who is Claire's bestest friend. It is a lose lose situation for both of them. 

Monday Ruby, Penny and I walked down to Dodge Park so we could make some sidewalk chalk art (Lucy was mowing the lawn, she loves making money). I did not expect Ruby to have much of an attention span with it but she was surprisingly entertained for a long while. Penny and I had fun too. I made a little sidewalk chalk obstacle course- walk the vine, spin in a circle, hop the lily pads hop scotch- and Penny helped me decorate it. Making art always makes me happy.

Tuesday afternoon both the girls had friends over- Mimi and Claire. Claire came over first and they thought it would be funny to be doing a pretend funeral for Claire when Mimi came over...They buried Claire under blankets, put on dark clothes and eye shadow and played the funeral march on the Alexa. They are weirdos but it always nice when Mimi and Claire come over, there is very little drama and lots of silly play.

Wednesday morning me and all the girls went to Dodge park and did some more sidewalk chalk art. Lucy and Penny made a sunset that was really pretty and pretty much used up all of our sidewalk chalk. I am glad they got so in to it though. It's nice when I can get them distracted from screen time. While they were coloring their masterpiece, Ruby played on the playground.

Wednesday evening the young men and young women had a combined activity at our neighborhood beach. The lake had just been treated the day before with chemicals so we probably all shortened our life span by playing in the water. I came because Tyler had a daddy daughter activity at the church with Penny at the church and I felt like one of us should be there since they were at our beach, but I probably did not need to be there. In the beginning it was just Ruby and me at the beach while everyone else ate under the ramada. Then Bishop and his couselor came over to the beach when the youth came in to swim but it is awkward with them. They want to talk about sports and how to "bulk up" and other boring men things. The young women leaders finally came down near the end but they were very cliquey so it was a pretty blah evening for me. The bright spot in the blah was when one of the yw, Renee, went out in the lake with Ruby and kept her entertained for a good while. I was really grateful for her help and a little break from Ruby.

 

Thursday morning I dropped off Lucy at her new babysitting job and Ben off at soccer conditioning and then I took Penny and Ruby to Scarlet's Park. Penny made me nervous going down slides with her broken arm and Ruby on her nap but thankfully no more injuries. 

Friday morning I went on a walk with Ruby, Penny, Lucy and Ben to seven eleven. We walked a different route and we happened to walk past a house with pet ducks in their front lawn. They had a sign with the ducks names and everything. Now my kids all want pet ducks. They were pretty cute. This time I did not get a slushee so Ruby did not have to get angry about sharing. I was smart and brought her a lollipop from home. Her sisters picked her some pretty flowers and she carried them around for a bit.

When we got back from the walk, I got a text from Grace letting me know she had a cancelation so if I wanted, I could bring my girls in to her salon. The timing was perfect, so I brought them in. Lucy got a little trim- trying to even up some layers as she grows out her pixie cut- and Penny got off a couple inches and got some good layering too. Grace was nice and even styled their hair, Penny loved the curls she gave her.

Friday night- after cleaning the house and doing a Costco run- I went with Lucy and Ben to the temple for baptism. Steven had to work at Taco Bell so he wasn't able to drive them but I was happy to be able to go because I hadn't been to the temple for ages. Also, since I was there, Ben got to drive so it was good for him to be able to accumulate some more hours. It is always peaceful at the temple and I love how calm I feel. After baptisms the youth always go out for ice cream at Culvers. I feel weird having them get me ice cream since I am not a youth so I didn't get any but then I felt sad that I didn't have anything.

Saturday Tyler's parents came in town. They had wanted to take everyone to dinner but Lucy had to babysit and Steven had to work so I thought we could do a late lunch instead. I made sure the kids did their screen time early- dealt with fights with Steven over computers- let them starve themselves and not eat lunch...only for Tyler to pick them up from the airport and take them out to lunch by himself. 

Also while waiting for them to get here I had a particularly frustrating conversation with Steven about senior things. He has senior photos this month and I wanted to know if I should just buy him something to wear or if he had opinions. After a lot of I don't knows, I think he agreed to let me dress him but I am sure that will back fire. Then I tried to talk to him about how he really wants to celebrate graduation and once more I got a lot of I don't knows. He thinks it's ridiculous that I am asking him so early but what he doesn't realize is all the planning that goes into something like this- especially because we need to figure out if we will have funds for what he wants or if we need to start saving a little each month. I hate that conversations about what should be good things, turn into fights.

Once Tyler's parents got here, they took us on a Costco run and treated all the kids to a box of their favorite treat/snack. Since I never buy fruit snacks, they pretty much all went for fruit snacks of some kind- hello cavities. Then his dad treated all the kids to Culvers- this time I got a treat so I didn't feel sad. The rest of our day wasn't too exciting. We hung out, went for a walk, I made a bean salad for a light dinner, and we watched "Day One Quiet Place"- even Penny watched it and didn't get too scared.

This week Ruby had a momentary obsession with the moon. Tyler had shown it to her when it was out during the day and she had asked about it another day so we explained it was high in the sky and ususally comes out at night time. So then she said "Moon high, moon sky, moon night, night"....over and over again. She is a pretty fun parrot.

Summer Begins

On Sunday, Penny wasn't feeling great, so I stayed home from church with her. Instead of going to church, I washed Penny's hair, painted her nails and played board games on the gaming tablet with her. I think that was just what she needed. That afternoon, her friends Geli and Luna dropped off a sweet care package for her that included a Stitch backpack, towel and doll. They are always spoiling her. It sure cheered her up and also made Lucy say she wished she could get gifts too- she just didn't want to break her arm to get them...

Monday felt like the girls first official day of summer. I know we didn't do any homeschooling last week but with the broken arm and all the appointments and things that came with it, it just didn't feel much like our summer had started. After a weekend recovering, I could tell that Penny needed someone besides me and the tv to entertain and since she seemed to be feeling better, we invited her friend Mimi over. It was really good to have her over and I think it helped Penny feel a little more normal.

Monday night Lucy babysat for a family in the Ward. They had asked her to babysit 2 of their kids 3 days a week for 4.5 hours each day while the mom works. These kids tend to be tricky kids so I told Lucy she needed to actually babysit for them first before she said yes. She said the youngest 2 fought a lot while she watched them that night but the youngest one will actually be at the day care where the mom is working so Lucy won't have her. Lucy felt like since the youngest won't be there, she can handle it and she took the job. I think it will be good for her to have something to do and to be able to earn money but I really hope she doesn't get totally burned out and she can survive the summer.

While Lucy was babysitting, I went to the library with Ruby, Penny and Benny. Ben had said he wanted to play with Ruby at the library but he started off by harassing her with a ladybug puppet and then ended up playing with the puppets all by himself. Sometimes he acts like a toddler.

Also Monday, we found out the guy across the street had accepted my parent's offer on his house. I don't know why I was surprised that he did but I was. It all happened fast and we are excited at the idea of having them so close to us for half the year. As we were leaving to the library I saw the guy who owns the home they're buying  talking to a man who also lives in the neighborhood. This man he was talking to had been at the open house as well, wanting the house for his son, and so I thought maybe they were talking about him not getting the house for his son. I awkwardly made eye contact and the other man started talking to me and I was all ready to apologize for my parents getting the house that he wanted but really they just were commenting on Ben being a new driver and how they better watch out. It caught me off guard and I reacted awkwardly. I was telling Ben how awkward I was and he told me that he is too but for some reason people still like him. I thought that was funny.

Tuesday Ruby and I went on a walk with Grace to the library and we caught up on all the things. She talked to me about how she likes to feel valuable to her family and that is part of why she started working again. I honestly really understand that, it is easy as a stay at home (especially when the kids are getting older) to start to feel like you aren't valuable. Sometimes I just have to go over in my head all the things I accomplished that day to try to feel better.

Tuesday afternoon the girls had Geli and Luna over. I think the girls might be growing apart because they seemed to have a hard time finding things that they wanted to do together. Their mom is super nice and they are a good family but I don't know there just always seems to be drama and not a lot of fun.

Tuesday night I had my first primary meeting and I am less excited about things. They put me over the Valiant Girls and Boys Leaders (Activity Days), are still having me teach but wanting to change the class I teach and I am still going to have to play the piano for the primary program. I just didn't love that none of them teach a class but it is expected of me. The President was having a c-section Thursday so I didn't kick up a fuss but maybe after she has settled some with the baby, I might have to have a talk about things. 

Wednesday morning the girls and I went on a walk to 7-11. Sweets are the only way I can get them to walk these days. That stretch where we walk on the slanted shoulder of a busy road is killer with a stroller. It felt like quite a work out to keep the stroller from getting stuck. I got the girls a slushee to share and Ruby had a hard time sharing this time. She would scream and we would have to tell her that it is Penny's turn and Lucy's turn and then Ruby can have a turn. Sharing is hard. 

As we were walking back home, the neighbor was out and this time he came up to talk to me about my parent's buying his house. He seemed genuinely nice and said he accepted my parent's bid because he wanted my family to be able to be close to my parents. He also said he wanted to get rid of all his things and if he wasn't able to do an estate sale, if we were up to it, he could leave his things for us to sale and we could keep the profits. It was an interesting proposal. There are some things of value but there are also some junky spots that could take some effort to clear out.

Wednesday night while the older 3 had activities, Tyler, Ruby, Penny and I went to Home Depot to look at some bathroom things and then we went to Culver's after. It seems Ruby ended up eating too much ice cream from Tyler and me because that night she was pretty fussy right before bed and then had an explosive bowel movement. 

Thursday Tyler and I went to the inspection of the house my parents want to buy. The house was built in the 70's so as expected, it had some issues, but I feel like it is still in way better shape than my house. My parents have some requests for things they would like to be fixed so we will see if the owner is still feeling nice and if he accepts their conditions.

Friday was a quiet day and I ended up walking with Penny and Ruby by Asher's house after to lumch to see if we could get the babies together. They were home so Ruby and Asher hung out. They actually played some together and Ruby did better with sharing his Cozy Coupe.

Friday afternoon Steven had his first day of work at Taco Bell and of course he waited until 30 minutes before he had to leave to see if he had the right pants to wear. He came to me accusing me of giving away the pants he needed (dark jeans). I was so annoyed. I told him if he couldn't find them, there was a Walmart by his work and he would just need to buy a pair there. Of course, 5 minutes later he found them buried under the piles of clothes in his closet. Every since I put the boys in charge of washing their clothes, their room is just piles of clothes. Anyways, he worked all weekend there and has told us how boring it is and how he burns his fingers on the grill and not many people come and most people order from the kiosk...But that's actually more than he ever told us about Jersey Mike's so maybe he actually likes it ;)

Friday night, Grace and I hosted a goodbye party for Ashlee. I made salsa and rice krispy treats and a chocolate candy "salad". I went over to Grace's early to help with set up. I think the little decorations we had out were nice and helped it feel a little more special. Ashlee only invited a few people which I appreciated, I like small get togethers better. Mostly everyone left by 9:30 so it ended up just being Ashlee, Grace and me and we stayed up way too late chatting. I am really bummed that Ashlee is moving, she has always been a good friend to me.

Saturday morning I went to Kara's baby shower, her husband was Tyler's seminary co-teacher. This is Kara's first baby so it was a little more fun to shop for her. I ended up getting her a cute elephant towel and book and some bath toys. She is a high school teacher and is taking off work for a whole school year. Maybe she'll hang out with Ruby and me since she will be a stay at home mom for a bit. The baby shower had some good food and I sat outside with a few people from the ward and had a good chat. Then they played a few games and it was back home for me. I spent the afternoon cleaning while the girls went to Mimi's birthday party. Then I went out to dinner with Tyler and enjoyed a quiet night in. It was a full but good Saturday.