Bronners

 Monday morning I had to drive my parents to the airport so they could go back to Arizona for the winter. I know they were happy to leave the cold but we are sure going to miss having them here- dinners, walks, tv shows at night with the kids, chess games, extra people to cheer on our kids- it won't be the same with them gone. After I dropped them off at the airport, Ruby and Lucy had a hair appointment with Grace. Ruby went first. She insisted on sitting on my lap and would not wear the cape so she got hair all over me but at least she didn't cry and fuss. She did really well (especially since I let her watch owl and panada reels) and her hair looks so much better- I wish I had taken her sooner. Lucy finally was able to get her hair trimmed so it was all one length and she can continue to grow it out. She is happy to be done with the pixie cut and always comments that she looked stupid with a pixie cut. I don't agree with her, I think she can pull off any hairstyle.

Monday night Tyler and I went on a date to REI. He introduced me to travel backpacks which is what he wants to get for Italy. They are really cool and I am intrigued, but they are also very expensive. I am hoping there will be some sort of amazing black Friday deal on them so we can get them without breaking the bank. After looking around at REI, we went to Shake Shack and got shakes and fries. It was a nice night out.

Tuesday was Election Day so the boys had off school and the girls had school on Zoom. Ruby and I left them to go on a walk with Grace. We had missed our walk last week so it was really nice to catch up on life. We both talked about how it would be nice to meet new people but we also don't want to go through the work of meeting new people. We also both talked about that feeling of something missing from our lives. Not sure if it is just a mid-life crisis thing but I wish I could figure out what would fill that hole for me.

Tuesday night Ben drove me out to World Market. They have these cool mini Torani Syrups that I want to give as gifts to neighbors and friends and the closest one was in Ann Arbor. Ben still needs night driving hours so it was the perfect way for him to accumulate some. It was a cool little store and they had the syrups so my errand was accomplished. It was also nice to get some one on one time with Ben. I got to hear about his classes and people in his life.

Wednesday morning Julie came over with Asher so we could plan our next toddler class. She always has so many things she wants to do but that's probably a good thing since toddlers don't have much of an attention span. Asher and Ruby played independently for most of the time and then near the end decided to play together and fight over Paw Patrol Cars.

Also Wednesday, Tyler took a half day off work so that we could go to Bronner's since Steven had a rare afternoon with no school or work.It was a really nice family outing. I read the kids Would You Rather questions that were Christmas/Winter themed and it was fun to hear their answers. I learned that they really like all our silly Christmas traditions- especially our graham cracker house party/It was also a good way to help the time pass more quickly. Once we got to Bronner's Ruby was excited by all the Christmas things and then even more excited by the ornaments they had of her favorite animals- pandas and owls. It was a tough choice for her but she picked a panda ornament in the end (with some slight nudging from me since we already have owl ornaments). Steven got a green Xbox Controller ornament. Ben got a marshmallow snowman driving a car ornament. Lucy got a Snoopy ornament. Penny got an Angel ornament (from Lilo and Stitch). After picking out our ornaments we froze our buns off and took pictures with the big Christmas decorations outside and then went to Wendy's for dinner. 

Thursday while the girls were at school I had a really thrilling day-Ruby and I ran an errand to Walmart and then I cleaned the house. She was not so great at Walmart but she was really good while I cleaned the house and entertained herself with toys. She goes through phases of being super independent and being super needy. I love when we are in the super independent phase.

Thursday afternoon I was going to help Kara with her baby since she had her appendix out Friday and was having a hard time lifting the baby. Unfortunately she caught a cold and cancelled. I was looking forward to holding her little baby but maybe I'll get a chance to hold her another time.

Friday, after a rough morning of homeschooling (Penny was feeling lots of feelings), Lucy had a birthday party with one of her friend's from Renaissance- Mila. They went goofy golfing and then they had pizza and played at the arcade at Chuck E Cheese. It had been so long since we were there! Lucy had to ride on the police car for Ruby. These 13 year olds are really just kids at heart.

Friday evening Tyler and I hung out at the Eakin's house with Grace, Jason, Eric and Nahoko. We played Worst Case Scenario- which was fun to try to guess how people would rate these bad scenarios- and then Scattergories- which was tricky for Nahoko since English isn't her first language. Then when we finished we just chatted. Jason wants to buy this nasty fermented fish and make all of us try it- apparently people gag just at the smell of it. Seeing how I hate sea food I was an automatic no but Nahoko is on board, lol. I wouldn't put Jason past actually buying it. 

Saturday I ran away in the morning to look at rain coats and packable coats for the trip. They are all so expensive, I am having a hard time buying anything. The trip itself is already expensive and I am not sure I can justify spending more money. It was nice to escape the kids for a bit though.