GREAT Weekend!!

We had a GREAT family weekend in the cities preparing for the upcoming school year and trying to sneak in some R&R! 

My wonderful parents have owned their business for 10 years and have only closed their store (other than holidays) 19 total days...Can you imagine having only 19 days off in 10 years?!  Don't get me wrong, they don't miss much especially when it comes to their grandsons...they come after they close, they come separately, they close a little early.  But closing for 2 consecutive days...this is a VERY BIG deal!!  Being closed for more than 1 day in a row has only happened TWICE this weekend being occurrence #2!  We feel pretty special that they wanted to spend that time with us.  And we had such a GREAT weekend!

We left after their store closed Saturday night.  We arrived in the cities Saturday night late.  We woke up early Sunday morning with one thing in mind Twins Baseball!!  Did we have tickets...nope!  Was I nervous...nope!  All the boys doubted me, big and little, but I was sure if we arrived early enough we would be able to get tickets.  As we were coming over the bridge I saw the ticket window opening, perfect timing!!  My Dad and I jumped out, ran to the ticket window, by the time Tom drove up to the ticket window we had 7 tickets in hand!  Point of this story...don't doubt me! :)

Grandpa and his boys....

What a brood....

The Toms :)

Two peas in a pod....

We enjoyed watching the game and how the Twins spanked those first place Tigers, lots of home runs and double plays, amazing treats (I was worried they would have to roll me out), and GREAT Minnesota weather. 

Then we had a great treat one that we had to stretch out for....

One that we could not sit still waiting for...


We got to go on the field!!

Yeah we thought we were pretty cool :)

We had to take a pre life changing event picture...

Then a during (yep thats my boys running the bases)

Ok so we are not so special...there are lots of kids who get to run the bases at major league fields!  We think its pretty cool that Target Field is one of those places!  From what we were told when there is a Sunday afternoon game, kids get to run the bases!  We are so glad the boys got to participate we think its an event we won't soon forget!

Then it was back to the hotel for some fun in the pool!

This one's dark but you can still see the smiles...

These guys are such goofballs....

Then it was off to Benihanna's, great food, service and a fabulous experience by all!!

The looks on their faces throughout the experience was more fun to watch than the fancy moves of our table side chef...

Luke's FULL, so were the rest of us...YUMMY!

Next morning we headed to the MOA,  I heard a lot of "NOT SHOPPING!!"  "Can I wait in the car?!"  That was true until Grandpa decided it was time to check out some rides...oh how quickly they zipped their lips!  Tommy and Caleb was all about the rides...

Luke not so much.  He would rather have a slushy..That's my boy, this mama is not a big fan of rides either!

Luke saw these balloons and decided they looked ok, this was the only ride he wanted to go on!  Ha ha!    His brothers were willing to go along for moral support

We finished it off with lunch at Red Robin, we seriously need one of those in Fargo....YUM!

Then it was off to the outlet mall for some school shopping and then we hit the road to journey back home! 

All summed up GREAT weekend! 

Metamorphasis

Being a mom of three children I think you notice a lot of things at different stages for each kid, especially when all of your children are the same gender, its easy to compare.  The change from being a toddler to a boy is a traumatic one for Mom, but for the boys, I think its one they are so proud of.  It means big time independence, freedom to run through the neighborhood, riding a bike with no training wheels, going golfing with Dad, booster seats instead of car seats, scrapping the toddler bed and so much more. 

With Tommy I missed it.  He went from being a toddler to a boy over a short time span...during his transition I had a baby who was less than one year old and was pregnant with another child.  I seemingly woke up to find a big boy who took the place of my baby.  The moment Tommy became the oldest sibling he became a big helper to me, he had a sense of authority and loved it.  So I viewed him differently.  This is a role he embraces and enjoys, he genuinely likes being the oldest.   But I missed it!  Terrible, I know, but this blog is not called "How to be Mother of the year/decade/century"!

With Caleb I think I missed it too. Heartbreaking... He went from being a toddler getting into everything into a big boy, but on his own terms.  Caleb is the most independent of my children, if I was a betting man, I would venture to say he will be the epitome of a self made man.  He just likes to do it on his own, figure it out by himself.  So when he woke up one morning and I noticed he was a boy and not my baby it really shocked me.  I remember saying to Tom "where did our baby go?" 

With Luke I watched for it...and recently it happened.  You know what I am talking about.  They literally morph right in front of you, they go from that round baby face, round belly, clumsy, stalky state to a lean, tall, thinned out face, confident demeanor, that practically brings you to tears.  Or at least it does for me. 


Here is a pic of Luke in 2009 age 3...
Here is a pic of Luke on his 5th Birthday....

Here he is today 5 years 8months and 10days...


Despite his messy shirt from his yogurt, and his lacking smile because I made him take a picture for my blog :), Do you see it??  He is SO different!  And in just a little over 3 weeks he is going to be a kindergartner!  How on earth did this happen??  He went from being my dark haired blue eyed baby to my handsome little man.  And I understand that I can't do much but embrace it...but I am struggling.  I don't know if its because the reality of it is just around the corner.  Or that he was at his first ever sleep over and didn't need me to come get him in the middle of the night like I anticipated.  Maybe its that he is so excited for kindergarten that he asks every morning if today is the "big day".

I just want to push pause, drink it all in, take lots of mental and regular photos.  Remember what it like to have someone who is not embarrassed to kiss me in front of his friends, hold my hand in public, someone who thinks my lap is the best seat in the whole joint, that my kisses can fix anything, that the band aids in my bathroom closet are better than any trip to the doctor, that my very fancy meals (yeah, right) are better than any resturaunt, and who tells me that I am the "best most beautiful mommy."  These days are numbered...heartbreaking.  Its so bittersweet...maybe it was better when I missed it...ripping off the band aid vs peeling it off slowly. 

Yes yes I know there are bonuses...bonuses like no more daycare costs, independence, transitioning to a new style of parenting...but right now those are the only bonuses I want to recognize...I am having a bit of a mommy pity party...its my party, I can cry if I want to.

BAD BLOGGER!!

I am alive and have SO much to say....

but here's the problem (s)...

#1  I have 3 ridiculously busy, hilarious, and adorable boys...not such a problem, but they make it hard to know where to start...too much free comedy.

#2  Business is BUSY!  Great thing!  But not great conditions for blogging!!  In fact I am at work and its taken me 45 mins to get to this point!

#3  I LOVE LOVE LOVE summer....so blogging will happen just maybe not anytime soon! 

So please forgive me, know that I am here, and I will be back!! :)