Memorial Day Weekend

Oh how I love long weekends. :) Especially long weekends filled with beautiful sunny days. Ahhhh, but all good things must come to an end; back to the work week (for James) tomorrow. :(

On Saturday we packed a picnic lunch and headed out to Veteran's Park for the morning. We brought bikes and helmets along for the kids so they could ride on the paved pathways. What a gorgeous day! We had a great time. The kids played for a bit, we ate a yummy lunch and then we headed off on the bikes. Stellan is so stubborn when it comes to his bike! He knows he is supposed to stay to the right in order to make room for on coming people but yet he insists on steering to the left. Little stinker. There is a handle that allows me to steer from the back but it's quite a hassle trying to steer him back on the proper path. I have to say, the boys look so cute with their helmets. I remember how big it looked on Stellan when we first put it on his head. He's grown into it a bit now.

Jameson has done so well with his bike. We just got them a few weeks ago but he's already gained so much confidence. He still uses the training wheels but he's still quite a little biking pro. I'm so proud. Granted, he's the kind of kid that can pick up anything that is somewhat athletic.

We decided to head off the paved path and walk along the lake. James got the lucky job of carrying the bikes. The boys had so much fun jumping over the tree roots. For some reason unknown to anyone over the age of 10, this brought inexplicable joy. We were almost back to the main path when Jameson said he had to go pee. No problem, lots of trees for him to mark his territory. I asked Stellan if he also had to pee not really expecting him to. Sure enough, he said he had to go. I pulled down his pants and took off his diaper. Sure enough, he actually peed and managed to do so without getting much on his pants. OK, a few dribbles on his legs but come on, he's just a beginner. :)

We headed home where the boys slept like little angels. Amazing what some fresh air and good exercise can do for nap time.

James washed the cars while I ran some errands and then we headed out for dinner. We chose a diner (after all, New Jersey is the Diner Capital of the US) just north of here. We were escorted to our table so I told Jameson to walk behind the host to get to his side of the booth. It just so happened that the host moved at the same time and knocked Jameson over. Poor kid. He wasn't hurt but his ego was. He was so embarrassed.

Our waitress was BRUTAL. Slow and messed up the orders (slightly but still!). When she spoke it sounded as if she was drunk. Sheesh. I asked to look at a menu, using the guise of looking for dessert. I really wanted to double check my order to see if she got it right. Instead she told me that it would be better if I looked at the selection at the front. Darn it, she ruined my plan! James and I headed both chose something. When she brought it to the table she said it was on the manager, to apologize for knocking over our son. Hey, maybe that would work elsewhere! That might just be a very good scam. We could make Jameson get in the way, have someone knock him over and then get free food!

On the way home we headed to a park to walk off the dinner. It was a beautiful park but I was so cold since it was surrounded by trees. I grabbed the blanket from the car, wrapped myself up and was ready for a stroll.

We got home, put the kids to bed and then watched a movie; "When a Stranger Calls". Yeah, I know, cheesy. There wasn't much on. Near the end of the movie Stellan started coughing. It was an unfortunate sign of things to come. He woke up again at 4 and didn't really get back to sleep until about 7. Sheesh. I ended up crawling in bed with him since he kept asking me to wipe his nose. I was exhausted! I couldn't fall asleep until he got up in the morning, at 7:30. When he did eventually fall asleep he was snoring so loudly that I couldn't sleep. A losing battle. We were all so exhausted that we didn't make it to church in the morning. We did end up making the trek up there since it was Amy's last Sunday before moving to Mansfield (*tear*) and Jon's last Sunday before going to Rome (*tear*). Poor Stellan was still not feeling well but we dragged him anyway. Thankfully he took a nap so it took off the edge, a bit anyway. We had a great time at Harry and Cheryl's enjoying bbq and volleyball. We left their house so we would be back in time for bed. Unfortunately we left without one of our bags, the one that had Monkey. That was potentially earth shattering. Monkey is Stellan's best friend. I was so disappointed but we were too far away to turn around. Thankfully Stellan has some back up friends (Duckie, Horsie and Lamb....yes I realize they are really original names) that will keep him company until we can get Monkey back again.

Today was a very warm and beautiful day. We had some friends over for a bbq, what a wonderful way to spend the day! We had yummy chicken shish kabobs (James makes the best shish kabobs in the world!), sausages, grilled veggies, potato salad, grilled cauliflower, and grilled corn on the cob. I had never had corn done on the bbq before but it was quite yummy. Lots of butter though so not something that I would do too often.

For dessert we had an Indian treat (Soan Papdi), watermelon, strawberries and an icecream sandwich dessert. What a wonderful way to end the day.

Now tomorrow we are off to preschool for an orientation for September. Yay! The boys are going to school! So exciting!