Lonely Women

Well, the lonely weekends have begun! Braydan left Thursday to climb Mount Hood in Oregon and doesn't get back until tonight. They'll summit a new mountain each month in preparation for Mt.Reiner. Joy. It's been on the calendar for a while now, but I was still grumpy when he left. Eliza was crying and fussy and Kaleb was pulling on my shirt bugging me about something. The kitchen was still a mess from dinner and just the thought of cleaning up and putting them both to bed made me feel so tired I felt like sitting down and crying. But, I didn't. Luckily I pulled myself together and made it through the weekend fine.

Thursday night, after I got the kids to bed (phew!), I went to Amber's with my baby monitor and had a girl's night (since her husband is gone too). We ate junk food and hung out (and DIDN'T grip about our husbands at all---just for the record). Friday morning I went to some garage sales and got some good deals. Yes!! Except I messed up one. I got this cool frame and as soon as we got home I took it apart and in the process broke the glass. Whoops.

It was a gorgeous day so we also went to Flower World with Amber and the kids. It was so cool!! Shockingly enormous and just down the road in Maltby! It's 18 acres of plants and flowers, one of the largest nurseries on the West Coast. Amber wanted fuchsias, which seemed simple enough, so we found where they were, but discovered there were 120 varieties--a whole green house devoted to thousands of fuchsias. I was a little overwhelmed with all my choices so I got nothing. Nice huh? They had pools and waterfalls with fish and turtles so that kept Kaleb super happy. They also had a park with geese, ducks, and chickens that the kids loved chasing around. Poor birds. I loved the looks people gave us as we walked around. Amber had her baby in the front-pack carrier and was pulling the plant cart. Hannah was pushing Kaitlyn in the stroller and Jacob and Kaleb were walking. I had Eliza in the stroller and all together we looked like quite the circus :) I was sad I forgot my camera.

We went to the park later and had dinner with the Dyers too. We both didn't want to cook so we warmed up leftovers. You know the moments you could cry, but you laugh instead? That was kinda our dinner. I gave Kaleb spaghetti and he was sitting on the stool next to the other kids. Well the next thing you know, the stool flies out and he crashes to the floor. Spaghetti sauce splatters everywhere---floor, counter, stools, and poor Katie. So Kaleb is crying, we're trying to wipe up the mess, Eliza wakes up and is crying, Adelie is sitting in a bouncer chair and we can hear her exploding her diaper, so then she's crying. Amber goes to give her a bath, I hurry and nurse Eliza while trying to get Kaleb to eat something else, and then finally we both get to eat, but by then our dinner is cold :)

All I can say is that I could never be a single Mom! It would be so hard. So, I guess maybe these climbing trips will help me appreciate Braydan more. (Or spite him more? Jk :)