Don't Give Up On Me

I swear to you that I have been trying to get here all day to post something new and exciting - well, at least new - but the day has been crazy nuts which is completely *not*( what today was supposed to be like. We were very busy all weekend so the plan was for the kids and I to have a "down day". Umm...yeah. Sure, we did stay home but it was anything but low key.

I spent an hour this afternoon de-campifying the backyard but mostly I spent the day breaking up fights and redirecting. I'm exhausted!

Friday afternoon I set up the tent and put all the camping stuff inside. I love our tent - it's huge, yes but I can set up it, alone, in 25 minutes. The four of us even slept out there Friday night...well, sleep is not exactly accurate. The kids slept but Dakota and I were awake more than not. Both kids are sleep talkers in a big way and between the two of them it was chatter central out there. Saturday we opted to sleep inside but we did play for hours upon hours in the tent all weekend.

Saturday we ran some errands and then got the house and yard ready for company. Dakota's nephew, wife and two kids moved back to the area from California last week so we decided late on Friday to see about having people over to celebrate their return. It was a huge success and we all had a great time.

Sunday we started moving slowly but then because we knew we had to do *something* we the kids I came up with the idea of going to the brand new Ikea store that opened up across the river. OY! What a mistake that was! By the time we found our way into the parking area we were directed into the overflow parking which was quite a walk to the store. Since we were just wanting to check it out we decided to skip it because there was no way either one of us felt like battling that kind of crowd. And just for the record, I'm thinking they could certainly invest in some signage on how to get to their store since we had to go way past it, turn around and then figure out how to get into the area (which was not accessible from the side we originally were traveling). I'm just saying.....from the looks of the parking lot, they could certainly afford to put up some signs!

So after that didn't pan out we decided to head to a nearby mall that we rarely frequent. It was so much fun!! Kelton was jazzed and bouncy and so much fun to be with. We ended up picking up a couple pair of school pants for him and also a pair of Crocs. He decided he didn't want to have to wait to find the Mickey Crocs and instead opted for metallic dark green. I bought him two jibbitz to go in them too which was a huge hit for him. He picked out a space alien and a turtle. He decided that the next time we go to that mall he will first earn $5.00 so he can pick out two more. Sadly, we don't have a Croc kiosk in our mall but at least we can look forward to it the next time we go mall-exploring. :)

Dakota and I were both dealing with some sort of bug-but-not all weekend. Saturday night and Sunday until mid afternoon were the worst for me but the good news is I am feeling so much better today.

Well - what do you know. I just did an update. Maybe I should change the title of the post. :) I do have some great photos from last week to show off. Take a peek!