The week of birthdays...

I haven't posted in a while, so here is the week of birthday celebrations in review...

Monday, September 29th (Frank's birthday):
Ellie had the day off of preschool, so we spent the day doing "birthday chores" -- we baked and decorated cupcakes, we wrapped gifts, signed and decorated cards, we dug through the "party cupboard" and found enough stuff to decorate the house - a few streamers, some confetti. The kids were really into it -- it was like a whole theme day -- it was great to have something different to break up our day. We also met Frank for lunch at jason's deli (yum!) and went out for dinner. Yes, basically, we ate our way throught the day. It was Frank's birthday, but apparently that means I don't cook -- works for me!

Thursday, October 2nd (My birthday):
I was geared up for a quiet day ending with dinner at Sizzler... you see, I haven't seen a Sizzler since the '80s and I just remember them having (although not the greatest meat...) THE greatest salad bar. So, Frank agreed (reluctantly, probably) and that was the plan. As the day progressed, I was really starting to second guess my pick -- I mean, should I really "waste" a dinner out on the Sizzler?? Why not, right? So, anyways, I had a few things to do before we set off for Chicago for the weekend while the kids were sleeping and I told myself that since it was my birthday -- if I got all of those things done, I would just sit and read a book until they got up. Well, while I was sitting, doing nothing but reading, the doorbell rings -- I was shocked to see my dad standing at the front door. After all, it was my birthday, and we "always" go out to dinner for my birthday.... I guess I just didn't expect the tradition to continue when we live 400 miles apart and we were planning to be in chicago the very next day. He surprised me for sure! We actually didn't end up at the Sizzler -- we went to a place called Firebirds (which I guess is a chain, but we didn't have them in Chicago) -- it was very yummy (at least I thought so -- I don't get out much!) It was a perfect birthday, full of surprises! My dad spent the night here, and rode to Chicago with us the next day....

October 3rd - 5th: The trip to chicago
My dad was a good sport, taking 2 turns in the backseat between the kids...he claims it was not that bad, but we all had our turns back there...it was pretty tight. Although, it was nice to have an extra adult in the backseat at all times to "fetch" for the kids. We made pretty good time (about 8 hours) and by the time we got to Glen Ellyn, the kids were just about tripping over their feet to get in the house to see grandma - very cute! They both quickly ran around, making sure all of their favorite toys were still in the same places and just generally checking the place out to make sure that it hadn't changed since we left. (Ellie was proud to announce that she remembered grandma's house - both the inside and the outside... I would hope so - we've only been gone a few months!) Shortly after we got there, Meredith and Kathryn and Lindsey arrived - holy cousin fun! The four kids disappeared upstairs and played for a long time, pulling either grandma or grandpa into their fun periodically. So fun to hear all of the laughs and "screams of joy" again... When Marc arrived after work, we ordered pizza.... mmmm... Chicago Pizza (of which I ate my weight). I hardly said a word during dinner - just enjoyed the taste! All four of the kids had a "sleepover" in one room (I don't think anyone slept until at least 10:00, but...) On Saturday morning, we headed out to Sonny Acres (the pumpkin patch) - ellie was so excited that we were going to be able to go "even though we moved to Omaha." It was very fun, despite the tantrum ellie threw all because we didn't get cotton candy like we did last year... ugh!
We ended the first half of our weekend at Augustino's Deli, another hometown favorite -- yum, again! how did I not gain weight this weekend??

After we left Glen Ellyn, we drove up to Cary to see Frank's parents. On our way, we drove past our old house -- Nathan recognized the old park from blocks away! I have convinced myself that our Omaha house doesn't look that much bigger than our Illinois house, but as soon as we pulled into the old neighborhood -- we were both like, "ok, these houses are smaller...and they all have (very small!) 2 car garages... and they're all so close together..." But, our old house looked pretty much the same (they have managed to control all of the dandelions that we spread for them before we left). When we got to Cary, the kids did their "check" of nana's house - found the favorite toys and made themselves at home. We walked up to the park to burn off some more energy (which must have worked -- Nathan slept for 14 hours that night...that's not a typo...that's a Nathan record!) On Sunday, all of Frank's siblings came over - so great to see everyone again! Ellie was nearly obsessed with baby oliver, and nathan didn't really even want to acknowledge that there was a new kid in town... hmmm... flash forward to march? I'll bet neither one is as extreme when the new kid in town lives at our house. We wish we could have stayed longer, but the long trek down route 80 was calling... we left around 2:00, and (despite running into THE slowest fast food dinner stop in Des Moines) and got to our house around 10:00 -- again, not bad time, but the kids were zonked - and so were we.

One benefit of me not having to be at work today was that we pretty much left the car as is and came inside and crashed. I spent today (literally the entire day) unpacking the car, doing laundry, putting stuff away. It was a great weekend - I am always most homesick right after we go home. Looking forward to going home again at thanksgiving, when we'll have more time to spend with everyone!

Whew! Thanks for reading all about the birthday week -- it was awesome!
More soon!