Wow! What an incredibly weekend. Long weekends are such a lovely time to connect with family and friends beyond the usual “two day weekend”. I hope that yours was lovely too. I have decided to write a little recap of the weekend as there were a lot of special moments.
Our weekend actually started on Friday and extended to today. I decided to keep the twins home from school on Friday morning and they are always home on Tuesdays. So that means Wednesday is going to feel like Monday, leaving us with a three day school week!
On Friday we kicked off the weekend with baking an apple cake and then we headed to one of my kids favourite places…”the castle”. My mom joined us as she had not been there with the kids this year yet and we had a lovely time. They played in the mini village, rode the pedal cars, explored in the park area, and had a blast in the sand. We ended the morning with a picnic lunch and I took them to school for the afternoon.
On Friday evening we enjoyed a family play at our neighborhood park and then after getting the kids to bed my husband and I headed out for a sushi date. My mom had offered to babysit and we never turn her down on that offer! It was really nice to connect after a busy week and heading into an unusually social weekend.
Saturday we woke up and hit the ground running! My husbands family was arriving around 9:30 and I had quite a bit of food prep and tidying to do. When our extended family arrived we headed outside for fresh air and activity including bike riding, soccer, and baseball. The kids cousins are quite a bit older than they are, but they are amazing at playing with them. For brunch we had overnight egg bake, whole wheat apple cake, smoothies, breakfast pizza, cut up fruit, and more!
After lunch our family left and I took the kids for a walk around the block. Towards the end Rhett expressed that he was tired so we headed home and I put him down for nap and the twins and I headed back outside. They asked me for a cozy walk to a new park, and that is exactly what we did. The air had turned cooler, so we bundled up and headed out.
When we got to the park we played freeze tag, hide and go seek, soccer, and “school”. We had a blast! Around 4 pm we headed for home. This time they wanted to walk with me rather than ride which I thought was wonderful! Once home, my husband took over with the twins while I got Rhett up from nap and worked on supper prep. We had a lovely meal with my mom that evening.
Sunday we went to church and then Starbucks afterwards upon Clay’s request. The kids had a bagel while the adults had a latte and the boys then enjoyed playing at the train table and on the plasma cars at Indigo.
Once home, I put Rhett down for nap and my husband took the kids skating. Sunday evening we gave the kids a simple supper of leftovers and enjoyed some veggies and hummus with them while they ate. Then once they were in bed, my husband and I made chicken nachos and watched the Blue Jays game. What a game!!!! Go Jays Go!
Monday we spent some time playing with the kids after breakfast and then headed to my dads for a family Thanksgiving meal. My dad lives in the country and the weather was perfect so we spent almost 5 hours playing outside with the kids. They rode toy tractors, played with dump trucks and diggers, played baseball and road hockey, and just loved running around. It was one of those days that I wish we could do over and over. Just being “in the moment” with the kids for such a long period of time was so amazing. It is in these moments that I feel I really get to know my kids…understand better how their brains work….and get to teach them new and exciting things. Gosh I LOVE being a mom!!!!
We finished off the day with an turkey dinner. As you can see below, I gave the kids a small amount of each item. Children can easily become overwhelmed from the amount of food at festive gatherings. I was concerned their plates were too full but after all that activity and fresh air they gobbled it up and asked for more. Lol. To keep myself form overeating, I filled my plate with salad first, then added small amounts of the “main course” around the edges. This is a great tip for any “buffet” situation. If there isn’t a salad, then you can turn to cooked veggies first for filling your plate, followed by lean protein, then healthy starches.
After supper, we put the kids into their pajamas and headed for home. They all fell asleep within 3 minutes of driving after so much fresh air and wonderful food.
Feeling incredibly thankful and blessed for all of God’s blessings. For my Canadian readers….I hope you and your family had a lovely Thanksgiving as well.
Thanks for reading!
Until next time….stay healthy!