What a great weekend!!

I wish every weekend could be as fun as this one was! Not only was the weather phenomenal we actually had some time to get out and enjoy it! I have decided that, as much as I enjoyed them and learned from them, the past few years were too hectic for me to really get the most out of them. I hope this year is the start of a trend!
Weekends start early in my house. Ed's new job has him working 4 10-hour days and getting a 3-day weekend every week! (Except for this week- for Veteran's Day he gets an extra!) Fridays have become our official "Date Day" where Ed and I go do something fun! This week we walked around the outdoor mall holding hands like old people! (Or young people maybe but since this is actually our idea of fun I kind of lean toward old...)
Also this weekend Emily and her friend went to the open gym at the recreation center to do some tumbling (well, hanging out and playing really, but I figured it would help them work off some giggles) then we came back to my house for a sleep over. This is only the second friend Emily has had sleep over since we moved and she was so happy!
I love that November finds the whole family and a guest out on the deck around the fire pit enjoying SMORES!! Then we watched The Sixth Sense for the first time for my kids. We are not a real "scary movie" family so this was actually pretty intense for them but they had fun! The "old people" turned in early but apparently the girls stayed up watching more movies until 1:30 a.m. - which would have been great if we didn't have such a big Saturday! Not only did they have a ballet class at 9 a.m. - and since Emily takes an age in the shower that means up by 7 even on the weekends (yes, I have kids that are horribly harassed and mis-treated because we NEVER sleep in) - but there was a full cast Nutcracker rehearsal from 1-6 in the afternoon! AND there were two VERY important football games going on!
For Emily the rehearsal was not too bad - mostly short bursts of activity followed by sitting around staring off into space because she needed a nap - but for me it served to convince me that I am really old. <sigh> I have a few different parts I am playing in Nutcracker this year so after 5 hours I was really feeling it. Not physically so much as mentally - I don't think I have had to pay attention to something for that long for YEARS!
After rehearsal was over I heard the football news: Nebraska won by 1 point in overtime against somebody that never should have made it to overtime and... <sniffle sniffle> Utah didn't beat TCU... in fact, they kind of really lost big time. <insert frowny face here> Both games worked to put a damper on the evening and I just wanted to go home and relax - which I did with a nice cup of tea - and hubby rubbed my feet! Emily fell asleep right after we got home and slept for about 12 hours. :)
Sunday though - wow - I don't think I can even say how nice it was to wake up at 6:30 on Sunday morning feeling rested because of the extra hour of sleep for the time change! After we got some things done around the house we packed a lunch and headed downtown!
We have been planning a downtown hike for a couple of months, and the last time we attempted it there happened to be the "Taste of Colorado" food festival going on at the exact same place we had chosen for our starting point. Didn't work out so well that day. With everything the kids have been involved in this fall it just kept getting put off and put off but with the weather this weekend it was now or never!
We started at the art museum, saw libraries, parks, government buildings, shopping centers, the convention center, performing arts complex, the train station, baseball stadium, hotels, lots of homeless people and more! It was just over 6 miles round-trip and my kids were champs! We all took turns with the camera and got lots of good pictures as well as had some fun goofing around together. It was a lot of fun and we got to see so many cool things and have a good time just being together as a family. We got home and made some dinner then realized it was still only 4:30 - darn time change!
You know, I am really enjoying the age my kids are at right now. They are old enough to really have conversations with and be able to understand each other. They like to do a lot of the same things as we do, they make funny observations of the world around them - they are just pretty cool kids and people. Best of all, Ed and I can go to the grocery store by ourselves without having to find someone to watch the kids!