Matt completely tore his motorcycle apart this winter (as seen in the background here) and has a big trip planned for the fourth of July. Given all the work and new parts, he decided it would be smart to do a shorter test ride before the big one. So he took a three day weekend trip with Sam & Eric while the boys got to hang out with their momma all weekend!
There is an engineering society up here that several coworkers are in and they put on a big food festival every year to raise money. Plus it sounded like there were some fun things especially for kids. I figured I could handle taking one of the boys without any help and decided Thomas would have a blast with mommy, while Henry hung out at daycare for an extra hour or two!
Of course, when it came right down to it, I couldn't leave Henry at daycare while Thomas and I went to go have fun. So I took both boys alone and just braced for the inevitable chaos. Thank goodness the basketball goal they were suddenly both obsessed with was run by my friends and they were more than happy to help out when there was inevitably a need for it.
They actually had a great time - they tackled the blow up obstacle course first. Then when I decided there were getting to be too many of the bigger kids on it, we moved on to the sports area. Thomas actually ran over to grab the soccer ball and while running toward the basketball goal, he tossed it in the air. I still have no idea how, but that ball flew threw the air and landed in the basket like he was some sort of basketball ace. It was awesome and everyone was cheering for him. He ate it up!
Henry missed almost all the goals he tried, but he had this cake pop to eat up and that was fine by him.
I managed to drag them away to get food for a few minutes, but they made it very clear they wanted to go play and not sit to eat boring food mom picked out. Thomas bee-lined for the bouncy course while Henry and I finished eating the tacos I managed to grab. He was a champ going through it - no more getting stuck at the top of the slide for this guy!
Henry on the other hand - ended up needing a boost. He did almost the whole thing by himself the first time, but needed help with the first step on the ladder. The second time he didn't need any help, so I let him try it himself after we ate food. It was not the best choice - he could have probably done it, but all the big kids were being impatient and jostling him around. This other mom went in to help her kid and asked if she could help Henry up too. He didn't mind the help and all and probably thought it was me helping him out.
Also note the outfit change - that was the "chaos" part. I had to change his pants and shoes in a porta potty while trying not to let him touch anything. Thank goodness my coworkers kept an eye on Thomas so he could play basketball and not be a part of those acrobatics!
A meltdown or two later over cake pops, I was about ready to call it a day. But they managed to get themselves together in time for one happy selfie with momma and then I let them play a little while longer. Good behavior is definitely rewarded! ;)
The next morning, we headed out bright and early for the neighborhood garage sale! The boys were both super excited about the possibility of finding some fun toys and were even good sports about being kicked out of their wagon for the big hills. Henry was definitely slow going, but he made it. I'm pretty sure he ended up walking more of the neighborhood than his brother did in the end. He's a trooper - that one.
I was hoping to find some Legos, but apparently no one sells those. But the boys were ecstatic with their excavator and motorcycle. I said yes to the motorcycle without realizing I would be listening to motorcycle sounds the rest of the walk. When we got it home, we found out that it actually pops a wheelie and drives around. So much excitement for $2!
There were several kids selling lemonade or cookies. We could only resist for so long and it was pretty much impossible to walk past the two girls selling lemonade out of their club house. I did make the boys share a cup though since as soon as someone needed to potty, the fun was over. Amazingly, we covered almost the whole neighborhood and made it home before it was an issue. Yay!
My favorite find was this junior circuit set. The museum here has them in a "tinker" area and Thomas seemed to like playing with them, but I had decided he was a little young since their target age was 8+. But when I came across a brand new set for super cheap at the garage sale, I couldn't resist. And just like the Legos, he continues to surprise me with his feats of engineering / following a diagram.
Look at how excited he is about his music circuit!
Then it was off to a birthday celebration at Brittney's house! There were several kids from their daycare, so they were excited to have friends. There were toys and a giant backyard to explore, but these three only had eyes for splashing in the hot tub.
Whatever keeps them happy so I could (sorta) enjoy the festivities as well! The cutie on the right's dad was also out of town, so her mommy and I got to spend a lot of time chatting while trying to keep these three from running over the three babies. It's always nice to have someone else to commiserate with! ;)
Finally, it was Sunday and we had one more fun activity before Matt got home - a playdate at David's house (a good friend of Thomas' from the pre-school class)! We invited them to the party last weekend, but they were out camping, so we decided to try meeting up this weekend. His dad was super excited to have more little Jedis to train in light saber combat. My two were super stoked that they were being given permission to swing light sabers around. Of course, Henry went straight for a red lightsaber...
I thought Thomas went for the Light Side of the Force, but it turns out that it was just too bright outside to tell that it was also a red light saber. Sigh... These two are drawn to the dark side of the force. Maybe once they actually see the movies they will gravitate toward the blue or green ones. Until then, I'm going to have to keep an eye on them!