It's Been A Busy Weekend

Talk about cramming a lot into one weekend! Saturday was our annual Pirogi Fest. My sister and I began this last year after we got our grandmother's recipe for pirogis. For those of you who don't know, pirogis are the equivalent of a ravioli. My favorites are the potato and cheese filled ones but we also make sauerkraut ones for my dad, Tim and Max. You can fill them with pretty much whatever you want, we've stuck to the traditional stuff because that's what we like and they're A LOT of work. We really got started on them around 10am and when I left at 1:15 to take the boys to a birthday party we had only finished 3/4 of the cheese and potato pirogis. You have to make the dough, let it sit a half hour, separate it into manageable portions and then roll it out, cut it into pieces, fill the pieces and close them so the filling can't come out. It works really well if you have a bunch of people and can do it assembly line style. In a couple of years, it will be really fun to do with my boys, but not just yet.

So we went to Emma's birthday party in the middle of the day and the boys had a ball. I wish I hadn't forgotten my camera because there we so many cute things going on. Like when Collin, Anjolie and Emma all crammed into a bucket full of water (the bucket was one of those things that you fill full of ice and drinks at a party) or when the kids played on the moon bounce or ran through the sprinkler. It wouldn't be a party without a couple of moments where I was a bit mortified though. The first one came shortly after Collin discovered the bucket of water. I was feeding Nick lunch when another boy came up to me and said "Does the little boy with the blond curly hair belong to you?" UH...NO??? You know its never good when a conversation begins that way. I said indeed he was mine and the little boy informed me that my son was removing his clothes. Sure enough, there was Collin naked from the waist down getting ready to step into the bucket. Great moment, everyone at the party is now looking at us. Oh, and did I mention that several of these people work with my mother? Can't wait to hear what they have to tell her when she goes to work tomorrow! I promptly took him to the car to change into a bathing suit. Ever the ring leader, the other kids followed suit and ran through the sprinkler until they turned blue. We changed back into regular clothes and Collin promptly had an accident. Only he didn't tell me. I just happened to spot him running to the car out of the corner of my eye. I ran after him hauling Nick along with me. Once I realized what had happened, I set Nick down to help change Collin. Nick hadn't left my hip all afternoon. Anytime I put him down or walked away for a second he freaked out and screamed bloody murder. For some odd reason, when I put him down in the street, he took off like a shot. Before you think I'm too bad a mom, Emma lives in a cul-de-sac and her neighbors were all at the party so there wasn't much danger of a car coming along. Unfortunately, the last pair of dry pants I had for Collin had somehow ended up under the wet bathing suit when Collin changed earlier so he had to borrow his brothers. 18 month pants still fit although they are way to short. He looked like he was wearing a pair of capris. Once we'd had some cake and opened presents we picked up Daddy and headed back to Aunt Bella's to actually eat pirogis. It was quite a feast. There was pirogis, kielbasa and green beans with spaetzel. We even had cupcakes and angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream for desert. I think my family overwhelmed Max's mom. She was enjoying a nice visit with my parents before we got there. As soon as we walked in the door chaos reigned until we left! My boys weren't bad, just active and kind of loud. We went home around 10ish so the boys crashed in the car on the way.

Sunday came bright and early. Bella, Max, Grammy and Grampa were meeting at our house at 7:30 to go to Hershey Park for the day. Unfortunately, Tim had to work night shift that night so he couldn't come with us. That's kind of OK though because it gives me an excuse to take the kids again later this summer. We had such a good time. No one thought we'd be there until the park closed at 10pm but we were. The first thing we went on was the Trailblazer roller coaster. It was way cooler than the one he could get on at Disney, and again, he LOVED it. Then we hit some kiddie rides. The swings were a hit, as were the airplanes. I took him on the kiddie version of the log flume. We waited an hour to get on the stupid thing and then 3 people from the head of the line, Collin fell asleep! I thought for sure he wake up getting in the boat. No. Then I thought for sure he'd wake up as the boat was moving, bumping and jarring us around some. Wrong again. And I was certain that when we went down the hill and got splashed with cold water he'd wake up. Nope, not even then. He slept through the whole thing! Then I found out he could go on the Coal Cracker so Bella, Max and I took him on that and as soon as we got off he wanted to go again. He loved that too. One of the last rides we went on was the Flying Falcon. There is some serious spinning going on on this ride. The ride is set up in 4 sets of falcons in a circle. They spin around in that circle. Then while your already spinning in a circle, the whole ride starts spinning in a circle and climbing high into the air. Its pretty wild and as soon as we started spinning Collin informed me that "This is really fun" and "This isn't scary at all!" Maybe not to you little dude. All I could think about the entire time I was on that ride was please don't break and please don't let my child fall out of this thing. I never would have had those thoughts before I had kids, I probably wouldn't have had them had I been on the ride alone. It was just scary to be up so high and be holding my son as we spin like crazy. We ended the night at Chocolate World for a trip through the factory and an ice cream sundae. Finally, at 10pm as the park was closing we began our trip home. The boys fell asleep in the car, however Nick screamed for about 10 minutes 3 different times, probably curing Bella and Max of any desire to ever give me a niece or nephew who doesn't have 4 legs. We got home around midnight and just crashed.

The boys slept until 7:30 and 8:00 which is unheard of, but given their weekend, totally understandable and completely appreciated. We just took it easy today and ran some errands to get out of the house while Tim slept. I took the boys to the mall to get Collin's 'fro tamed. We played at the little playground there for a while. Nick even enjoyed that. He was crawling through a tunnel when another child tried to go through too and I heard Collin say "Hey, watch out for my little brother!" I was so proud. I was even prouder when it was time to leave. I gave Collin his 5 minute warning and then when it was time to go I scooped Nick up, walked over to Collin and said "Time to go buddy". He stood up, grabbed my hand, walked over the the stroller, played a bit while I got Nick strapped in and then got in the stroller himself without any complaints. Sometimes he is just so well behaved. This evening after Daddy woke up we took the boys to the pool. The water was cold. Now I always think pool water around here is cold, but this was freezing. Even Tim declared it ice water. My boys could have cared less. Collin jumped right in and began playing happily. I helped Nick in and although he stayed close to the side of the pool or the step, he was as happy as he could be too. Neither one complained about being cold. They did, however, complain loudly when it was time to leave.

So there you have it, it took me a small book to write about our busy weekend and there is plenty more I could tell you but that's probably already more than you wanted to know. Hope your weekend was fun filled as well...