A Family Outing....

I'm training for a 1/2 marathon. It's two weeks away. I've found some fabulous girls to run with, and that makes training so much easier. We ran 13 miles on Saturday. Which actually is a 1/2 marathon. But not the real one. Only practice. I discovered that the practice is actually just as exhausting as the racing. Same distance, same muscles, same tired. But. The day was just beginning. Saturday was Shawn's first day of freedom. An entire week to soak up family for all we're worth. And we wanted to start it off right. Family adventure day is what we called it. And the kids had no idea what we had planned. Mainly because we like to change our minds frequently based on moods, behavior, and hunger levels. If the plan is laid out ahead of time, complaints are abundant when said plans are deviated from. If the plan is a secret, nobody can complain. In theory anyway. We started off by heading to IHOP. Who doesn't love a ginormous breakfast that will fill your bellies as well as your arteries?
We've gotten smart in our old age. While waiting outside we peruse the menu so as soon as we are seated we can get our order cooking. Necessary when there are so many empty bellies. Crayons and water can only get you so far.

I ordered an omelet. Running makes me crave salt. What I didn't anticipate was the omelet being made with what appeared to be a dozen eggs and a pound of cheese. Perfect. Plus it came with a side of chocolate chip pancakes. Just what I love best. Dessert after a full meal. And I enjoyed every calorie.

After breakfast we headed into "The City". That's what folks from our neck of the woods like to call it. I'd heard there was a cool Lego display that was only going to last another week. We headed in that direction. It was a small attraction, but worth the drive. There were all kinds of artistic displays made strictly out of Legos. This one was my favorite.

Isn't it awesome? The kids thought so too. But then we were at a loss. We'd never been to this particular area in the city before, and had no idea what else was around to entertain the peanut gallery. Nobody was complaining at this point, but if shopping was next on the agenda we were sure to have retaliation. Then. We found it. Kaleidoscope was it's name. A whimsical arts and crafts zone strictly for kids. Paper. Paint. Tape. Stickers. Even a room with a black light and glow in the dark melted crayons to paint with. Perfect. The kids thought we were the best parents ever. Thank goodness for our no-plans-plan.

We tired of the crafts. (We = the parents) We had passed a cool looking park on our way to our destination and decided we would stop on our way out. It was gorgeous outside. Unfortunately, the park looked better from a distance. As we approached on foot we quickly realized it was probably the park back in it's day. But gangs probably had overthrown it recently. Part was fenced off for repair. Repair that would probably never occur. But, we stayed. Only for exhaustion sake. This is what I did:

while the kids did this:


And Shawn did this:

It was so great to see Shawn doing something he used to love. Shoot. It was great just seeing Shawn. After the park our bellies started grumbling again. We were an hour from home, and 30 minutes from a Burger King play place. Guess who won out? Yep. BK.

While eating dinner we often like to go around the table telling our "highs and lows" of the day. The kids didn't really have any "lows". Fun to hear. Then came Shawn's turn. His high? Spending all day long with the whole family and not having to go to work. I then asked him what his low was. He gave me this look. And we both started laughing. Under his laughing breath he said exactly what I knew he was thinking. "Can my low be the same as my high?" Sure Shawn. Sure. It probably is easier to go to work all day than to hang out with this crew. But we definitely keep you on your toes. And we are much more fun.