Keep the Kiddos Busy

Tomorrow is the real start of the holiday season! When I think of Thanksgiving, I think of lots of family around a large table gorging out on food. I especially enjoy all of the sweets! I grew up in a very loud family...there is always more than one person talking along with lots of laughter.

Randy and I have had a couple of these just the two of us.

Dinner with friends in 2004

We had just returned to VA from our honeymoon.

This year our family of four will be doing our first little Thanksgiving together. :) Guaranteed there will be lots of noise...with little ones, quiet is dangerous. :) Our feast will be a bit more modest because we really don't want leftovers in the fridge while we bask in the Hawaiian sun. Oh yes...and we only have to wait 3 more days until we jump on that plane! Woohoo!!

The days have been flying by as I'm getting this crew ready for our trip to Kauai. Frankly, right now I'm focused on the 7 hour flight. I am over planning to make sure that we are set up for the best flight possible. Things will happen, but at least we will be ready. So...part of this planning includes being efficient in all of my errands while keeping the kiddos happy and busy.

The park has been one of our favorite places this past week. We started off with a fun Friday afternoon with friends.

I was trying to get them to smile. :)

It is amazing how quickly she can get those woodchips in her mouth!

Dylan loved this park so much that he said the whole way home, "I want to bring Daddy here tomorrow." So, that's what we did. It was such a nice morning that we decided that we need to do this more often on the weekend.



Playing baseball turned into throwing pop flies and Dylan running after the ball.

While Dylan and Randy ran all over the place, Ava found herself in the woodchips once again!

Parks are magic! They create happiness and fun while passing the time. Love it! Unfortunately, sometimes this fun turns into ultimate tiredness when we get home.

I couldn't help it...I had to take a picture. He didn't like that idea. It all started because he wanted me to unclip his carseat. He's going through this "Mommy phase" where I have to do EVERYTHING! Once he is done rolling around upset, he is such a wonderful loving little boy. :)

Dylan goes to school M, T, W so those were the days I wanted to get a lot done. One thing that was highest on my priority list was the gym.

I am a mom that needs to work out. Dylan and Ava getting a smiley patient mom when I workout. I feel like I'm just more fun. Unfortunately, my gym closed today and will be closed until Monday! Argh! So I needed to go Monday and Tuesday. This brings me to the keep-the-kids-busy plan this week. :) I'm committed to doing something active everyday until we leave on Sunday. One...this keeps me happy and I feel more ready for the bathing suit. Notice I didn't say physically ready? :) Ha ha. Two...this keeps the kiddos happy. Win win!

The plan today was a nice swift walk with the single or double stroller (depending on the time of day) to the park for some playtime then a great walk home. The morning was quite busy so Ava and I didn't get a chance to walk. We did get to have lunch with Dylan at school though. So cute. :)

The walk didn't happen until Randy got home. We had a plumber coming over due to a kitchen sink leak and of course by 5pm we were still waiting. Oh well...our walk was shorter, but still fun and theraputic. :) No pics because me and the kids were to busy working the slide. :)

I feel like tomorrow is the turning point to the planning because now we are that much closer to take-off. When I am not eating or crossing things off my to-do list, I will hopefully be running around somewhere being active and keeping the kiddos happy. When they're happy we are right? :)