Florida and Beyond

This week did not go as planned.

We got back from Florida last Thursday.  It was such a wonderful trip.

It was hard not having Ian there the whole time but much easier than previous years. Ainsley was diving to the bottom of the deep end for toys, Louise was swimming the length of the shallow end under watera nd Felix was happy as could be with his cousin pal Sam and his floaties.  I spent the better part of those last 4 Ian-less days sitting on a chair poolside just watching my kiddos play. Life is changing!

I opted for evening flights this year, mainly so that the girls would miss as little school as possible and because they were the cheapest non-stops from Minneapolis.  It went really well!  I am such a nervous flier and hadn't been by myself with the kids in two years.  It's SO much easier to navigate an airport when all of your children can walk by themselves and carry their own backpacks. The girls even fought over who got to pull the carry on!  Game Changer.

For the plane ride we splurged and put The Peanuts and Shaun the Sheep movies on our ipads.  The kids happily watched, then snoozed a bit. Bliss.

I was excited to have four full days on the other side of our trip to reboot for real life.  Friday felt a bit hard as I had to grocery shop with all three which is MUCH harder without at least one child in the cart. I checked out with numerous items I hadn't intended to buy and duplicates of many things the kids know we eat.

Saturday we went to the Macy's Flower show which was beautiful but crowded. I took the girls to Excelsior Bay Books over nap time and we spent a good hour perusing for Felix's birthday and for new books for my budding readers.  I found Brave Cowboy for Felix and Ainsley got her first Mad Libs and she's obsessed.  And can I just way how much I HATE the Rainbow Fairy books? $5 each for total fluff reading that's a part of a never ending series with the same problem in each book? They are Louise's current favorite and the bane of my existence.  She also loves Elephant and Piggie though, so we're making do.Ainsley on the other hand is loving the Magic Tree House books which I love too, and just finished her first chapter book, Alice in Wonderland, all on her own.  It's an exciting time!

We spent the rest of the weekend celebrating Emmiline's 2nd birthday with family, seeing Ruth and Dan's new St Paul apartment and exploring their neighborhood, and having cousins and neighbors over to play on a bright warm Spring afternoon.  Ian and I were both so giddy Sunday night.  Life is so full and easy here.  It was a great weekend.

Monday the girls had school off so we all took Felix to preschool and then I let them each choose a special thing to do. Louise wanted to go to the indoor playground and Ainsley wanted to get hot chocolate.  I took the girls to Beanhaven after the Treehouse and noticed something was off when Louise barely touched her hot cocoa or her half of a cookie.  She'd spiked a fever within hours and has been laid out for two full days.  Poor girl.

The girls missed their first dance class of the season and Louise has missed the first two days back at school.  Now Felix has a fever and a cold as well and I'm actually going a bit batty being indoors when all my plans included being out and about.

I'm trying to reboot and have been cleaning and planning a bit.  I am so very excited about all the things I'd like to make.  Just when I thought I was winding down with knitting after finishing a shawl for myself and Ainsley's spring sweater I find my needles furiously clicking to make the girls each a pair of fingerless mittens and Ruth and Dan an housewarming lap afghan.  I made some pillow tops for Ruth and Dan as well and it's sparked my sewing bug again.  I'd love to make the girls some summer dresses and still have to make valances for Ainsley's room, the dining room, and living room.  I'm also a bit antsy for a new quilt.  I was browsing Anthropologie and found a fun design that I think I could replicate rather simply.  Our current quilt is a bit too short scrap quilt I made, and my 6 foot tall guy pulls it all the way off  almost every night.  So that makes it a need right?!

I'm hoping to continue my good cooking groove from before break.  It's disheartening to spend so much our first week back on food thanks to all those eager helpers at Trader Joe's on Friday, but I'm good at using what we have and hoping to make it last a long time.  Meals on the list:

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Carmelized Onions and Sauteed Greens
Tuna Melts and Tomato Soup
Barbeque Chicken Breasts with Baked Brown Rice and Spinach
Swedish Meatballs with Mashed Potatoes and Corn (Ians request of course)

I'm thinking of doing some kind of creamy polenta meal and a breakfast for dinner at some point.  Both easy and cheap.

So here's to revamping my plans.  I'm trying to motivate to start digging up the space for the vegetable garden (the ground is finally mostly unfrozen!) take down the Christmas lights and gear up for this new season outdoors.  The flowers and trees budding on our 1/2 acre are so incredibly exciting.  I'll try to keep up taking photos so you can all help me figure out what we have growing here!  It's great!

Happy Spring!