Weekend Fun

Friday –
After work, I decided I NEEDED to hit up the local chinese buffet (appropratly named Yummy Buffet) to get my fill of pineapple shrimp. Bella enjoyed this as well as she got to eat “strawberry chicken” (some dish that had red looking chicken so she assumed it was strawberry), lo mein and 2 plates of fruit. She didn’t even care that I was getting ice cream when she realized she could pick out any kind of fruit she wanted and have as much as she wanted. Works for me! Then we took a drive around the Elm Creek park/Dayton area. It only takes a few minutes to feel like you are on semi-country roads so it’s a nice relaxing drive.

Saturday –

After Jeremy made us a breakfast of ‘fancy toast’ (French toast) and fruit smoothies, Bella and I heading off garage-saleing. I’ve never done this as an adult/on my own free will but realized there is something very satisfactory around the hunt of a sale. First you have to spot a sign and then you have to attempt to follow it. I was amazed at how many dead ends I ran into because people would place a sign on the main road having you turn into a neighborhood but to follow up with any additional signs. Even though I stuck to our general Champlin/Brooklyn Park area I still don’t know all the street names. SO just telling me an address doesn’t help!

Bella got into it after our second sale which had a ton of kids toys and clothes. There was another little one toddling around, so she had a good time running from toy to toy to try things out. After that her motto was “one more garage sale!”. The best buy of the morning was ‘If You Take a Mouse to School’ for 25 cents. My splurge was $6 on Little People Animals and playmat which was sold by a couple of adorable kids in their front yard. Their neighbors were having a sale so they set up shop in the front with a handful of toys and some free kool-aid. I couldn’t resist them and I know Bella will like the animals.

We ended our excursion when it started to rain and got home just in time for me to be holding Bella outside when the thunder started. Last year she was too young to care about it, but this time I got the “WHAT THE EFF WAS THAT??” look and the death grip. I tried to explain how it was just a loud noise – like the blender or the vacuum cleaner but she wasn’t comforted. Thankfully the thunder calmed down enough for her to take a nap.

After nap time, Auntie Lissa and Clay Clay came over to watch Bella for a few hours while we met or friends Mel and Curt for dinner. It worked out well because Mel and Curt have a 6 month old and her parents live right by us. So they were able to drop off baby Reese with them and we enjoyed dinner on the patio at Mavericks. We were home by 7:15 just as Bella, Lissa and Clay Clay were coming home from the park. Bella had such a good time that when I mentioned going to the park the next day she insisted that Auntie Lissa and Clay Clay come over to take her.

Oh, and the big news from Saturday was that Bella used her “big girl potty” for the first time! We were all in the bathroom area getting ready or doing whatever and she looked at Jeremy and said “You have to go potty” (remember you = me). Jeremy told her to hold it, helped her get ready and seated and after a few seconds she did was she was supposed to do! The kids potty we have has a sensor on the bottom that plays a tune when something hits it. It’s funny how thrilling that sound can be. Unfortunately, she didn’t repeat this at all this weekend but it was an encouraging sign!

Sunday –
We met friends (Crystal, Joel and 1 ½ yr old Jonah plus Rachel and 5 yr old Olivia and 1 ½ yr old Rylan) at a park in Coon Rapids. The playground was great as it had 3 different areas and even the biggest one was Bella-friendly. Actually, it was mom friendly as it didn’t have any tunnels or tubes that would require parents to squeeze through to follow their kids. We played, had lunch and enjoyed the overcast sky (kept it cool) for 2.5 hours before going home to nap. Of course, that’s the time the sun and heat started which meant that my nap-time activity of mowing the lawn was hot and tiring but it still felt good.
After nap time we busted out the kiddie pool at Bella’s new sprinkler she got for her birthday. She let me and Jeremy put our feet in the pool and made us run though the sprinkler with her a million times. It was fun, but holding a 27lb kid and running didn’t last too long for this out-of-shape 3.5 month pregnant chick. So I made Dada take over.

After a lot of sun and a lot of fun we were all worn out, but it felt good to be able to get out and enjoy the weather!