A Great Week

*pics to come soon*

The glitzy girls and I just got back from a great week visiting my sister and the boys. My sister and I had it planned out for about three weeks and she had thought of all kinds of fun things to do while we were there. The plan was to go up Monday and come back Friday, or when the cousins started to get on each other's nerves. Whichever came first. We laugh because when we tell people that, we are so not joking- it's the truth. Sometimes they get along great, other times, not so much. The fight like siblings. I love it though because that just means that they are close but don't ask me if I love it when I am breaking up a fight or referee-ing.

So Monday morning rolls around and we are all packed up and ready to go. The girls woke up early and Theresa was especially quiet. I thought it was because we had just ended a busy weekend and she was still recovering. As she came to the table to eat breakfast, she tells me she feels sick. I ask if she was going to throw up and she nods her head yes. I grabbed a bowl and made it just in time to see the apple juice come out of her. Kayla had been sick Friday evening (she yakked at K's house....whoopsie) but was fine Saturday morning so we thought it was just something she ate. Guess not.

Well by that afternoon, Theresa was back to her normal self; running around, skating and arguing again with Kayla. Whatever bug we had, I didn't really mind so much. Only my girls would throw up, have no fever and be totally fine about three hours later. Awesome (and I'm not being sarcastic).

So the plans were put on hold. I was super bummed but was willing to wait until Wednesday to go visit just to be sure not to get the boys sick. After texting my sister the rest of the day Monday and a brief phone call Tuesday morning, we were on the road by 10am. Sweet! We only lost out on about a day and half.

We arrived around dinnertime and my bro-in-law was going to watch the kids for about an hour while my sister and I went to work on our fitness. She had told me the class was step and weights. Great. My only step experience was last summer with K. K had told me it was easy and that I would catch on quickly. Well she didn't quite know at the time how uncoordinated and ended up being so out of sync. Terms like "around the world" meant nothing to me and when everyone was facing the back of the room, I was the only one facing forwards and when everyone was on the left side of the step, I was on the right. Horrible, horrible experience. So I was a little relieved when we got there and the instructor decided to change it up that night and make stations with different exercises. It was a good workout and I was even a little sore the next day.

On Wednesday, we woke up and took the kids to a new bounce house in their area. We liked it because it was very clean. We were able to sit down and let the kids run around and play for almost 2 hours. That evening my sister and I went on a date. Again, the kids stayed with my bro-in-law although this time, he had to put all of them to bed. We made it as easy as possible for him; we made them dinner and bathed them. All he had to do was make sure that they brushed teeth, used the potty and went to sleep. I heard the next day that Theresa and her stubborn ways gave him a run for his money because she came up with a million excuses at bedtime. Thankfully, he said she like A with long hair so he was used to it.

On our date, we went shopping at The Domain where we saw many, many good sales and then ate at her new favorite place, North. My oh my, I can see why she loves it. The appetizers were to die for! We ate the chips, which was fried zucchini sliced thinly and three different speads- hummus, goat cheese with pesto, and eggplant with sliced bread. We then shared the main meal which was baked ziti. Yummy!!

Thursday morning, she had to take Z to swim lessons so the girls and I went and did a little school clothes shopping for Theresa. We met back at her house, ate lunch and went to her friend's house for a playdate. Apparently, her kids play with the boys all the time but the oldest, a girl, doesn't have many girl friends so it was perfect for us to go and play with her. Theresa was calling her "her new friend" so I think they had a great time. Afterwards, we all went to the pool together. Bedtime was early that night for the kids since we had been out all day. Once the kids fell asleep (with no arguing), my sister and I watched tv and chatted.

Friday, we left to come home but not without hitting up Crate and Barrel first. I'm always so jealous of the awesome stores they have where she lives. Such a bummer to know that hardly any of those stores are here in town. Anyways, after a brief look in that store, we were home by lunchtime.

We LOVE visiting my sister and the boys. She always takes us somewhere fun and new to us. It makes me sad that we can't get together more often because of the kids' crazy schedules but we do try to get together as much as possible and it's always so fun. We were talking about how fun it will be when all the kids are teenagers and getting into trouble. I use the term "fun" loosely because it depends what kind of trouble they get into. My sister and I would laugh when we thought about Mimi and Papasito sitting back and laughing at all the gray hairs she and I would be getting. And, of course Mimi would be saying, "what goes around, comes around." It's crazy to think that Kayla will be a teenager in just 6 short years and driving everyone around shortly after that.

I love to see all of the kiddos together and I pray that they continue that close relationship they have with one another when they are older.