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photo - cousin time

photo - playing dress up with D
photo - snuggling baby G
photo - movie time with N
photo - saying goodbye to Cousin R

photo - lunch with our cousins from FSJ
photo - checkout these new clothes

photo - our friends from Ole Blighty

Wow...what a trip. Today has been a recovery day, for sure. Our trip to Cowtown was a success. We got to see lots of people and the kids managed to be in pretty good spirits. I managed to keep it together too, not getting too frustrated with all the things I wanted to do, but couldn't because I had the kids in tow. Saturday was another busy day. Out to to visit my friend A and her two kids, D and their new baby sister G. Our three kids had a great time playing together while A and I had a good chat. How fun to think about A and I going to school together and now we're watching our kids play together.

After that visit we attempted some final shopping. A trip to the shoe store that was long and painful, but we came away with two pairs of new shoes for Schmoo. A trip to the mall to get a couple more pairs of pants for Bean, and a pair for me, and some cinnamon buns for all of us. That took up the time until we were to meet Auntie T and N. We had the kids run around at the playground for a bit, but they soon grew weary and we headed back to T's house for a movie for the kids and chatting for the moms. It was great to see them and we got the standard kids on the couch picture that I always take.

The drive home on Sunday was pretty straight forward. We hung around in Cowtown until lunchtime so that the kids could have a play with Cousin R and burn off some energy. We hit the road after a sushi lunch and made pretty good time getting back. There were lots of bathroom stops this time, which was frustrating, but all in all the kids travelled great. What we returned to wasn't so great - a front hall of dog poo and some dead Sea Monkeys, both of which Papa had pre-warned me might be waiting. I got everything cleaned up and sorted out (the Sea Monkeys aquarium is in the kitchen window to see if the sunlight will help the eggs hatch) and put the kids to bed. Papa returned from his golf tournament around 9:30pm and we headed to bed....I was exhausted.

Today involved a trip to the gym for my last aerobox class. My days of morning workouts are numbered with my first day at work scheduled for September 8th. The kids were happy to be at the gym and see some of their playmates too. We came home for a home day - playing in the house and garden for Schmoo and Bean and organizing for Mama. I've already got a significant list started of the things I need to do before school and work get started. The kids had quiet time and then I attempted to take them into town again to do some grocery shopping and errands, however the rain storm cut our trip short as the power went out, so we headed home. There were no naps today so I put the kids to bed early. Time to get back onto the regular routine of 7pm bedtime. Papa was out until 6pm - home just in time to tuck everyone in and now he's making supper. What a wonderful husband.