A Rainy Weekend Recap

It was a rainy, raw, raucous fall weekend. Everything was canceled due to weather. Everything. Birthday parties were postponed, football games were a no-go (at least for us, that is, there was no way in heck we were going to sit in the damp cold rain to watch Lehigh play Yale, regardless of how badly Kyle wanted to go despite the weather), and the big plans we had for gearing up for Halloween/Thanksgiving (pumpkins, gourds, hayrides, etc) were totally rained out. It left us all to our own devices for a whole weekend of previously-unplanned-for-free-time. Strange, but true. We're not used to this kind of totally unscheduled time.
Friday is my day to pick the boys up from school. This is precious time for me. Meera was taking a long nap, and Braydon was working from his home office and agreed to cover Meera, so I got to go get the boys by myself. That one-on-two time is a rare treat. Despite the wet weather, we went to our old favorite after-school-haunt: Ringing Rocks Park. There is almost always nobody there but us. But on Friday we ran into a friend of Owen's from his class at school. We had the best time. The boys playing with her. And me having time alone (i.e., without Meera on my hip) to savor chatting with her mom. (note below that Kyle still has not mastered the simple art of smiling for the camera.)

The rest of the weekend was basically spent inside. I don't remember the last time our family spent that much time inside. Seriously. Anyway, the whole weekend is like a hazy blur. There was some "motorcycle" riding in the basement:

Lots of playing with baby dolls:
"Playing Football" (i.e., tackling each other like crazy madmen):
And the discovery that Meera loves Braydon's work. Literally, she loves what his company does. She cannot get enough of watching music concerts streamed over the internet via rVibe. No kidding:
Saturday morning Braydon and I made a split-second executive decision that we could not possibly stay around the house for the whole entire rainy day. We took off for our new favorite museum in the entire world: The Please Touch Museum (Philadelphia's Children's Museum). That place is great. All five of us love it. (photo of O, B, K on carousel taken there) We became members on Saturday. That was big for us. Anyway, before we left for Philly I was determined to take a picture of the three kids because they were all wearing brand new outfits (well, except for Meera's hand-me-down-from-K&O-jeans). It has just been this past week that we've broken out the fall clothes. I wanted so badly to get a photo of them because they all looked so good and their shirts were oh-so-gloriously-clean. I knew enough to know that those shirts would never look that way again, and I wanted a photo. I begged, pleaded, and bribed. Still, this was the best they could give me. Little buggers.
Ky Ky was not pleased with the photo shoot and just wanted to get on the road to Philly. But this photo, as it turned out, is just so perfectly Kyle. So, in the end, it was all worth it. I guess. If only for this one photo. (And I was right, by the way: those three shirts came home looking nothing at all like what they looked like in these photos from before we left).
Owen did this all by himself at the museum. He was so proud. He asked if he could take a photo of it with the camera (which he did, photo at top). And then he asked for me to take a photo of him with it:
Sunday was at home. We did nothing but everything. That's how it is sometimes. Sunday evening we went to a "Work Party" at the home of the chair of my department. Driving there in the car I again begged, pleaded, and bribed the bambinos -- this time to please make me proud of their behavior at the party and not royally embarrass me in front of work colleagues. They went overboard with their displays of their best manners and polite behaviors and positive party attitudes. Many people commented to me how well-behaved they were (my chair, for example, told me that she had "never had someone ask her so politely where her bathroom was located"?!!!). They got donuts on the way home for that (and lots of proud positive remarks from their Mama). At the party Kyle ate, amongst all the other food he consumed there, 4 pieces of chocolate cake. Have I mentioned how much food these boys eat? Heaven help me.
Last note: all of those new fall clothes? So quickly going downhill fast. Isn't it just exhausting to look at?! This shirt was brand new when he put it on this morning. This is what it looked like when he threw it into the hamper before bed tonight. Braydon just takes it in stride (thank goodness, since he does the laundry), but I can't help but cringe (I do the clothes shopping). Heaven help me.
But oh man, do I ever love those little buggers.