Family Fun Day

Saturday was just that...Family Fun Day. Matt mentioned to me how odd it seemed that it was just "us" at the house. We weren't expecting company. People weren't coming over in preparation for the game. We weren't going to the game. Nothing. It was just us.

And boy, was it NICE!

We started the day lounging in bed. Well, that's not quite true. MY day started with a Tater-tot to the head, courtesy of my dear, sweet husband, but since he had already changed her poopy diaper, I didn't mind all that much. *grin* Then we lounged in bed for a while, until we could no longer stave off the "eat" signs and sounds from our ever-hungry Tatum. It was on to breakfast for us and some additional lounging.

Then we decided to head to the movies to see Madagascar II: Escape to Africa. Note to self: when asking the ticket person how many people are in the movie theatre, get a more specific answer than, "It's not too full." We ended up sitting on the second row. Boy, that screen is REALLY large from that close! It was quite the milestone...Tatum's first ever movie that she actually could try to watch (not the first one she's been to, as I took her to quite a few while I was on maternity leave, but I don't really count those toward her "movie attendance"). She did...umm....ok. I watched quite a bit of the movie from the entrance aisle. But, in her defense, it was an 11:20 AM showing (can we say close to nap??) and she was tired. And after about 15 minutes or so of me holding her and watching, er...pacing, in the aisle, she was SOUND asleep, and we went back in and finished the movie. Kellen, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and didn't stop eating the HUGE bag of popcorn that his Daddy bought him the entire time. I'm not sure how he didn't make it through that whole bag, OR how he didn't have a tummy ache, OR how he was actually STILL HUNGRY for lunch when we got out of the movie. Seriously?!?

In case you're wondering, we liked the movie, but think the first one is better.

Back to the house we went, got the kids down for naps, then Matt went to run some errands. I tried to take a nap, but Tatum decided that her short-lived movie nap was enough for her. Fun stuff. So instead of listening to her whail, I decided to go in her room to rock her. MISTAKE. The sight of me set off her lungs, I didn't know that they had another level....wow. Try as I might, a "second" nap, continuation of her movie-nap, whatever, just wasn't happening, so we just snuggled and "rested" while Kellen was napping.

When Kellen woke up, we decided to take a walk to the park to see the ducks. (I'm telling you, we had an AWESOME Family Fun day!!!) So we bundled up, you know, it had gotten a little chilly and windy, and off we went to the park. Kellen and Tatum fed the ducks, and Kellen searched for a while for Meaniac, his favorite duck there (which, I think is odd, since this is the one that bit him this summer, but hey...), and Kellen and Daddy took periodic jaunts into the woods on their "adventures" while on our way back to the playground. We all played for a while on the playground, and then headed back home for dinner.

Daddy and I had already decided to have an inside picnic, and apparently great minds think alike, because as we got home, Kellen came up with the idea as well. So we had our picnic blanket spread in the living room and had our dinner picnic while watching Kung Fu Panda, a recent addition to our movie collection.

Shortly after the movie started, the effects of Tatum's short-lived nap were apparent, and she made her desires for night-night evident to all. After she went to bed, we all gathered to watch the movie and finish dinner, and enjoyed a nice, warm batch of chocolate chip cookies that I decided to throw in the oven to bake (it's GREAT to have cookie dough on hand - YAY!).

All-in-all, it was a glorious day! I told Matt after Kellen went to bed that THIS is the life that I want to lead with our family. And then I thought more about it...Is THIS what it's like to rest...truly rest and relax? Our Bible study had this verse as one of the verses during our daily lesson this past week:

Exodus 34:21: Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.

And what really spoke to me in this verse was the importance of actually RESTING, regardless of the overwhelming "to-do" lists that always seem to be there, waiting on me. So I'm working on it...And Saturday was just so wonderful that it confirmed how much I need that rest period in my week.

So bring on the Family Fun Days!!