thirty-four

Well, I had a birthday a long time ago and I don't remember a ton of the details but I think we had a slow morning after getting the big boys onto the bus. Edwin and I made our way to the forest for a little hike, sidetone: I have loved having one-on-one time with Edwin. He is delightful to be around and we end up having so much fun with outings that I'm not getting much more done than I did before 2 boys were in school. 

Anyway, I chased this speedy boy down the trails and we finished our favorite loop faster than normal so we had to go around on another loop. 

 We made friends with another mom and two year old along the path, and played with fuzzy caterpillars,granted Edwin refuses to touch them. After our hike, we made our way to my friend Heather's house because she had a gift she needed to give me and we stayed and chatted for a bit while Edwin played. We then went home so Edwin could nap and I could tidy up the house.
When the big boys got home from school, Miles helped me make some chocolate covered strawberries.


Max came home with some mediterranean take-out so we could eat and I didn't have to cook or do dishes ( I don't mind the cooking, just not a huge fan of the dishes and all the mess that cooking makes) We enjoyed our Gyros and Shawrmas then cleaned up. Then Max took Edwin and Charlie to Charlie's soccer practice while Miles stayed behind and helped me make birthday lava cakes. When Max and the boys got back, the boys started being all secretive. Shortly after, I found that they were setting up a scavenger hunt for me, they gave me some clues that sent me all over the house (and into the chicken coop)

and they eventually led me to some gifts hidden in the blankets on my bed. The boys had some fun with it.  We opened gifts, i love how excited the boys get! We then enjoyed our lava cakes

A gift from Miles, my saggy old lady eyes must be bothering him. Ha!

Anyway, even after all that fun, we still got the boys in bed at a decent time and I got to enjoy more pampering from my dear husband. It's not so bad getting old, right?

Fall

Well, a got a little behind on the blog again, we'll just blame fall photo shoot season since I'er been working on other people's photos, but i really didn't do all that much, just did it very slowly. Anyway, these photos are from the first day of October when we pull out the pumpkin hats. The boys were less cooperative than usual but we took a couple photos in our "pumpkin patch." We were able to grow 5 pumpkins, just like last year so it was perfect for our family. Anyway, happy fall, now that we are getting below freezing temps. Eeek!

Happy Fall, next up, my birthday that happened 2 months ago, lets see if I remember the details!

Max's Birthday

We got to celebrate Max a couple times since things didn't go as planned on his actual birthday. But the boys and I had fun preparing for his birthday, wrapping his gifts and making his apple pie. We had picked out some motorcycle gloves, and one of his favorite treats (Milano Cookies) as gifts, We also gifted him a massage table, oil, and sheets (for the table) Since January, I've been wanting to get him a massage table for his birthday. A long time ago we took a class to learn how to do couples' massages together. We loved it and have used that knowledge for many in-home date nights. We realized we are getting old and seem to have more aches and pains so we pulled out a rickety fold out table and were using it as a massage table, and it worked fine but I still wanted to get a real one and they were a lot less expensive than I thought. So that happened. Anyway, we had the table hidden at a house next door because I figured Max would know exactly what it was.  

Once I got the kids from the bus, I made them bring this into our house. Max had a Dr appointment after work, For some reason he thought it was a good idea to schedule on his birthday. ha! It was just a physical but it ended up being really good because at some point during his work day, he pulled a neck muscle and had been in extreme pain all day. So, sadly he was in pain for all of his birthday celebration. He got home in time for his requested burrito dinner. 

We then moved his old man body onto the couch so he could open his gifts. He was actually super surprised. and super excited about the table since he was in a lot of pain and hoped a massage would help. He got a quick massage then we ate some pie then put the kids in bed. And that pie was one of my best apple pies thus far. He picked a good recipe!

Then Max was feeling so horrible that he got in bed and went to sleep before 8pm. and that was his birthday. 

A couple days later he was feeling better and we had arranged to go out on a group date to an escape room. (Max said he would prefer more of a small group party this year as opposed to a minute to win it party in our yard)

We got to go with a couple of other friends. And this was also the first time I got to ride with him on the motorcycle. So that was pretty fun except for me imagining what would happen if we flew off. haha, but really we got to ride off into the sunset and that was nice.

The company and the escape room were fun and we did escape but Max and I agreed that it was one of the more lame ones that we've been to. ha, we then made our way to Coldstone to get some ice-cream then call it a night. It is always fun to spend time with other grownups.

And then Max was 33! He was so grateful and excited even though he couldn't fully enjoy everything on his birthday. We sure hope we made him feel special. 

And I was beyond lame at taking photos as you can tell. 

Oaks Park

We usually plan at least one trip to Oaks park a year, We hadn't done it yet and the rides close at the end of September. My very kind aunt had some ride bracelets for a company party that she was unable to attend and she gave them to us. She had 3 bracelets so I made my way with my big boys and Max stayed home and had some work time with Edwin. It was a beautiful end of summer day. And we had so much fun. There were a couple rides that Miles was originally scared to go on, but he always loved it. We didn't do any crazy roller coasters but we had a lot of fun and played for awhile until it was time for Charlie's soccer game. 

He was nervous to start this roller coaster but loved it when it was over.

Tilt-a-whirl...Charlie picked the most spinny of them all

It always looks so funny when there's an adult on this ride, and it was even funnier that he couldn't sit by his kid because my kids had picked the two seats next to the adult seat first.

So then we ran out of time to get cotton candy or do a bunch of rides or roller skating. We went to the soccer game and then back home to see what Max and Edwin were up to. We grabbed some food then decided to go back to Oaks park to do some Go Carts and maybe roller skate. This time, Max and Edwin came. 

 We went on a couple more rides and got some cotton candy but the park closed before we could go roller skating. We still had a wonderful day and it was enjoyable to spend that time with my older boys. And we are very grateful for Aunt Val's generosity.