Seven Crazy Takes

Whoa. Haven't posted in over a week! Last weekend was our first swim meet and then we headed to Houston to tag along for a work trip for Steven. We stayed at a hotel. It was crazy. Traveling with five kids, especially when your husband is working long hours, is very hard! So I'll share seven crazy events, as I settle down from the long road trip home...

--1--

Elevator madness

Thomas was obsessed with pressing elevator buttons. If he wasn't the one to press, a major fit would ensue. He would run down the hall in order to press the button first, and one time he actually got in and rode the elevator down to the first floor ALONE.  In this picture they're just excited to go down to the hotel pool, two of them too excited to put shoes on!

--2--

IKEA 

There were 13 kids with 3 moms, including one due with a baby any day!  I took mine there for breakfast, and we also stayed for the free-kids-on-Tuesdays lunch, so we were there about four hours! Thomas got lost a couple times and the big boys had to go and find him.  But overall the kids all did well and I enjoyed my time shopping with friends. I stocked up on some fabric food for the play kitchen, which I hope will allow for hours of upstairs play time this summer.

--3--

Pool

The kids were thrilled to get to swim every day.  But lots of pool time equaled lots of unhappy sweaty baby. I took her into the pool a couple times, just dipping her feet, but overall she was not crazy about our outdoor activities. 

Tommy, on the other hand, was happy as a clam! And he's so proud that he can now jump in and get his face in the water :)

--4--

Science museum on a free day

Two moms and nine kids trying to navigate the Museum of Natural Science on a free afternoon was not an easy endeavor. Just getting there involved three restaurants, a park, two bathroom accidents, crazy traffic, and a parking garage madhouse. I lost Tommy at least five times in the museum. Not my best decision there, but glad to see a dear friend!

--5--

Rain and traffic

I don't remember when I took this picture, but I do know that I sent it to Steven who responded, "Wecome home."  His feelings about the Houston traffic have been discussed on this blog here before. I'm just glad he loves me enough to be willing to deal with it again. 

It only poured rain a few times for a few minutes, once when I was trying to go into the dentist office and another right when we were leaving the house of some friends. Both times I was in a hurry and the baby was asleep and I was just praying someone didn't fall in a big puddle! 

After the above drive in the rain, my two boys took a nice long car nap!

 --6--

Guard at the mall playland

I'm sorry, but do we really need a security guard to patrol the children's playground in the mall? Do the adults (and children) really need to be ordered to have their shoes removed to enter? What is the point of removing shoes anyway? Ridiculous if you ask me. 

--7--

Shopping fun

This last morning of our trip we made a visit to the American Girl store, along with a little walk through the mall (see security guy in #6) and the Target connected to the mall (nice!). 

The girls were waiting for this all week! Mary Clare knew just what she wanted to buy, and Ellie took a bit longer but was happy with her book choice. Little brother just wanted to photobomb. 

Our bitty baby wasn't so sure about the whole experience. I'm sure her sisters will clue her in soon enough. 

The boys got to pick out one thing at Target and they both fell asleep on the drive home holding their new toys, a transformer and a nerf gun. 

(I know his seatbelt is twisted and not latched. We got it fixed.)

And I'll end with the happiest photo of the week, Tommy swinging at the park next to his cousin's all star baseball game. 

See more quick takes over at Kathryn's today, and have a great weekend!