Grammy's Weekend Visit

My mom spent this past weekend with us and we had a really nice few days, both with her and without! That sounds like odd phrasing, but she very kindly offered to babysit a good bit so I could have some time to myself and Eric and I could have a date night, plus we did some fun things as a full group. All around, it was a great weekend!

My mom arrived Friday morning and our first order of business was getting Ellie to the "Mickey Store" (Disney Store) for a new Rapunzel dress. My sister gave her one for her birthday, and Ellie loved it so much she literally wore holes into it. And then I would patch them ("put some Rapunzel thread on my dress, Mama!"), and then new holes would pop up, and so on and so forth. Finally I was like, enough already. My mom generously offered to split the cost of the REAL Rapunzel costume from the Disney Store, so I promised Ellie that next time Grammy came, we would get her a new dress. And boy, did she remember.

As luck would have it, Disney costumes were 40% off that day, so she got her dress for a great price and I also picked up a Sofia the First dress to stash away for when she's finally potty trained (coming very soon!). Ellie loved her new Rapunzel dress and has been wearing it near constantly ever since.

She's a bit edgy, but isn't she a lovely lost princess?

Then it was back home for lunch and naps. During naptime, I left the kids in my mother's capable hands and went for a haircut, my first since before E.J. was born. That's tragic, I know. Needless to say, I was due. I tried a new salon in Riverside and I loved the end result. I cut probably about eight inches off (and probably lost nearly 10 pounds off my total weight) and actually have some style. It's so nice to feel like a real person again, and not just a frumpy mom with a messy, frizzy, "I've given up" bun.

Haircut!

That evening, we once again left the kids in my mother's care while Eric and I enjoyed a delightful date night. We had the idea to go to a Jacksonville Suns game, and relive some of the "childless couple" magic of attending a baseball game without small kids in tow. As you may recall, it is a bucket list item for Eric to see games played at all Major League Baseball stadiums, so needless to say, we have attended quite a few ballgames together in our years as a couple. We do love taking our kids to the games, but let's be honest: those afternoons at the ballpark include a lot of walking, entertaining, snacking, and distraction, and very little sitting, watching the game, and BEER DRINKING. So we decided to live it up and went to a game, just the two of us. We ate food (no tiny fingers stole our french fries), we drank beer (without fear of tiny feet kicking it over every time I set it down), we watched some baseball (no tiny beings needed constant entertainment), and we stayed for the fireworks after the game (and no tiny people freaked out about the loud noises). What a night!

Date night at the ballpark!

All the ladies got free pink caps that night!

With the Suns losing at the end of the game, Eric had to don his rally cap.

Post-game fireworks

The next morning, Eric had a Teach for America conference all day, so it was just the ladies and E.J. left to entertain ourselves. On the agenda for Saturday: a haircut for Ellie! Can we talk about how long the mane on my former baldy was getting?!?!

Before pics!

I didn't like how stringy it was looking in the back, so I wanted to trim it up to/above her shoulders. We went back to the children's salon we took her to the first time, and they pampered her to the fullest: glitter polish manicure, Doc McStuffins on TV, nice trim, two sparkly clips, and a fancy heart hairdo topped with glitter to finish things off. She loved it.

Glitter manicure to start things off

Haircut time!

She now has permanent glitter dandruff, but she loved it.

New shorter, cleaner locks!

That evening, after naptime, we went for a walk across the Main Street Bridge to the Jacksonville Landing. We had a fabulous time dancing to the music there!

Eric and I were just goofing around, and wound up inspiring a full-family dance party!

Ellie got in on the action in full force

Eric joined her

I shared a dance with my little man

Then Grammy cut in!

VIDEO: Ellie dancing at the Landing

We sat for a while and watched the draw bridge go up and down, then walked back across it (and got stopped at it again ourselves).

The Main Street Bridge

With my favorite crazies

Watching the bridge go up

Waiting for our turn to cross the bridge

Walking across the bridge

When we got home, we put E.J. to bed then had a pizza picnic on the front porch. Perfect end to a fun evening!

On Sunday, we drove down to St. Augustine for the Children's Art Festival, which was a lot of fun. We originally wanted to attend this event because our local PBS station indicated that Daniel Tiger would be making an appearance, and Ellie is a HUGE Daniel fan so we wanted to make that happen for her. Alas, Daniel couldn't take the heat (quite literally) and they scrapped that appearance, but we still had a fun morning crafting, dancing and enjoying some ice cream (thanks, Grammy!).

Craft time with Grammy

Painting with nature

Making a picture of a sandcastle, but that should be obvious.

Sharing a cup of mint chocolate chip ice cream

E.J. got a little taste of the ice cream, too, and this was his reaction.

Cuddles with Mama

And, Daddy time.

Dancing!

Burning off some energy in the grass before heading home

Sweet boy!

When we got home we had some lunch then bid farewell to Grammy. Thanks so much for coming, Grammy!

My mom and the kids!