When the Stars Align

Every now and then the stars align and we have a Saturday that is not full or soccer, or classes, or gatherings with friends, or really much of anything. I am usually guilty of seeing these holes in our calendar and immediately trying to fill them - with classes, or dinner guests, or something that robs of the day of it's relaxing openness and possibilities.

Today was one of those days, but I managed to keep my inner planner in check and we had a fun, spontaneous day with just our family of four.

Ryan woke me up earlier than I would have liked, but I took advantage of that time to make cinnamon rolls (from a can, don't be too impressed) for breakfast. After breakfast (around 9:00), I decided to go work in the "garden" out front of our house. I didn't do that because I wanted to, I hate working in the yard, but the front of the house was looking overgrown and a little embarrassing, so I slapped on the gardening gloves and did an hour's worth of work. Duane even joined me - but he did much more work than I did.

We came inside to find the boys behaving really well and playing nicely together, which is nothing short of a miracle, so after lunch we decided to take them on a surprise outing to Glow Putt.  I was worried it would be really crowded there with birthday parties and families trying to beat the heat, but it wasn't bad at all.

Unlike when we attempted to play putt-putt at Magic Mountain, Wesley really enjoyed himself. He listened to Duane's helpful hints and got progressively better through the course.  In fact, both boys did such a great job and were having so much fun that we decided to extend the outing a little bit and got a little frozen treat afterwards.

Again, they behaved really well at the Italian ice place, so we decided to push our luck and do something else as a family. Guess we're gluttons for punishment. We went to a shopping center we don't usually go to and braved the crowds to take the boys into the LEGO store. Oh my goodness ! They were enthralled! At one point Ryan said, "We really need to come here once every day!"  Wesley found a $250 LEGO set that he wants and that's what he's decided to save his money for  - at least that's what he's decided to save up for this week.

On our way out of the shopping center we swung into a candy store and let the kids each pick out a small bag of candy. Wesley (my purist) went for malt balls. Ryan (the daredevil) went for a combination of rock candy, candy sour bananas and something else weird. We even let them eat some of their candy in the car, which again, I don't really like them to do.

Our final stop of the spontaneous outing was at the dog shelter. We told the boys we were NOT getting a dog, but we all had fun looking. Ryan liked a dog with "neon" blue eyes.  Wesley fell in love with a little pit bull puppy that was 8 weeks old. "When we get a dog, we need to get a puppy," he explained. "That way it can grow up with cats and no how to be nice to them."  I liked a little mix puppy (10 months old) and Duane was silent on the matter. :-)

We came home to cool off from the heat and kick back for a little while, but we're getting ready to go out again. Pizza night for the W. family.  I don't know about the boys, but I love it when the stars, and attitudes, align so we can have days like this.