When my work day ended I told my girls they had been WONDERFUL all day and had earned dinner wherever they wanted. Their choice . . . McDonald's!! I stayed true to my word and it was McDonald's take-out for 5.
After we got home and had dinner I asked my girls where they wanted to sleep. They often like to swap rooms, or sleep all together on the floor in one of their rooms, or even in the living room. Their choice . . . the trampoline!! It was remarkably cold and I thought they would not last, so I put a pile of blankets, sleeping bags, and pillows on the trampoline and set up my laptop so they could watch Kung Fu Panda. As they tucked in I served them popcorn and made sure they were comfortable. I would have bet the house they would have come in before the movie ended complaining it was too cold. Instead the younger two fell asleep before the movie ended, and the older two came in when the movie was over and asked me to join them for the sleepover. This was what it looked like with the seven of us (me, my four girls, and our two dogs) on the trampoline.
The trampoline was, surprisingly, very comfortable. I slept soundly and woke up at 5:00 a.m. when the sun came up. Unfortunately the rising sun woke my daughters up as well and none of them went back to sleep. I made them hot chocolate and we started our day. We had breakfast, got the house straightened up, and my girls played in the backyard while I took care of our pool and did some yard work.
In the late morning I went for a run. I took my four-year-old in the stroller. About a half mile in she asked to get out and run with me. It was a neat experience to run through the park with my little girl by my side. She got in and out of the stroller several times throughout the first part of the run. She logged at least 3/4 of a mile total. The second time she got out of the stroller she she asked that I hold her hand while we run. So there I was in the park, pushing the stroller with one hand, holding my angel's hand with my other hand, jogging along. It may well have been one of my favourite runs of all time. After the first few miles my daughter climbed into the stroller, turned on to her side and fell asleep. She slept for at least three miles, which I was thankful for given she woke up with the sun.
After my run I played outside with my girls and our dogs. I made chicken fajitas for lunch while we waited for Tiff to get back. Tiff got home around 3:00 and we all went swimming. It is now 8:00 and everyone, including Tiff, has fallen asleep. The house is silent and I am more relaxed than I remember being in quite a while. I absolutely live for weekends like this!!
