Edgeworth Family Adventures: March 2009

I did not fall off the wagon on my New Year's blogging resolution. It is just that absolutely nothing of interest happened in the Edgeworth household for a couple of weeks. The highlight of one week was outfitting the whole family with two pairs of Crocs each for $48 (courtesty of the Croc outlet store in Allen, TX). School, homework and housework do not an exciting blog post make.

But then a few weeks ago the most interesting thing that could happen did. A visit from Grandma Riddle who flew in from Las Vegas on Friday. She came to share her birthday week-end with us. And for her birthday we generously allowed her to babysit the kids all day (Saturday) so that we could run all our errands. Hey I did schedule her a massage for Saturday afternoon so I am not completely heartless. But as soon as it was over she was back on the job - no allowance for the post-massage nap! On Sunday after church we celebrated her birthday with filet mignon, mashed potatoes, fresh corn, homemade rolls and a half eaten chocolate cake from Costco (bought on Friday so it had been "sampled" a few times in the prior 48 hours!). The boys love these grand family dinners. I suppose they do tire of brown rice, sliced chicken and broccoli. It was so nice having my mom around on Monday and Tuesday as well. She helped me with laundry, cleaned and vacuumed the boys' rooms and bathrooms and took each child out for a solo meal with Grandma. Chad, always up for a fun restaurant experience, chose a nearby pizzeria. David and Brett chose. . . (drum roll please). . .McDonalds. Sheesh. Anyone else tired of McNuggets and Apple Dippers??

The Friday after my mom left was the last day of school before spring break. We spent all day Saturday packing and preparing for Scott to drive with the three older boys to Nashville on Sunday. They left at 9 am and pulled into Carrie's house at 9 pm. In the meantime Evan and I were enjoying a little peace and quiet! I spent the next couple of days restoring the house to some semblance of order before my Tuesday afternoon flight to Nashville. When we made our spring break plans several months ago I thought it might be nice to have a few days to myself. And I cannot lie - it was nice. And then I began to fantasize about having the whole week to myself ("Gee, sorry Scott, I missed my flight...). But in the end I would have missed out on a wonderful family vacation so I am truly glad I did not "accidently" miss my flight. Uncle Evan, Aimee and their two children arrived from California on Monday so by the time I arrived the gang was fully assembled. Carrie and Sheryl took such good care of us; from organizing massages and babysitters to cooking steak dinners and lots of fun pancake and waffle breakfasts. Wednesday night was a Sushi/Asian fusion dinner out followed by an intimate VH1 Storytellers-esque experience at Nashville's famed Bluebird Cafe (www.bluebirdcafe.com). Now for the sake of full disclosure I must admit that I opted out of the latter as it commenced at 9 pm at which time I truly do turn into a pumpkin. But Scott who is a lover of all things music had an incredible time. On Thursday we took the kids to Family Skate Nite at the local skating rink. Chad struggled a bit at first because roller skating is inexplicably more difficult that roller blading. True to first born form he has a bit of angst when things do not go as easily as expected. But after a few tears and some free Sprite courtesy of the center's number game he started to enjoy himself. We really enjoyed watching David as he spent the entire night studiously skating around and around the rink, innumerable falls notwithstanding. Brett, on the other hand, was not exactly in top form. Already sleep deprived from consecutive late nights and early mornings he could not abide that four year old conundrum of wanting to do everything himself yet seriously lacking the gross motor skills required to actually skate unassisted. He basically flipped out and turned into, for lack of a kinder explanation, the Sith Lord. After Scott fell and hurt his knee trying to help him I decided he was done and carried him screaming and crying to the car. Ask me how fun it was trying to get skates off both of our feet in the midst of said temper tantrum! On Friday morning I took Aimee to Bikram Yoga and she was a natural! Despite the appalling heat in the room she did great and worked hard. And it was a treat for me to have a yoga friend. Afterward the kids spent the afternoon at Jason's parent's house riding the quads and playing in the mud. Jason's parents built a gorgeous house about forty miles outside of Nashville on twenty acres of land - basically a kid's paradise. Saturday morning we packed up the car and were on the road by 9 am. One would think that spending twelve hours in the car with four young boys would seem like an eternity but the odd thing was it seemed to go by so quickly and somewhat pleasantly. I have to admit that the end was rather comical because Brett, having drank at least thirty ounces of gatorade, had to go to the bathroom about every thirty minutes. It was frustrating but perhaps his parents should not have allowed a child with the bladder the size of a pea drink so much liquid! A few minutes outside of Nashville David started crying and said, "I miss my cousins." That pretty much summed up all our feelings. For me, the most beautiful part of the trip was watching the cousins play together. We are so grateful for our Haslam/Edgeworth family.