Hubby is TDY this week. With people he knows and likes. In Orlando. Rough, I know. Back home, I'm making a valiant effort to save our summer. Ok, not that our whole summer was a bust. But, it was rough. Travelling, living in a hotel, house hunting, living at my parents, projects, unpacking...we had a lot going on and I doubt our little people would say it was all enjoyable. Heck, I didn't enjoy much of it! It was the summer of getting things done that needed to get done. And now we are starting to settle in and find our new groove here in the south. But, all those changes put lil' peanut into a tailspin that he has yet to recover from. Sadly, we've lost some of the ground we'd gained over the past year in the area of attachment. Parenting him has been really challenging these last two months. My patience has been maxed out and my spirit has definitely grown weary. It sure hasn't helped that the boys also experienced some regression in their relationship and I've spent most every waking minute running interference between the two of them. Some days it's been tough to find the joy in parenting...and I've hated that feeling at the end of the day. I know C misses his friends and it's been sad for him not having any one his age to play with since we moved. He started soccer last week and the way his face lit up when he ran out onto the field with tons of other 6 and 7 year olds was just awesome.
So, yeah. It hasn't been an easy breezy summer. A few days before hubby left I was dreading his week away, wishing it was happening after C was already back in school. Then the night before he left I decided to change my attitude. This week was not going to be the longest week ever. It was going to be the best! Or at least better than our last few weeks. I started to be thankful that I got one more week with C at home before he started school. And I'm working hard to be intentional this week. Intentional about having fun with my kids and enjoying them. Doing things that I know they will love. First up was a trip to the library on Monday morning where C scored 5 Pokémon books (now that is a good morning for him) and we cashed in on some summer reading program prizes. Then we took our picnic lunch and headed to a splash park. C loved it! We've been to one other little splash pad already, but we were the only ones there. This place was bigger and much busier. Which was perfect for my social butterfly. He was in heaven running around and playing with the other kids. It took lil' peanut over an hour to warm up to the idea of playing in the water. He mostly just sat at the picnic table with me and snacked until he finally had a change of heart. And once he got out there he was laughing and spinning in circles and having just as much fun as his big brother. We stayed for about 3 hours and then came home for a bit of rest time before we headed to C's soccer practice.
I didn't get any pictures at the splash park, but I have a ton from today's adventure. The Space Center. We almost closed the place down, just shy of 7 hours. Yes, you read that right. SEVEN hours! I don't get them often, but I definitely earned a super mom star today. ;) The membership fees were really reasonable (especially since we were able to get 3 individuals vs. a family membership since kids under 4 are free!) so I'm excited that we can go back whenever we want now.
Ready for takeoff!
He spent a good bit of time when we first got there with this look on his face. He was scared to try a lot of things. It almost always takes this little guy time to warm up to a new situation. Good thing we were there long enough for him to conquer all his fears!
Getting ready to climb the rock wall. So fun! And free, yay!
This is his 2nd attempt near the end of our day. He went up so much higher than the first time. He could have kept going. He didn't fall off or anything, just started climbing back down. I think he might get a little freaked out way up there. ;)
Lil' peanut said he was "scared the wheels" hence the reason he is standing so far away for the picture.
In the lego pit.
This is how we spent 7 hours there. The giant, angry birds playground. There are even bleachers set up for parents to sit and wait for their kids. You can see parts of the playground, and there are 4 video screens to help you keep track of your kids, but there were seriously times when I wouldn't see C for 20 minutes before he would run out smiling. He had a great time in there. So did lil' peanut once he finally decided to give it a try.
This was right as we were headed out the door and was probably my favorite part of the day. There was a NASA version of the Gangnam Style music video playing and the boys danced their little hearts out.
As we were walking out to the car there was no whining about wanting to stay longer or not getting a toy at the gift shop. Instead this happened..."Thank you Mom! We were there for such a long time!" Wow. Thank you little one for topping off my love tank. Seriously. Love.
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