I'm Outta Here!

Well I did it.

I left ALL of my kids for the first time in two years. I was quite overdue for a break, let me tell you. They were left in the very capable hands of their father, though, so I knew I didn't have to worry a bit and could relax on my special trip out to the land of California! I headed out west for a SISTERSFEST for Clark's side of the family.   Seven of us traveled from all over to meet up and we were only missing one who couldn't make it.  So we had quite the group!

Although flying anywhere on Southwest these days takes triple the amount of time as other airlines, it was nice not to worry or stress about time, delays, seating, etc... I just went with the flow, read my book, and made my way toward the Pacific. I was scooped up from the airport by waiting family and we all made our way to Windsor later that day. After my trip to Idaho with Leah last summer, I learned I needed more warm clothes when traveling during the summer to climates that weren't 107 degrees with 100% humidity everyday. So I was prepared with sweatshirts and pants when I landed in San Francisco.

Because I had been traveling since 2:30am pacific time and eating granola bars and peanuts all day, it was so nice to finally reach our hotel around dinner time, get into pajamas, and eat some delicious pizza, fruit, and rolls. We explored where we were staying, located the fitness room (which was quite the hot spot the next morning), and didn't waste anytime before diving into some fun games.

The course of the weekend was full of some pool time (kind of chilly that particular afternoon which is why we're all covered up...relaxing nonetheless),

Pedicures by Amy during our Downton Abbey marathons,

Loving on Cal, the newest member of the family,

Hot tubbing,

Poolside chats and naps,

Dinner out on the town at a yummy diner,

 

and a Justin Bieber birthday party!  Lucky for me, my birthday happened to fall on our SISTERSFEST weekend.  Clark was probably glad he didn't have to make me a cake.  :)  I woke up on Sunday morning to a fullly Bieberfied hotel room!  Mom woke up in the 5am hour to make sure everything was in place and decorated.  It was awesome and I had a good laugh.  I mean, what grown woman doesn't like Justin Bieber?  We enjoyed Justin's presence that day and had a delicious crockpot birthday meal complete with my favorite, strawberry shortcake, for dessert.  We tried to eat the dessert at the exact time I was born, 7:35pm, but soon realized we had already missed the moment because of the time change.  Dang!  The shortcake was delicious anyway.

I felt totally spoiled and special and even had gifts to open!  All of which were very thoughtful and appreciated.  I felt lucky to be surrounded by such incredible woman who love me despite my current obsessions, likes, dislikes, quirks, etc...  Isn't family great that way? 

 

We spent the whole of my birthday lounging around, hanging by the pool, and talking.  Perfectly my style.  Sadly weekends like that always fly by but I knew after four days Clark was ready to have me home again!  I can't thank Clark enough for giving me a little break to renew and recharge.  He's superdad.  No doubt about it.   Of course the first thing the kids asked me when I went in to get them the next morning was, "where's Dada?"  Apparently my homecoming wasn't all that exciting.

Looks like I may have to leave more often!!   :)

You're Invited!

...to a party that will be 'BUCKETS OF FUN!'  Each attendee will receive their own bucket which will be decorated upon arrival.  At the appointed time, all attendees (I estimated 15-20 two-year-olds) will be let loose in the backyard to fill up their buckets!  There will be a dozen large standing buckets in the backyard full of goodies, balls, cars, toys, etc... ready for the taking.  Whatever fits in the personal bucket can be kept and taken home!

Once the small buckets are full, the big ones empty, and toddlers are tired, we'll call it a day and send everyone home with their fun stuff and a rice krispies in the shape of the number two.

Quick, easy, stress free.  These are our invitation pictures...

Adorable right?  Party prep was coming together nicely.

Until I actually attended several two-year-old parties during these past couple months.  Now...the parties we attended were well organized and put together, food was awesome, and had great turnouts.  But my kids were CARAZY and made it very clear to me that I'm not interested in throwing a party this year.  Up to two months ago, I was set to go since last year we only had a tiny celebration with just us.

BTW, this is ALL personal opinion and not directed at anyone who plans to or who has ever thrown a party for a two year old.  

So back to the part where my kids were CARAZY.  I mean, they were around brand new toys, all of which were way fun, so that contributed to the craziness.  They aren't great at sharing (contrary to what most people believe about multiples) and HATE taking turns.  There was so much toy stealing, toy monopolizing, screaming AND kicking fits, me sweating while I'm trying to navigate all the drama, large toys such as slides being used incorrectly by my trio thus ruining it for the other 17 toddlers, spitting cupcakes out, rubbing frosting ALL over, refusing to participate in organized activities, yelling "no! no! no! no! no!" over and over, me still sweating while holding two kids on my hips while the third takes a turn on whatever toy, etc...  You get the point.

I love my kids.  And I love parties.......for other people.  But I do not love three two-year-olds who act CARAZY during events that have been planned and prepped for, cooked for, and stressed about.  I know I would be super disappointed if I put a ton of time AND not to mention money into a party that I think is awesome while the trio just fought, cried, and whined the whole time over silly things.  Which would inevitably happen.  I'm clearly an optimist.  :)

Oh, I should also mention that our kids are normally NOT defiant, ill-mannered, rude, or physically abusive.  But every two-year-old just has a little bit of CARAZY in them, ours are no exception, and you never know how or when it's going to present itself.  Their CARAZY apparently presents at birthday parties with an intimidating number of toddlers.  Maybe it's just behavior that stems from a defense mechanism.  I don't know.  See...I've tried to justify and figure it out and say that when it's OUR party it will be different.  Then I realized there is a common thread among all this...

THEY ARE TWO...multiplied by three!

My stress tolerance isn't built up enough for hosting a party.  Maybe three years will be better.  Although I may attend some three-year-old parties next summer and have the same feelings.  So after validating my thoughts with some family members, it's been decided that there will be NO party happening.  I'm not sad about it at all either.  Which is funny because, seriously, I was dead set and about to send out invites.  That bucket picture is just too cute not to share though which is why I posted all this useless information about a party that isn't happening.  :)

The bucket pictures will now be their official two-year-old photos and we'll take some on the actual day here in a few weeks of course.  Since we're all in the spirit of buckets, I decided to share a few more bucket pictures.  Who needs a pool when they can sit in big buckets of water?

Fence-front view...

Don't judge me.  I've had to get creative in this summer heat and not surprisingly, they loved the big buckets to have their own personal pools. 

So there is my party saga.  Stay tuned for next year's party.

Maybe.