Best Weekend Ever

It really was.

Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

Friday I took the afternoon off work. As someone who only works three afternoons a week, I rarely do that, but I scheduled myself off that day for a good reason. Friday was the first day of the HUGE semi-annual consignment sale in my area, and I love to go and stock up on baby (Toddler!) clothes at great prices. And this year my friend and her 5 month old came up and went with us! The sale wasn't as fruitful as I'd hoped for clothes, but I did end up scoring this toy -in great condition- for $20!

It may seem a bit silly to be buying any type of toy myself being that their birthday is in 2 weeks, but I really couldn't pass up such a great deal. This is the kind of toy that (hopefully) they will play with for months to come, so it seemed like a decent investment. Luke's very favorite thing to do right now is open and close doors...so how could I turn down this opportunity for him?

Even though I didn't stock up on clothes like I'd hoped, we still had a great time. Melissa and I had a good laugh about how times had changed as we loaded our three children into my minivan and headed out. Gone are the days where we'd hop into her two door jeep after work to hit the mall or go grab a cocktail =)...and we wouldn't have it any other way! It was just amusing to see how much stuff we now required to go anywhere and how long it took us to pack up!


Saturday we had our second trial class at Gymboree. The twins just loved it! It sure made a difference being in an age appropriate class versus the all ages one. But, it's still insanely expensive and even if we had a gazillion dollars I don't know if we could justify the expense.


At one point Abbey was so captivated that she stood unassisted for the longest time!



Sunday morning was the big run. As you know, I was not really looking forward to it. I had been training for weeks, but never really enjoying running. And after a rough night (Abbey appears to be going through a heightened level of separation anxiety at night time) and waking up (late) to terrible weather, I was ready to bail on the whole thing. But my husband wouldn't let me, and I am so grateful he didn't =). He got Luke up, and while I nursed the babies he packed up the double stroller and umbrellas, made coffee for us and breakfast to go for the babies. He got them all loaded in the van while I stretched (and cursed) in the living room. Then I grabbed a protein bar and off we went. Traffic was awful, so he dropped me off and went to go find parking. I walked around in the rain and mud and crowds to find the tent where I was to check in and get my number. The 5k ended up starting later than planned, and that was a blessing. It gave me time to really soak in the atmosphere, which was really fun! I had been really down the week before because while the babies were sick I missed a few runs and therefor was behind in my training, so I knew I wasn't going to be able to run the whole time. But, I tried really hard to focus on the fact that this was something I never thought I would do, and I was setting a good example for my children by doing it. And like I said, I did run far more than I could have before I started training, so that's something to be proud of.

And proud I felt!

I was SO happy to run across that finish line that I actually had the insane thought of doing something like this again!

(they only had Youth Small (yeah, right) and Men's X-Large shirts by the time I checked in, so my shirt is giant and my sweatshirt that came off before I even finished mile one is tied around my waist...so I look gigantic here, but happy=) )


David was so great to do whatever it took to keep the babies
happy - and dry- while I ran. I am so lucky!

(Luke playing with Daddy's cell phone -normally not allowed =) )

We came home and I took a LONG shower, and then the four of us just hung out around the house.

Sunday night was the best part. I knew we were going somewhere for my birthday dinner, but I didn't know where. I suspected Olive Garden, since that is my usual go-to restaurant, and David knows that.

We put the twins to bed and my sister Natalie came over to sit on our couch while we went out and the babies slept. David had told me Natalie had arranged for our dinner gift card, so I was waiting for her to get here to find out where we were going. Imagine my surprise when she hands me THREE presents and a STACK of cards!! My entire family all pitched in and got me my very favorite things. A dinner for Dave and I at The Melting Pot. A gift certificate for a ONE HOUR MASSAGE. And some seed money for my future get away to Skamania Lodge.
I about fell over!!

I was seriously in shock.

Do I have the best family in the world or what?????

I had just been telling David that morning that I didn't think anything could beat my birthday last year. It was a day I had spent my entire pregnancy holding my breath for...full term, and we had made it - plus 2 more weeks! God is so faithful...

Anyways, this year's birthday sure gave last year a run for it's money =)