Countdown to the move - Day 16

Today was a great day.

But I meant to include this little story in yesterday's post because the craziest thing happened... a car flipped through an intersection and crashed into a house in Wheaton yesterday afternoon. In our neighborhood at a major cross street, 3 blocks from our house. And the man who's doing the painting inside our house this week was sitting at the stoplight when it happened, and helped pull someone out of the car! Yikes. You can't really tell from this picture but the house had to be boarded up because apparently the house as well as that tree were damaged.

ANYWAYS...

Today I had decided that we wouldn't pack up and go to my parents' house. I was too tired to wrap my mind around what I had to do to make that happen last night, and my awesome mom offered instead to come out here to stay with the girls so that I could pick Robbie up from preschool while they started their naps.

So our morning went like this: get everyone up and out the door by 8ish, out of the painter's way. Get donut holes (kids) and coffee (me) on the way to preschool drop off. Take Robbie into his class, where one of his teachers casually commented on the fact that I looked sunburned and had I...? No, I quickly interjected, we hadn't gone on vacation someplace warm, I just didn't have any makeup on. {Yes, it was embarrassing for both of us. No, I will probably not show up at preschool without having showered and gotten ready ever again.} Then the girls and I headed to the gym. To work out? Nope, not today. Just to take advantage of that childcare I pay for monthly, whether or not I use it. The girls played in the childcare area while I showered and got ready in the locker room, and I left feeling guilty that I hadn't really 'earned' the shower! I also wish I had actually exercised, but I hadn't planned enough time to do so, thinking I'd be too tired.

Oh well. At least no one would be asking if I'd been on vacation when I picked Robbie up! Ha.

Well-hid freckles beneath Laura Mercier's magic-in-a-tube. We all have our secrets.

I brought the girls home, and my mom was here to greet us. She helped get the girls down for naps while I turned back around to pick Robbie up from preschool. I brought him home, and because there is wet paint in most of the downstairs portion of our house, we stayed upstairs. My mom left, and Robbie rested on my bed with me until Ellie woke up. Then we had a picnic lunch of finger food that is not messy and entertained ourselves in my bedroom until Maddie woke up (Leapsters for the kids, blogging for mommy).

Everyone's lunch location was unconventional today, and Maddie was no exception as she was served her baby food in the foyer.

I wanted to keep out of the house as much as possible, and it was a gorgeous afternoon (with a major snowstorm predicted for tonight/tomorrow), so we hit the streets of downtown Wheaton.

First stop: to see our favorite local pooch, Quincy, at mommy's favorite baby boutique, The Stork's Cradle. See him in the window?

Sweetest dog ever. The kids love him almost as much as I love Bonnie and Julie, the mother/daughter who own and run the store.

{This is the same window that those adorable ballerinas danced inside at Christmastime! }

Next up, a walk around the block to The Popcorn Shop for gummy worms and then on to Starbucks for mom's coffee (yes, that's the second cup of the day, stop counting). As if on cue, several trains passed by, freight AND commuter, always highly entertaining to everyone.

{Robbie is in a sensitive phase sensory-wise right now, plugging his ears if anything is remotely loud. This has caused problems at preschool with potty training, as the automatic toilets in the bathroom adjacent to his room unnerve him to the point that he refuses to go alone while he's there. To be fair, they flush while he's sitting there if he leans too far forward on his knees, and who enjoys THAT?!}

Monkey see... she is clearly not concerned with the noise.

I gave the kids 2 quarters to spend at The Popcorn shop and helped them put 5 gummy worms and one strip of colored sugar dots into each of their little white bags.

The deal was ONE gummy worm could be eaten immediately, and another after dinner if their meals were eaten. Ellie shoved an entire worm into her mouth before I could finish explaining the rules, and had a death grip on a second worm before I could snatch her bag away. Little turkey.

Waiting at the corner for the stoplight to change, with my goofy toddlers.

I picked up a vanilla latte and we walked another block or two over to the library, cutting through Adams Park just as the sun was setting. The result was a slew of gorgeous pictures that I could not resist posting in their entirety, for my future blog book's sake:

The kids know exactly how to get to the children's section and eagerly push the elevator buttons, march inside the elevator, and promptly sit down for the ride to the lower level.

We always stop to check out the newest collection in the display cabinets.

Then on to select a handful of books to read on the couch. Robbie picks the same train books every time, occasionally finding a new one he's never read before like today.

He's growing up so fast - he sat on the couch by himself for 20 minutes or so, just paging through his books contentedly. I was nearby and just let him have his quiet moment.

Busybody Ellie ran from toy to puzzle to activity station, surprising me with her complete knowledge of all of the shapes on the puzzles, including hard ones like oval (not circle) and diamond (not square). She's a smart cookie.

Our "Library Haul"...

Robbie mentioned that he wanted a hot dog for dinner, and since it was only 4:30pm I decided that we would stop at Shane's Deli on the way back to the car.

We barely made it to Shane's before Robbie had a complete meltdown. Our 2 or 3 block walk was peppered with mini fits and protests to all the walking, and he begged to be carried a few times (I don't give in, we are working on stamina and being a big boy, etc. in the wake of his complete refusal to nap). At some point while I was distracted we lost Ellie's Nalgene sippy cup, which annoys me to no end when those things disappear because 1) they hold the most liquid of all the kids' cups, 2) they are spill-proof, and 3) they aren't cheap.

But we made it to Shane's and had a hot dog party once I found the only door my double stroller would fit through (embarrassing).

Thankfully the car was parked right outside the restaurant and so we packed up and headed home to greet daddy when he came home from work. I fed the kids a second dinner of yogurt and melon, and then we headed upstairs to put Maddie to bed and get pj's on.

Ellie got distracted and attempted to try on her new bathing suit by herself.

She absolutely kills me. I wish we could have our own reality show (not really) so that someone is always filming her. It's impossible to convey her hilarity via the blog, unless you just witness it for yourself.

{TRIPOD!}

Oh dear. I love this girl so much. I think I fell deeper in love with all 3 of my kids today, if that is possible.

That adorable little swimsuit is a size '4 years'. {Ellie is 2 years old.} And it's snug on her, so I have to take it back for a size 5. To be fair, Gap's children's swimsuits seem to always run small. But that sweet belly isn't messing around, and the suit is nearly edible so size 5 it is!

Doesn't she look like a cross between a cupcake, a ballerina, and a flapper girl? And a teenager.

We put the kids to bed and I got take out salads for Rob and I for dinner. We watched the monitor in amazement as the kids fought sleep and jumped/sang/happy-screamed in their cribs. After numerous trips to their bedroom for shushing and eventually threats to separate them from one another {the ultimate punishment} they finally fell asleep.

And now it's our turn! Another wonderful day. Goodnight.