Burr. It's cold here. 19 degrees this morning which feels better than the last couple of days sadly. This is below average for Minnesota but at the same time not surprising? But after last weekend's gorgeous weather, it was hard to adjust to needing to put the kids in hats and winter coats! Have I mentioned how over winter I am and long the weekends feels when we can't get outside much?? This, too, shall pass but wow I am ready for warmer weather!
Friday was a quiet night for us. The boys had a long bath after dinner. They are quite the handful in the bath and it gets pretty loud but it's a good way to burn off some energy.
We watched some March Madness basketball after the boys were in bed and were excited to see St. Peters beat Purdue - they are the first 15 seed to make it to the elite 8 and we were cheering for them. I love a good Cinderella story! They ended up losing to UNC on Sunday but it was fun to watch them go further than anyone expected.
It was my turn to get up with Will on Saturday. He started crying on and off around 5 but I was able to leave him in his crib until 6. But of course I did not really sleep during that hour since he was cried periodically. Phil did his usual grocery shopping and we facetimed with my parents later that morning and got to see my niece who is visiting during her spring break. We spent a lot of time in the basement on Saturday since it was too cold to take the boys outside. I am so thankful that our house has a finished basement! Our last house didn't.
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| Will loves this hand-me-down chair. His latest obsession is trying to do summersault off the chair! |
My running partner was on call over the weekend (she's a pediatric urologist) and had to round on Saturday morning so we planned to run at 3 that day in the hopes the wind would have calmed and the temps would be warmer. That did not happen. It was still very cold and windy at 3 so we only ran 2 miles because it was just very unpleasant. Running in the wind is the worst!
On Saturday night, we had a friend over for dinner. I made enchiladas with leftover shredded pork that I'd made earlier in the week and Spanish rice. Our friend brought guac and a really delicious GF layered cake. Both boys enjoyed having a guest, but especially Paul!
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| Will's pose in this photo = how Phil and I feel |
I took Will to swimming lessons that morning which he LOVES. I think he's going to be our water baby. Granted, Paul loved swimming lessons at this age, too, and I wonder what he'd be like now if we didn't have a 1.5 year break from lessons but we'll never know. Hopefully we can convince him to take lessons again in the future when he's a bit older/more rational. ;) He's a HARD NO on swimming lessons right now. But he will need to learn at some point because learning to swim is not optional in our family, especially with my parents living on a lake.
Later that morning, I took Paul to the American Swedish Institute which is a museum not far from our house. They have an amazing play room for kids on the lower level. Apparently the theme of the play room changes based on the featured exhibit in the museum, so right now the theme is dragons. There was lots for the kids to do! They had costumes, dragon-themed books, a taco truck/kitchen area (we think this must have been inspired by the book "Dragons Love Tacos" which is a favorite in our house), and lots of dragon-themed play areas.
Will took a 1.75 hour nap - shorter than we'd like but longer than Saturday's 1.25 hour nap... This adjustment to 1 nap is rough with these early wake ups! After his nap, we got out for a short walk/scooter outing. We were only out for about 20 minutes since it was pretty windy and cool, but we bundled the kids up in winter jackets.
And then time stood still after that. I'm sure other parents can relate. I gave the boys another bath after dinner so that killed some time. But wow time can really crawl when you are cooped up most of the weekend. The play date on Sunday helped but we are all tired of being inside so much!
This week may feature freezing rain and possibly a sloppy snow storm. I'm really selling you on Minnesota, aren't I? I promise I'll be singing a different tune come summer and fall. I love love this state but wow do I hate our never-ending winters!! But in about 8 days, temps will rise to the 50s so things WILL get better.
How was your weekend? What is the weather like where you live?
The Swedish Institute place looks like loads of fun for a kid -- and probably a good way to learn, too. It was bloody cold here and still is. I stayed in. Friday we had dinner at friends' but the rest of the time, hunkered down, watched movies, stayed in. And that was very good. Love the bath pic. Big smiles.
ReplyDeleteI did not know the Swedish institute had a kid section! Good to know! I agree, the sunshine this weekend was so deceiving. I kept expecting it to be warm....and it never was.
ReplyDeleteWell, that sounds like a lot of fun stuff! Reading this makes me nostalgic for all those things you do with kids your kids' ages- like the combo bath time (definitely no "brother baths" happening anymore around here, lol!!!), the children's museum and swim lessons! The little dinner with a friend sounds awesome, too. YUMMY!! I love enchiladas and I definitely love guac!
ReplyDeleteWe are also not loving the freezing cold weather. It was not "warm" where we were, exactly, but it was definitely warmer than here. We got really lucky in Rome and had temps in the low 60's! Even for our couple days in Dublin, it was sunny and 55-60, which felt really good. We had some cooler days the first week in Ireland, but most days we were able to be out with just a light jacket. Or a regular jacket, but we weren't freezing like we would be here. I always hate walking out of the airport in Chicago to a blast of arctic air! ugh that's the worst. :-( It's worse still when you've been somewhere super hot, like Jamaica or Mexico or something!
It can be so hard to endure all the bad weather, but like you - our summers and fall are stunning while everyone in Florida and SC is wilting away.
ReplyDeleteBut oh the winters are brutal.
It snowed and rained today, but I still fit in two outside walks so it wasn't all bad.
I totally agree - running in the wind is the worst! Ugh.
Hope those canines are through soon and sleep gets a whole lot better for everyone in the house!!
Brrr that is cold and I have heard from other parents how hard it is go entertain kids inside, so I don't envy you but it seems like you came up with a lot of fun stuff.
ReplyDeleteI think this cold has been made worse by that short spate of nice days when it was in the 50s and low 60s. If we hadn't had those days, this would seem more bearable. Oh, well. Someday I'll be able to put away my winter coat.
ReplyDeleteThat IS cold! That's colder than it is here for sure. The snow had melted but last night it snowed again - hopefully it will melt in the sunshine today. We shall see! Spring in Calgary, who knows what could happen. It could snow! It could be warm! We could have gale-force winds! No one knows.
ReplyDeleteOh, to be a child again. Adorable kids. Enjoy and keep warm!
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine how rough it is to keep the kids occupied and happy when you can't be outside! SOON! Every place has it's bad season, right? Florida may be nice right now but in another month, it will be so hot that you have to be in water if you're going to be outside!
ReplyDeleteUh, I think the worst part is when you're teased that it may be spring and then it reverts. At least in the deep if winter your expectations are low.
ReplyDeleteIt's been in the 60s here and is supposed to be in the 70s/80s next week. Sorry. We had some lows in the 40s but it has been a pretty mild spring, which probably bodes badly for this year's drought and fire season.
Last weekend I went to a friend's wedding in Brooklyn. They were actually supposed to get married in March 2020 and I flew there for the wedding and then it was cancelled and I flew home. So this has been a long time coming! It was a lot of fun and was my first real "party."