While Papa Was Away......

The kids were kept at play.....

Monday we started off with a bike ride/run, then went to the craft store to pick up some projects for the week. But for behavior reasons, we waited until Tuesday to do those : )Monday night was all about staying up late watching the Teen Choice awards.
Tuesday was craft day and meeting day. The kids painted ceramic figures and then glued them to wood bases which they also painted. There were also boxes they picked out, which got painted, too. Wednesday was movie day. We went to the $1 movie and then the arcade, which we never do and is quite the treat! We had planned on a hike, but it was a whopping 58 degrees out, so we postponed the hike and went to the yogurt shop instead(where yogurt is 40 cents an ounce and we all eat for under $9!). We came home and for some reason I decide to undertake a huge project. I moved a large, heavy hutch/desk from our bedroom into Emma's room. It involved unhooking various routers, cable boxes, tv's, hard drives...other random computerish things that I don't' even really know what they do, but I took pics of all the cables and what they were attached to and was able to re hook everything back up when all was said and done. Emma loves her 'new room' and all the nooks and crannies to stash her valuables so that Myles can't reach them. After that...more painting for the kids. I picked up some canvas's for $2 each and they had a blast splatter painting those! Wednesday night was spent snuggled in watching So You Think You Can Dance.
Thursday we got the house cleaned up for papa's return. Then, we headed out on the promised hike. I was so glad we decided to wait a day as it was a stunningly beautiful day! One of those days that the colors all seem brighter and more vivid. We started off in the high 70's and finished up in the mid 80's. It was a warm hike, little shade, but we had done this one before many times, and the chickens did great! Nature was out and about everywhere. We saw deer, gophers, lizards, and of course, turkey vultures. It's about a 5 mile hike, but w/a bit of elevation gain. Myles handled it like a champ for a almost 4 year old. He didn't ask me to hold him, which is a first. I would ask from time to time if he was ok and he would say, "yeah, but my legs hurt", or sometimes "my feet hurt", but even with that, he was having fun the whole time. We cut down to the reservoir trail when Soph and Myles started to get a bit pink and we were on the last half of the water. There was still about a mile to go after we got down to lake level.
After "refueling" at the bottom on their favorite foods (they are 3,6,and 8, just hiked 5 miles, and deserve some 'kid food') they attempted to play at the park, but everyones batteries were running low. So...we headed to the yogurt shop again...I know, 2 days in a row, right?? But it was needed. We cooled down, relaxed for a few minutes, then headed home for naps. We got home about 3:30 and the kids slept until 7 ish. I puttered, making sure the house was sparkling for papa's return. Finished up some laundry, did some random wife/mom stuff. Once the kids were up, we had dinner, watched the finale So You Think You Can Dance, then headed out to the back yard w/chairs and blankets. We settled in to watch the meteor shower until about 11:45. The kids saw a few, but its a bit like fishing, have to just be patient and wait....we saw about 6 in almost 2 hours. We'll try again tonight if they make it up that late again! We headed to get Brian from BART at midnight, got him home near 1 this morning.
So, I have to say, after the first day, time started to go by quick. I really enjoyed these past few days with the kids. It sort of morphed into just enjoying my time with them, the last week before school activities resume, and I don't' see them all day. I love my family, and am happy Brian's home!
I am anxious to get back into some sort of a running routine as it wasn't a priority this week. Hoping to get a few good runs in this weekend!
There are tons more pics from the week here.