1-Urth Mama: Footloose and Fancy Free!

Our little three day weekend seemed like a month. It was crazy packed!

We kicked off the weekend on Friday by having a picnic after Paprika got out of school. Ginger was so good helping me pick Paprika up at school (she wore clothes and shoes and held my hand on the walk to the classroom!)- so Ginger got to pick our destination for our picnic.

We went to the park with the ducks to see if we could see the baby ducklings again. Pay no attention to the fact these ducklings look one month older than the ones in our driveway. The girls are insisting they are the same! ;-)

Mr. M has been working on a new movie up in Santa Barbara, but he came home Friday night. He wanted to take the girls out for ice cream, so we went to Baskin Robbins at 10pm! Eeek! They were so sugar-ed up after that, they didn't go to sleep until midnight. Ahhhh, the weekend. :-)

Saturday was the most gorgeous, sunny day. Paprika had swim lessons. Then after that, we went over to our friend/neighbor's pool to swim for the day. I was lazy (okay, busy taking care of Violet) and only got this one picture.

Needless to say, a great time was had by all. What is better than playing with Barbies in the pool?

Mr. M had to work every day this weekend up in Santa Barbara, so on Sunday, he took the big girls up to spend time with Grandma and have a playdate with one of Paprika's friends. Paprika is friends with the daughter of the director of the movie. So, while Mr. M was working on the movie at their house, Paprika got to play with a friend the whole day. She loved that! Ginger stayed with Grandma, who took her on a few adventures - the farmer's market and the playground!

Baby Violet was teething big time, so I didn't want to drive her up to Santa Barbara and risk getting stuck in horrible holiday traffic. So, I just stayed home with her. She was sorta miserable with her teeth coming through on Sunday, but by Sunday night two teeth had popped through and she was feeling much better.

So, on Sunday and Monday, it was just me and baby Violet. It was the first time I've been alone with just her for more than an hour or two, and it was awesome! :-)

Now, I did miss my big girls so much that I cried the first night. I have never been away from Paprika for the night except for when I've been in the hospital giving birth. Ginger has spent the night a few times at Grandma's house in Santa Barbara (when Mr. M was working on the movie up there earlier this year). It is so hard for me to be away from them, I missed them so much!

But...it was soooooo easy with just one baby. Wow. I felt like every day, I could do anything and everything. I lived like 12 lifetimes in one day. Seriously.

We went to the beach both days.

We went to Target.

Returned clothes at Old Navy. Then went shopping for more clothes- why not?!

Dropped by a friend's house.

Went grocery shopping.

Cleaned out the garage.

Organized the girls' closets.

Took Daisy for a long walk.

Went to an Open House in my neighborhood.

Cleaned the whole house like a boss.

Did five billion loads of laundry (maybe a few less, but who's counting?!)

Took Violet to a new park I'd never visited.

We even went for a four mile hike along the coast.

I just remember how when Paprika was a baby, it all seemed so overwhelming. And now with just one baby plus Daisy dog, it seemed so easy.

For example, the first day when I pulled up to the beach with just Baby Violet in the car, I parked next to this couple with a baby Violet's age. When I parked, they had already been there awhile and were unloading their stroller, packing their diaper bag, and arguing about how many diapers to take...how many blankets, how much baby snacks to bring. I pulled the van in my spot, changed Violet's diaper (in the van), strapped her in the Ergo, and was down at the beach by the time they still had not left their spot.

I remember how hard it was those first months with a new baby - if I could go back with the experience I have now, I wonder what I could do in a day! With three young kids, I often feel in over my head. I bet if I had six kids, I would think just three was a breeze. Anyway, this weekend I was glad for the perspective.

So, late last night my whole crew came home. I was so glad to see them. I really struggled with anxiety while they were gone (what if this or that were to happen to them?) I let out a big sigh when they came home. Paprika and Ginger were both snuggled in their beds and I could go watch them breathe. ;-)

Well, that was the weekend. The first half was a whirlwind of swimming and park picnics. The second half was a lot of snuggling baby Violet and doing whatever the heck else I wanted to do! I have not felt that footloose and fancy free in a long time. It was perfect.