Aunt Jenny came up to visit us the weekend of Martin Luther King Day. She arrived early evening onThursday and was able to stay for the long weekend until Sunday. With Kevin working a lot right now, I was excited when she asked if she could come and visit us and the kids. I was pumped to have her to hang out with, have extra help with the kids, and for company on these long days.
Thursday I had wanted to go to Target and get groceries. I decided to wait until Jen got here so I could have some help with the kids at the store....knowing one of them or both would want to walk and not ride in the shopping cart. After she arrived, we decided before we hit up Target we would stop for supper at Noodles and Company. It's a definite favorite of the twins who are crazy about their mac n' cheese!
our two little dinner dates
The kids were great eaters and quickly together burned through a big bowl of Mac and were still hungry. Thankfully Aunt Jenny shared some of hers...Aunts are the best!
After Noodles, we were on our way to Target. This was definitely an interesting trip. And after all said and done, I was sooo thankful to have Aunt Jenny their for help. While in the car on our way to Target, Kate started commenting about "poopies." She hadn't gone yet that day and I was still trying to figure out this whole dosage thing of the Miralax for her. She continued to complain and rock her body during our shopping at Target. She was pretty upset and uncomfortable, so I decided we better head to the toddler food section to get a can of Lil' Crunchies (toddler Cheetos) to distract her from her poppies problem. It definitely helped for awhile and she ended up eating the whole can with some help from Matthew.
Meanwhile, of course, Matthew didn't last but a few minutes sitting in the shopping cart. He wanted to walk himself. We let him out and for the most part he did do a great job with following and staying by our side. Mr. Matthew has turned into a little shopper. After watching mommy place items into the cart, he thought he needed to as well. Anything from an area off the shelf where he saw me take something off he would grab an item from there and toss it in the cart. He's so little so he had to pretty much heave it over his shoulders into the cart. And every time he put something in he would do a little "victory dance" like he was so proud he just did that! He was cracking both of us up.
So we had one girl crying, shoving in a lil' crunchie, crying, rocking her body, repeat...and then an extra shopping buddy who we had to keep our eyes on so we knew what items he put in our cart. We did pretty good sneaking the items out without him seeing us, but I did end up with a big bottle of mustard. I guess Matt's a fan! :)
Finally, just when we were almost done and ready to check out, Katers had success with her poopies. Jen instantly smells it. We decided to still both go through the check-out and deal with the diaper afterwards. Kate wasn't a happy camper (and I'm sure the check-out worker didn't like the smell) but we powered through and then headed right to the bathrooms. Like I said, don't know what I would have done without having an extra set of hands. I took and changed Kate in the family bathrooms, and Jen stayed with Matthew and our full cart of groceries. She had a big mess, but luckily nothing got on her clothes. Phew, survived Target!
On our way home we decided to stop at the Red Box right by my house and get a few movies to watch. I parked right next to the outside Red Box machines. Both Jen and I looked through the movies leaving the kids in the car right in our sight. Only being gone just a few minutes, we came back to our vehicle only to immediately smell another surprise as we opened the car doors! Kate had gone again. This time we weren't so lucky! We quickly headed home. Unloaded Matthew and turned on Mickey Mouse to keep him distracted and out of the way. I got Kate out of the car to find her clothes covered. Jenny started the bath and together we undress her and got her cleaned up the best we could before dunking her in the bathtub. Again, so glad to have Jenny's help!!! Jen stayed with her in the tub while I went and got her clothes cleaned and laundry started and quickly tackle unloading the refrigerated grocery items. I got back to help Jen get Katers cleaned and soaped up. So happy Matthew stayed put in the living room this whole time. Didn't need his help in all of this mess.
We then got both kids dressed in their pj's, groceries unpacked, and kids off to bed finally around 9:00. A later night for the twins. We were exhausted! Kevin got home soon after the kiddos went to bed and the three of us decided to watch one of our movies, "Pitch Perfect". A great funny way to end our night!
Friday morning before our ECFE class, Kate had her second Chiropractor appointment. I'm trying a Chiropractor to help with her constipation problems. I was happy the appointment worked out for when Jenny was here so she could hold Matthew while I was with Kate. Appointment went well and both kids were great troupers. We had some time to burn before heading to class so we stopped at the McDonald's drive-thru for breakfast sandwiches and fries. I knew the kids would start asking for "flies" once they saw the drive-thru. I know, super mom letting them have fries in the a.m.
We then headed to our Friday class. So happy that Jenny could come along with us and see what we all do. We took some pictures at class. It was a sports theme this week!
Sensory table filled with salt for an ice hockey rink.
Playing together with Aunt Jen
Shooting some hoops
The teacher even had a Mickey Mouse sports book! Katers loved reading it!
Friday night, Kevin got home at an earlier time so we cooked tacos for a family supper. We played with the kiddos and then put them to bed.
Hiding something in one of the compartments
One of his favorite toys!!
Kevin decided to go to bed early. He was tired and had to work again in the morning. Boo! Jen and I decided to watch one of our chic flicks we had rented, "Friends with Kids". We also wanted to try and make Marshmallow Carmel Popcorn from a recipe we saw on Pintrest. We documented our cooking. We're professionals. ;)
Nice stirring Jen!
Pouring our melted mixture over the popcorn
Our finished product - and it tasted yummy!
We started our Saturday morning off with lots to do. First we took Matthew to get his hair cut at Kids' Hair. I was wanted to get it cut again, the third time already, and knew having Jenny there to go with would be the perfect time. We packed the kids up and headed to the suburb next to ours.
Pictures before we left for our morning out on the town
Love Katers face!
Haircut Time!
First time with a sucker. It definitely did the trick of distracting him. Plus, Mickey Mouse was playing, too!
Spiked it all up before cutting it off!
All done and looking like a stud with his new haircut and gelled spiked hair. I liked the front spiked so well I bought some of their kids' gel to do it at home.
Got a sticker for being so awesome!
Picture with Jenny afterwards
Side view of the new style and enjoying a 2nd sucker
Next stop, Old Navy. I wanted to look there for Valentine's Day shirts for the twins. Plus, Jen and I had fun doing some shopping for ourselves too. By the end of our Old Navy trip both Kate and Matt were very ready to be done!
Kate and Matthew got balloons at the check-out for being super shoppers. The balloons have become a new favorite toy around our house now.
It was now lunch time so we went to a favorite of ours - Panera!
I had packed some fruit, cheese, and crackers to go along with their lunch at Panera. They were hungry and chowed it all down. Love these two messy faced lunch dates!
We got back to our house and put the kids down for their nap. We then watched our third movie, "The Odd Life of Timothy Green". It was one we knew Kevin wouldn't want to watch.
Then on Sunday we packed up and the three of us drove to Iowa with Jenny. I had planned on going to stay in Iowa for that week while Kevin's in busy season. It worked out perfect I could go back with Jenny instead of family coming and picking the kids and I up half way at the IA/MN border.
The four of us loved having Aunt Jenny visited. Kate and Matthew loved all of the extra attention, I thoroughly enjoyed the company and help, and Kevin was happy I had an extra set of hands while he's busy at work. We can't wait for her to come and visit again!
Love you Aunt Jen!
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