Monday, August 20, 2018

Weekend Recap


Our last weekend before the start of the new school year.  Cue all the tears.

Last week was crazy.  I can’t remember anything prior to Wednesday so I’ll just start there.  My company has been partnering with a charter school in Chicago for quite some time.  We do lots of volunteer work there, donate school supplies, mentor, adopt families during the holidays, and more.  I love the work that we do and the experience is always rewarding.  When the opportunity came to prep the school for the upcoming school year, I initially declined because I’ve been so busy and had a different volunteer meeting planned for that evening, but I changed my mind last minute and went to Chicago.  I spent about 3 hours painting the office area and then headed back to work.  I had a great time and I’m really glad I went.  I just accepted a volunteer position as Executive Board Secretary at S’s preschool and also had my first Board meeting that night.  By 9:45pm, the meeting had already been going for 4 hours and I was completely exhausted.  The discussion was really interesting, but I knew I had to be up at 5:30am the next day so I headed home though the meeting hadn’t quite wrapped up.  Not sure what I got myself into and I’m hopeful that upcoming meetings won’t last as long.  Yikes.

Thursday, I was just so darn tired.  My office had their annual summer gathering and while the food and company were great, I just wanted a nap.  Our CEO announced that in honor of the company’s 10 year anniversary, he was giving everyone the day off on Friday.  Wait.  WHAT?!?!  I was so excited for a surprise free day and after such a busy week, the timing was perfect.

Friday was perfect.  There was initially a chance of rain in the forecast for much of the day, but when we woke up, the chance of rain had diminished.  We had a very slow morning and finally decided we’d head to the Milwaukee Zoo.  The boys had never been to this particular zoo and A and I haven’t visited in several years.  We eventually headed out of the house and when we arrived at the zoo, it was sprinkling rain.  We decided we’d look for a lunch spot and then head into the zoo.  Oddly enough, we couldn’t find any family restaurants near the zoo.  Our options seemed limited to fast food or taverns.  Not what I had in mind.  We eventually decided to try out a little Italian restaurant.  As soon as we opened the door, there was a sign indicating gentleman were not allowed to wear tank tops.  I’m not sure if it was meant to be cute, but of course W was wearing a tank top and I was in ripped jeans.  I was about to turn around, but A suggested we give it a try.  If they didn’t want to seat us, their loss.  We were seated, but the restaurant was clearly not meant for children.  No kids menus, no lids on cups, I was so nervous about making a scene.  BUT.  The food was great, the boys were perfect, and we all really enjoyed lunch.  An elderly man even stopped at our table to compliment the boys’ behavior.  So halleluiah for no spilled drinks, no meltdowns, and no puke. #winning #thistime.

The zoo was awesome.  I had forgotten how great the Milwaukee Zoo was and we all had so much fun.  There was some festival going on with food trucks and live music so we enjoyed treats: shaved Hawaiian ice and popcorn for me, chips and lemonade for the boys.  There were lots of animals to see and after about 3 hours, we decided to head out.









W's stank eye... hahaha

 From the zoo, we headed to my mom’s house for pizza.  A full day, but so much fun.

Saturday, we ran errands.  W suggested a trip to Dairy Queen.  Neither of my boys eat ice cream.  WHAT WHAT?!?  But W had had some type of popsicle (Starkiss) at summer camp and liked it.  I’ll never turn down an opportunity for ice cream so we stopped after grocery shopping.  We took a family walk and spent the rest of the day cleaning and playing.

Sunday, our usual church and Starbucks.  We played dominoes and bingo and had a relatively low key day, which was the perfect ending to summer vacation.

I remember that I declared last summer my favorite summer ever.  Now, that almost feels like it was an invitation for disappointment and sorrow in the year to come.  Like I was destined for struggle.  This summer was the worst I’ve ever experienced.  I wish I could have a redo –with the exception of our trip to Maryland and NYC, I feel like I was cheated.  While I know this school year will be hectic with the boys at different schools, I’m hoping that it will be a happy one.

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