What an amazing weekend!

It started off with Ryan going down to Athens on Thursday because the annual golf outing was Friday that my dad always takes the kids to. They had a banquet Thursday night, so John’s parents babysat him and they had a blast! They went to the OU football field and ran and ran :) Ryan was in Heaven! And then when we talked to him Thursday night, he and Jody were laying out on the back deck counting stars and looking at the moon. Mark held the phone out there and we just listened to him…eleven stars! :) And then John talked to him and told him that he was looking at the moon too, and Ryan’s response was priceless “But I’m looking at the moon at Grandma’s…are you kidding me?”

John and I took off work Friday because we were going away for the night. So I got the kids off to school Friday morning, and then I took Colton over to my office so that people could see him (they hadn’t seen him since he was a newborn!). After that, we headed home and finished packing up until the babysitter arrived. The girl we had babysitting was a girl from church who had just finished up her first year in college and who is AMAZING! She is actually going to nanny for our neighbors this summer :) So when she got there, I walked her through everything and got ready to head out. The plan was great – Josh and Kylie were going with John’s parents that night to a hotel nearby, Ryan was already down in Athens with my dad, so Laura pretty much only had Colton!

John and I then headed up to Canton to a winery there (Gervassi). We were hesitant as we got closer (we were driving through the ghetto!), but then all of a sudden, we passed by some beautiful houses and boom! there it was! Let me tell you, it was gorgeous! They had villas to stay in, and in each villa, there were four bedrooms and a common area, and a patio out back with furniture. The villas surrounded a pond, so there were beautiful views when you sat outside! The room itself was gorgeous! Stone everywhere, a fireplace and a gorgeous stone-filled bathroom. The common area was stocked with wine glasses, bottle openers and corkscrews, and complimentary pop, water, juice and yogurt. After unloading the car, we headed down to the marketplace to grab a couple bottles of wine and went back to the patio. We sat outside for two hours drinking wine and just enjoying the gorgeous weather and view. At 5:30 we went to the Bistro for dinner and had split a wonderful garlic-white pizza and prosciutto/mozzarella salad. Unfortunately, it started storming while we were in there and we had walked to the restaurant :( But luckily, it was only sprinkling when it was time to leave! The rest of the evening was spent relaxing. We got to watch TV in bed and not have to take care of any kids!

We slept until about 7:45 the next morning, and again, just hung out in bed for a while! They served a complimentary breakfast that was delivered to the common area in a box with our room number. John went out and brought it in and it was amazing! A huge cinnamon roll, blueberry muffins, a mini egg dish (not quite sure what was in it), fresh fruit and some homemade granola-type bars. Fabulous!

After breakfast, we checked out and went over to the Hartville Kitchen, which was a place that I used to go to all the time growing up when I lived up there. Home cooking at its finest! They have the best fried chicken and noodles ever! We ate a great lunch, shopped around the gift shop a little, and then got a little dessert and some noodles to take home! Then it was time to head home :(

The rest of the day was spent playing outside. John and Josh went to baseball practice, and then John mowed the grass. I played with Colton, and when he was napping, I played baseball with Josh, my dad and the neighborhood boys. Then Dad went and grabbed us Taco Bell for dinner and we called it a night.

Sunday was crazy, as are all Sundays during football season :) We went to church, came home and grabbed some quick lunch (Colton fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep when I put him in his crib), and packed up to leave again. I knew I had to bring something for Colton to eat, but he’s at such a hard age right now – I can’t just pack a sandwich for him. So I packed up the leftover pancakes that were in the fridge :)

We got to the game and as soon as we got in our places, Colton was ready to eat! So I fed him the pancakes, which of course, he loved. The only problem? They were chocolate chip pancakes, and it was 80 degrees outside :) But I didn’t care because he was content and I got to watch most of the game :) But he was a mess to clean up, that’s for sure! Joshie had a great game with some great flag pulls and a touchdown!

After the game we headed home and I tried to put Colton down for a nap. Just to recap…Colton had only slept 1 hour and 15 minutes so far at 3:30, and Ryan had not napped at all. But Colton was not napping, so we loaded everyone up and went to the grocery store.

The older kids went into the Eagle’s Nest (play area) and they were doing this neat thing where they could shop for and wrap a Mother’s day present! So they did that while John, Colton and I shopped. Colton was getting pretty cranky at the end of the trip but we made it out of there! The downside was that we had 10 minutes to unload and put things away and then we had to go to dinner with our friends in from PA that we only get to see once a year.

So now it’s 5:40 PM and Colton falls asleep in the car, so add about 15 minutes onto his total naptime for the day. Ugghhh! But we had to go to dinner…there was no way we could miss that! And honestly, outside of the normal entertaining we have to do with him at a restaurant, he was a great kid! And all the other kids sat at a table by themselves and we didn’t have to do anything for them…even Ryan! The older girls all took care of him! It was a great glimpse into the future :)

After dinner we all went out for ice cream and got a great picture of the kiddos afterwards. It’s always sad when it’s time to leave – these were our best friends for so many years! But I do love how every time we get together, it’s like we were never apart. After all that, we came home and gave quick baths and got everyone into bed…by 9:10. So Ryan did not have a nap, and Colton only had an hour and a half nap the whole day. Absolutely crazy! But an awesome weekend and both Ryan and Colton were in wonderful moods when I left this morning!