Living Spontaneously

Wow.  It's been a while since I posted.  The funny thing is that we have been so busy that I haven't had time to post.  But when I realized how long it had been, and went to write a bunch of crazy catch up posts, I realized that there wasn't really anything to post.  A lot of the everyday mundane...but even that didn't have pictures (it is only good if it comes with pictures).  And then I remembered our recent big adventure...

It all started on a very normal Monday.  We spend the morning trying to catch up on laundry (me) and playing outside with the neighbor girl (the twins).  We ate a normal lunch where Lucas and I talked about our plans for the rest of the day, and then he went back to work, the kids went to their rooms for quiet time, and I tackled a little more laundry.  Later we went to the library, and it was on the way to the library that I started to think about our early summer travel schedule - specifically, when and if we would get Up North to see Nana and Poppy in the near future.  I decided to stop by the church to talk it over with Lucas.  At some point, during this conversation, we realized that the best time to go would be that night...and an hour and a half after thinking we needed to figure out a time to go, we were packed and in the van on our way!  

We called ahead to let Nana and Poppy know about our surprise, and got a surprise of our own - Uncle Logan, Aunt Mindy, and the cousins were going to be there too!  We thought about cancelling the trip...since we hadn't been planning it forever or anything.  But we decided to go up anyways (read: we decided to totally crash their trip).  While it was certainly more hectic, I think everyone had fun:

 Nana and the crazy kiddos

(I love how D is barely peeking out of all of the big kids, and Allie is looking serious and pensive...about her cookie...)

 Poppy and the crazy kiddos

 We spent a lot of time at the park.

 Allie kept kicking off her shoes.  And she would NOT stop playing to get them back on.  I was constantly searching the park for stray shoes...and then chasing her down to put them back on.

 Swings!

The 2 person swings were a big hit...

...especially with the adults...

At one point I ended up with almost every kid in the park (only 1 didn't join us) on the merry-go-round.  It was fun to see a bunch of kids who didn't know each other bond while spinning.

 Bedtime for sleepy kiddos (and grandparents)

 One of the things I did was take a kid each morning for some special mommy time.  I rarely get one-on-one time with the twins.  Mostly because I know Lucas will have to watch the other, and I hate to take away from his work time.  So time alone with 1 child usually involves grocery shopping - while Lucas takes the other to run a different errand - and it isn't very focused on them. While there, it hit me that Lucas was already taking the time off and had other adults for backup - if it wasn't the perfect opportunity, I didn't know what was.

Allie wanted to spend the entire morning at the beach.  We walked along the shore, collected shells, threw rocks in the water, and then climbed out on the rock pier and ate yogurt.

 I knew it was a hit when the kids woke up extra early to get their time with mommy in.  And I enjoyed every minute.

Ryan and I went to "Old MacDonalds" for breakfast and then the park - where he went up and down the giant twisty slide at least 50 times.

 It was spontaneous.  It was a whirlwind.  It was jam packed.  It was so much fun.  We will have to go on spontaneous trips more often.  So, if your phone rings and you see it is us calling, be prepared.  We might be on our way!

One last slide with Daddy before we had to leave.