(I know, don't ask about Ty and Reese's hairdos. This was just about 30 minutes into everyone's morning. Reese looks like she's sporting a mullet and Ty looks like Jimmy Neutron!)
Sarah ran circles around our kids this past weekend. If you don't believe me just read their to-do list below -- keep in mind that the majority of it took place on one day, Saturday. This is the day that Kyle and I typically share the responsibility and we still can't wait to put our feet up that evening. Sarah did it on her own. And beyond that, she added some extra-curricular, out of the ordinary events. Those included removing Ty's stitches from his chin AND driving the back roads of Texas to find an exotic hedgehog breeder to purchase a hedgehog for the kids! Couple that with the fact that the kids thought they were doing it behind mom and dad's back and the weekend becomes even more thrilling! The to-do list was made before I left town that day. Reese made sure to cover up the picture of the hedgehog with her arms every time I walked into the room. Unbeknownst to the kids, I was in on the scheme from the beginning. Sarah and I saw a pic of an adorable baby hedgehog on Pinterest when she first arrived and while the kids were at school. We were smitten and being that Jaden's dwarf hamster had recently kicked the can I told Sarah she should look into finding a hedgehog with the kids. I need say no more. Sarah was on it.
Sarah claims that she loves to take care of her nieces and nephews and I'm sure she does. I'm also sure that she enjoys when their parents return home too. We think ourselves very fortunate to have Sarah drop in and care for our kids while we go off to play without a concern in the world for them, truly. But on top of that, we are just really thrilled to know that our kids are graced with Sarah's presence. What a privilege for them. She is an influence for good on our kids. She's spontaneous and fun (case in point: hedgehog). She's always looking for a teaching moment (which benefits both me and my children). Ideally, she could morph into me, then I'd be a mom with more perspective, full of energy, fair, logical, positive . . . the list goes on. Let's just say if I die guess who's raisin' my kids? I wish we could steal her away more often or that she lived down the road. I know that with that scenario I'd run the risk of never seeing my children but like I said, she'd raise them just fine . . .
Thank-you, Sarah, for helping us to getaway. No thank-you for a smelly hedgehog that Jaden can barely muster up the courage to take out of its cage, let alone train to be handled often at this point. See? We need you back already. I'm not touching that thing! (I'll post a pic of, Pepper, the hedgehog as soon as I can get Jaden to take it out of its cage.)
This is where Kyle and I took off to for a three night stay in Laguna Beach, CA as he was invited to a Trial CLE. They definitely rolled out the red carpet for us. That said, our favorite part was leaving the premises to hit up a whole-in-the-wall favorite restaurant of ours, the original BJ's. The same restaurant we ate at over 13 years ago. It was on the heels of that trip that we decided to get married. (I can't believe I didn't have someone take our picture while we were there.)
The views from our Bungalow.
Literally our only pic of the two of us together on this trip. The Beach Boys are singing behind us one night on the beach for dinner. There was no expense spared on this trip. They bent over backwards.
