The Dinosaur on the Side of the Road

Our weekend, let's see. I guess we could start on Friday. I took the kiddos to Gymnastics Unlimited for an "open gym" for kids 18 mo - 5 yo. Both Veronica and Thomas found the trampoline first and didn't leave it for at least 20 minutes. They both carefully jumped into the foam block pit (I'm sure that will change after a few more visits). They even had a bouncy house. So. much. fun. We will go back there!

Quotes of the day:

Thomas: "Let's see... I want to read that book. That's a great idea!"

Veronica: "Is my brudder's stinky?" [No Veronica, it's just wet.] "My brudder is stinky." [No, he is just wet.] "My brudder has a wet diaper."

I had the blessing of my husband and the good fortune to attend St. Matthew's Women's Retreat with Deanna at Fatima. We got to create a book of "Our Story." It was nice to be creative and to talk to such wonderful ladies. To save money, Deanna and I opted not to spend the night, but had a slumber party at her apartment instead. We stayed up way to late playing with a Facebook program called FotoFlexer - I helped her make a picture of her on a date with Gerard Butler and a poster to promote raising funds for her trip to Jerusalem this summer.

What happened during my absent 24 hours to the kids sounds like a lot of fun - Daddy time! Upon returning to the ranch, I got a spa treatment from Thomas and Veronica. Lots of hair brushing and washing. They seemed quite excited about all they'd done with Daddy. And, in their book, I was quite a hero for having spent the time with Deanna. Win-win!

Sunday, my ever-so-gracious husband got up with the kids again and gave me some time to sleep in. When I awoke both twins were fully dressed and ready for the day. Judson and I privately discussed going to Madison to visit his folks. When Veronica noticed Judson on the phone, we told her he was calling Mamma. "I want to see Mamma!" Decision made - a Sunday trip to Madison.

We left at nap time, hoping to make most of the trip one of twin slumber. We hit Hwy 56 to cross over. They woke up very pleasantly when we got off in Scottsburg. They were very interested in the landscape and all it held. At one point Thomas did a recap, "We saw cows, ducks, and dinosaurs." Seriously - we did! He said it so matter-of-factly though - like an everyday occurrence! (There were some brightly painted concrete dinosaurs on in someone's yard.)

Veronica and Thomas took to Mamma and Daddy Gayle without skipping a beat. Daddy Gayle met us at the car and Thomas made a bee line for him. Upon entering the house, Veronica's first priority was to figure out where Mamma was. After the formal hellos had been had, they headed straight for the toys, but were happy to share their pleasure in them with the grandparents! We shared pizza, cookies and even... marshmallows suckers! (Do those two know kids or what?) We brought Mary Poppins so that Mamma and Daddy Gayle could witness the twins' musical numbers. This time they pulled Judson and myself into the act - first dancing on top of Judson (who was laying on the floor); then pulling us up to dance with them. It was a grand visit full of dancing, laughs, kisses, and cuddles.