Picture Tuesday, week 28

This week was the first week on our own after Glenn went back to Saudi.  It was a busy and fun week for us here and definitely a busy week for Glenn as well.  He got home and the next day he had to look at a bunch of houses on a bid list on main camp.  He placed a bid that afternoon and found out that we got a house.  The whole bid process didn't go as we expected.  Glenn had contacted everyone on the list above us and basically knew which house we were going to get.  It was the type of house that we wanted and seemed like it was going to work out perfectly.  But then one of the guys on the list above us didn't get his bid processed by the person he left it with while he was out of town so we ended up with a four bedroom modular.  It is not the house I wanted.  Not at all.  But we are stuck there now so I am trying to turn my attitude around and look on the positive side...because there's really nothing else to do.

We are excited to be on main camp and poor Glenn is doing a ton of paperwork and trying to get some work done on the house before we move in.  Built in shelves in closets, maybe some paint, things like that.  He's already packed most of our stuff and moved over quite a bit of it with help from several guys in our group and has the movers scheduled to move our furniture over next week just a couple of days before he flies out to join us for our cruise.  I'm so grateful that he's able to get so much done while we're here.  It would be so much harder to do all of the moving with the whole family there.

Our week here has been filled with errands and playing.  I've had a great time being with my kids all day long.  By the end of the day we are all getting tired and worn down but otherwise we are doing really well!

Last Saturday I took my kiddos to the outlet mall by myself.  We were gone for four hours and we had the best time.  Everyone was so obedient and patient.  We found some great deals on things that we needed for the next year, there were some booths with simple games and prizes that the boys really enjoyed and they even had a radio station doing a little runway walk which the boys participated in in order to get a free chapstick prize at the end.  It was awesome and so so fun.  It felt like such a confidence boost, realizing that I can be a good mom in the real world.  That I can get out with all of my kids, stop to feed and snuggle babies when they need it, play hard with my boys and keep everyone happy.  It felt like such freedom to have what would be a real day together if we lived a real life.  I loved every second of it.  Wish Glenn was here with us, but being with my kids in the states where there is so much to see and do and I can get us everywhere we need to go is such a freeing, recharging feeling.  

We hit up Thanksgiving point museums twice this week.  The dinosaur museum and then last night we went to the museum of natural curiosity and it was amazing.  So amazing.  We probably need to try to go back one more time.  It's one of the best if not the best museum for children that I've ever been to.  There is so much to see and do and all brilliantly themed and catered to our kids different energy levels, physical abilities, and interests.  So so awesome.  They had a huge tree house that you could climb up into several really cool obstacles.  A room with all sorts of optical illusions and brain tricks which had Tate fascinated.  One had a funny shaped basketball hoop and some glasses that were supposed to impair your vision and train your brain to see it one way and then when you start to shoot after taking the glasses off you can't make it anymore.  The whole glasses thing was not for Finn, but he LOVED shooting the basketball over and over.  Then there was a little city with several different buildings where you could explore different industries in a fun kid-friendly way.  We were there for just a short 2 hours after a dinner out and it was not nearly enough time!  

This week has also been filled with lots of shopping and errands.  We're almost there.  Just a few more things to buy and our extra duffle bags are rapidly filling up.  It's going to be a bit of a juggling act getting all of the bags to Barcelona but hopefully Mal and I can manage because I'm SO excited about all of my little treasures.  

The girls have been great this week.  They're still waking up a bit at night and fussing on and off from around 4am on and usually wake up for good around 6.  They're napping great as long as they're in their cribs and they are so happy to be rolling around and crawling around on carpet!  They are absolutely adored by their cousins.  Mya and Sadie are always asking to feed them their bottles and help with bath time.  And Hayze will sometimes bring his blanket and snuggle on their blanket next to them on the floor.  

Taryn is getting faster at her little scootch.  It's not quite a full crawl yet but she can really move where she wants to and does so pretty quickly now.  Sometimes it's a toy across the room, sometimes it's her sister's hair or headband.  Kenna is still not very interested in moving around.  She rolls around but she doesn't seem to be in any hurry to crawl.  They are really good babies.  They get fussy when they're tired or hungry but usually if they're tired and we put them in their beds they fall right to sleep, and occasionally when we're out and about and they're tired, they just fall right to sleep in their stroller.  I'm a little worried about how the whole skipping nap time thing is going to go on our cruise but hopefully they'll just nod off when they get tired in their front packs and not lose it too often.  

Here they are, asleep in their stroller this morning during a little shopping expedition.  

Kenna and Taryn, 28 weeks old.