HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

So on a whim, I woke up and thought that a nice trip to the mountains would be fun.  So I asked Jerry, thinking there was no way... but there was.  And then I called my folks.  My mom had a commitment, but my dad had no plans... so Jerry went to work and I packed the kids and the car and took them to the park to run the energy out.  Jerry got off of work, we loaded up and headed west.
It was really just a spur of the moment, jump in the car and go trip, but it was worth it.  We drove up and arrived Thursday night.  On Friday we set in motion a plan to surprise my friend Laura.  It was an all day gig, which FINALLY panned out when my dad received a last minute invite to a New Year's Eve dinner out with friends.  We arrived before everyone, got a table and were waiting when everyone walked in!!  It was a great surprise and a fabulous night.  We ate well, went to a friends house where my kids got their first look at Jupiter through a telescope (which kicked off a whole NEW interest!!), had homemade hot chocolate and caught up with friends.  I think our fun would have continued, but the friends had a friendly cat and Grace cannot pass up a cat...but they make her swell up.  And we had to leave before her eyes swelled shut.  Still it was a good time.    Jerry and I tucked the kiddos in around 10 and I made it (barely) to midnight.  On New Year's Day we decided to hit a park... really it was the only pictures I took the whole time we were there.  heh.

Right after this last picture was taken, Elijah fell into the water... so back home it was.  We played for a bit at home and just took it easy.  Monday we headed home.  On the way home, I got a call.  sigh.  We had had a play date earlier the week before at Rachel's.  The kids had played well and we had a great morning catching up.  APPARENTLY, when I was telling a GREAT joke (hehehe!) inside, Elijah was outside scratching his name into the side of Rachel's car.  super sigh.  The good news is that it wasn't that bad.  The bad news (other than my son being a VERY bad graffiti artist... I mean who scratches their NAME??) is that my head almost exploded in the car and I think I scared the crap out of Elijah.  After I calmed down, Jerry and I decided his punishment was to sort the recycling... since we only do this once every 4 months, it's a TON of work... and it's all his.  

So the New Year came in. I was with some of my favorite people in one of my favorite places.  Resolutions?  eh. to try to run a race this year.  we'll see.  I"m not too concerned with this one. I have a phobia of running races with other people.  But we'll see.