With and Without You

Jason's grandpa passed away last week and he had the chance to head back home for the funeral.  The kids and I sorely missed him, but managed to have a pretty great time while he was away.  Leah always seems to step it up when Jason is gone and is a great helper to me. 

We went on a 3 Musketeers date at the end of the week to celebrate our successful alone time.  The server commented to me that my kids were "remarkably well behaved", and she was right.  In that instance, they were.  I think they were just shocked that I would dare take them to a semi-fancy restaurant by myself!

Of course, we have been having loads of fun with Daddy since he's been home.  Instead of tending to our regular morning chores, we spent over an hour last Saturday playing hide-and-seek.  There were prizes at the end, with the award for the stupidest attempt at squeezing into a tight spot going to me.  I think I still have a few bruises!

And later that same day we took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time.  I was cringing the whole way there- my childhood memories of the place were of sticky carpets and a dark theater full of huge animatronics- but the kids absolutely loved it.  No surprise there, but Jason and I quite enjoyed it, too.  The pizza was edible, the games were fun, and the carpet was clean.  I would dare say that we will go there again someday.

Jason and I bought tickets to our local symphony orchestra earlier this year, and we had a concert that same night.  There was a guest concert pianist, and oh my, he was amazing.  Jason and I were both completely entranced by his incredible talent and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the concert.  With the exception of the people who thought that they needed to bring their kids to sit through a night of Tchaikovsky and couldn't be bothered to take them out when they were loud.  No, I did not pay a baby-sitter to have someone else's kids interrupt my night.  But that's their choice, I suppose.

And we topped of the weekend with a trip to the chocolate shop that is just around the corner from the theater.  Although it smells a bit like a litter box (I'm penning a strongly worded letter for the owner of the shop in my mind), the treats are amazing.  I'm converted to the double chocolate cheesecake and Jason got a giant whoopie pie- think a yellow cake hamburger with frosting in the middle.  Delish.  That will become a traditional part of our evenings downtown.

We also received the sad news that my grandpa also passed away this week.  I won't be able to attend the funeral, but he, like Jason's grandpa, was an amazing man, and I know we will miss him.  I will especially miss the opportunity to teach my children that my grandpa was one of Santa's real helpers.  But I am grateful for the knowledge that we have that our families can be together forever.  And with such fantastic families as ours, I wouldn't have it any other way.