Farm visit for Easter......

The kids and I left for the farm last Wednesday. Easter made a perfect time to take the twins down for their first farm visit. Matt met us there Friday after work. I decided to take the kids down early because I needed a change of scenery.......

The ride down was great-it was Gage's first time watching a movie in the car, Gracie slept most of the way and watched the movie and snacked when she wasn't sleeping, and the twins slept the whole way there.....

My rear view

When I just had Gage it was REALLY easy to get out of the house; we did everything together. If I needed a few groceries I threw Gage in the wagon and we walked to the store.....we went to the park easily 5 days a week.....we went to the zoo all the time.....beach trip-no problem. The same was true when I had Gracie. It was so simple to take Gage to the park and have Gracie in the stroller or just hold her or put her in the swing while Gage went off to ride his bike. Many of my friends are single moms and moms of singles. I see their pictures from the zoo or the park or out for a walk.....I wouldn't say I'm envious-but I wish it was that easy to get out of the house. It's not that I CAN'T get out of the house.....it's just that sometimes it's not worth the effort. By the time I get all packed up and everyone ready-it's practically time to get back home. So.....I've spent a lot more time just hanging out at the house and that's just not me. I knew heading down to the farm would at least give me a change of scenery and I'd be able to visit with Kalli and Kristi and have some help from my mother in law.

I wouldn't say the trip was entirely relaxing. One day was the shits.....literally. Jay cried for five hours with just a little twenty minute snooze. Just as I finally laid him down for that twenty minutes-Ashlyn started to fuss......I moved the blanket to pick her up and she was covered in poop. She hadn't gone for a week but she certainly made up for it. There was no white left of her diaper. None. By the time I got her undressed she had poop from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Jay slept just long enough for me to get her cleaned up though. Then as he got worked up again I decided to take him into a warm bath with me. Problem solved-he was good the rest of the night......but that was a long day for this mama.

My mother-in-law insisted that I relax so I didn't spend any time doing dishes or helping prepare meals as I usually would. It was nice to just sit and hold my babies for no reason.....not to feed them and not because they were crying but just to hold them. When I'm home it's hard to just sit and hold them-there's always something calling my name......a load of laundry.....some dirty dishes.....a meal to prepare. There was a full two hours that I just sat and held Jay while visiting with Kalli.....it was great because that's time that I don't get here at home.

Here are some pics from our trip.....

Playing on the tennis court

 Gracie wasn't quite big enough to reach the pedals.....but when she is-watch out!!

Our nephew Heston

Our family Easter eggs

Learning to feed a calf with Grandpa Dale

Auntie Kalli making Gracie grin

Making rice crispy eggs with Auntie Kalli

Hunting for eggs  with Grandpa....

The Creighton Family (Tom, Heston, Kristi, Dusty, Matt, Dale, Gracie, Debi, Sandy, Jack, Kalli, Lilly, Kandi, Baby Bigler in the belly, Gordon, in front-Grandma Winnie, Aunt Kathleen, Gabby, and Gage) The twins were sleeping

Sunrise service

Jay napping after sunrise service

Ashlyn napping after sunrise service.....what a sweet little smile I caught

Our family at sunrise service......Gage's pose is a little weird and Gracie isn't looking but hey, this is what our family looked like at 6:30am and I think we did pretty darn good!!

I wish I could say that I came home from the farm feeling rejuvenated and restored........but I don't think I'm going to feel that way for a while. It was a great trip though. I got to hold the babies just to love on them. I got to see Gracie's independence as she explored Grandma and Grandpa's massive yard. I got to see Gage learn to feed a calf and take his little sister for wagon rides. I got to visit with family. Thanks to my mother in law I even got to go for a walk all by myself. Sounds pretty good to me......

Love