A Mr. Mom Weekend

When Korey asked if I’d be able to watch the kids so that she could go to Vegas for a girls weekend, of course I said yes. I know that my travel is sometimes hard on her, and I’m more than happy to return the favor when I can. Plus, sometimes it’s kind of fun to just have them to myself with no one else to worry about.

She left Friday night about dinner time, so after the kids and I ate — or more accurately I ate and did what I could to get them to do the same, we ended up walking down to “Aunt Mo’s park.” Crosby made friends with a 5 year old who was already in Kindergarten, and the two of them were having a blast. They started playing tag and made up a game based on Mario where somehow I became Bowser (the bad guy) and Carlyn became the Princess up in the castle. It was fun to see him pick up playing with another random kid.

On the way back, we caught up with Kyle and Melissa briefly since they were outside, and I got to try our latest Oktoberfest, which was another solid BCBC brew. When we got home, we made some popcorn and the three of us went out to the back patio and had a small bon fire in the fire pit. They were great out there, even when my phone rang from David. Eventually Carlyn was getting sleepy so I took her into bed, but then Crosby and I hung out for a bit longer and even made some s’mores.

Saturday was a busy day as well. Despite them waking up pretty early, we had a leisurely paced morning since Jackson’s birthday party started at 10. I had considered heading out for a run, but given the fact that we had all day, I figured that there really was no rush. The party was at an arcade which was a lot of fun — but also a lot of work because the two of them wanted to take off in different directions the whole time and I was obviously on my own.

The mini bowling they had was probably the hardest because Carlyn kept wanting to throw the mini balls all over the place — regardless of which lane we were supposed to be in or whether or not it was her turn. Fortunately, the people there were really nice about it though. One did come over and take a picture of them as they were going crazy — and at first I wasn’t sure if it was to document their lack of regard for the bowling or if they were taking pictures as part of the party. Thankfully, it was the latter.

Carlyn barely made it out of the parking lot before falling asleep, but wouldn’t stay asleep when we got home. On the other hand, I convinced Crosby to lay down for a few, and he actually did nap for awhile which gave Carlyn and I a chance to play and read some books. When he finally woke up, we went on a bike ride to the Silly Park and the Blue Park. They just love being outside and managed not to bicker much along the way, though occasionally they get into the equivalent of the “don’t touch me game” that all siblings go through at one point or another.

Sunday morning the kids wanted pancakes so I made up a batch of chocolate and butterscotch pancakes which they devoured. After that, we set off for a run where I ended up running eight x eight minute minutes, but with several breaks in between since we went to not one, not two, but three different parks. And even by the end of it, I literally had to drag them kicking and screaming from the YMCA park.

When we got back, we went over to Mick and Stephanie’s house so that I could help move some furniture upstairs. Little did I know how bulky and heavy it would be, but we did manage to get it all up there with very little collateral damage. Crosby and Carlyn were playing with Dane and Jack which allowed me to focus on helping Mick. When we went to leave, Crosby still wanted to hang out and Dane was willing to let him do so which allowed me to take Carlyn home to get her some lunch and put her down for a nap.

After running a few errands, Mick and Stephanie invited us over for brats before the Packer game. While we could have stayed to watch the game, I figured it would be much easier to keep them happy at home — which was certainly the case. After watching a nice Packer victory (with Crosby falling asleep in my lap) and listening to the nightmare of what was the second presedential debate, I was exhausted and went straight to bed.

Monday went by pretty quickly as well. We started off our day with a trip to the tunnel park on the way to day care before work. Then after work, I picked them up with the bike and chariot and we went over to the regular park before heading home. We through the normal nighttime routine (dinner, baths, TV, and books) and then got them to bed. It was a lot of fun doing whatever we wanted for a few days, but I was certainly happy for Korey to get home shortly after they went to bed.