We started the week of enjoying every minute we could with our friends. On Monday, we spent the day at Ikea. Yes, the entire day, at Ikea. They don't have one close to their home, so they like to pick up some affordable home items while they're here. Of course, Christian and left with a giant bag of stuff as well. Some curtains for our bedroom, a spice rack and some other odds and ends. Who could resist?!? We shopped, at some lunch and finally checked out and made our way home. Amelia passed out and took a nap. The rest of us hung out for a bit. I started some dinner, and then Dawn and I were off for a mom's night out - SO exciting! We decided to do a Wine & Canvas event. Basically, you pay - they provide all of the art supplies you need and an artist to instruct you. It was held at an Italian restaurant, so we got a pizza for dinner. Then, we painted the night away. I was a nervous wreck. I have ZERO artistic ability, and, I HATE to be bad at things. So, I was very nervous, and very focused the whole night. In the end, it was very fun, and my painting turned out...OK. Lucky for me, we agreed that I would keep her painting, and she would take mine :) After a quick stop at Starbucks, we made our way home. We sent the little kids to bed and spent some time with the husbands and their oldest son...turns out, Tim and Christian are also big Walking Dead fans, and haven't seen Season 3 yet. Since we purchased it on iTunes, we watched a couple episodes with them. Still so good, even the second time around!
Kids taking naps at Ikea :) LOL. Seriously though - Ikea was still SO busy...doesn't anybody work?!?
Tuesday was an awesome day - it was Nickelodeon Universe day with our friends! We were there literally ALL.DAY.LONG - it was exhausting. But, worth it. My mom and I each scored an unlimited ride wristband at work a few weeks ago, and I saved them today. I splurged on a wristband for myself and we hit the rides. The girls had a BLAST, especially daredevil Amelia - she got to go on a few new rides this time. I took her on the Log Chute, and we got SOAKED - she thought it was hilarious. She was LIVID that she couldn't go on the swings though, poor thing. We all ate lunch, I got to go on a couple grown up rides since I had some riding partners for a change and it was just a blast. Dawn and Brooklyn joined us at Build-a-Bear to surprise the girls with My Little Pony's. They were in heaven, and the ponies are super cute. We stopped to get some yummy cookies, and Dawn was off to meet back up with her family for one last ride. We made our way home - it was late, pitch black, raining like crazy and traffic was horrible. We picked up pizza for dinner on our way home, but the girls passed out and went right to bed. The rest of us ate, and their little ones were off to bed as well. So, we ended the night with some Walking Dead again - Dawn and I didn't make it quite as late tonight though. What a fun day!
Wednesday started off pretty slow. We were a little tired, and recovering from all of our fun. And, quite sad that it was our last day together. We started off with a big breakfast and hung out. Dawn whipped up some cupcakes and frosting for us to have later - YUM! Tonight we were going to be heading to my grandma's wake, so that was on my mind all day, and limited our options of what to do the rest of the day. We ended up packing up a picnic and spending the day at the local splash pad. It was a little chilly, so there wasn't much water play, but the park and all of the other stuff kept the kids busy. Dawn and I chatted on our beach towels while catching some sun. Dawn and I are very different - her faith is a huge part of her life, she's 5 years older than me, we've grown up very differently and have lived very different lives. But, I kind of see her like a big sister - she gives me lots of great advice and guidance, and is a great person to talk to. Between that, and the general distractions they provided, their visit came at a perfect time. After some play, some lunch and some chatting, we packed up and made our way home. The girls went down for a nap, their kids hung out downstairs for a while, and Christian and I got ready for the wake. We left around 4:00, leaving the kids with our friends. The wake was hard, hard, HARD. All of the immediate family had to be there early, so we could all enter the viewing together and say our goodbyes together. That was beyond hard. I lost it before I even got into the room. We spent the evening with our family, getting through it together. At this point, I couldn't even begin to imagine what the next day would bring. We ended the night relaxing with our friends. They were pretty much packed up and ready to leave in the morning. We watched some TV together, chatted and relaxed. Their visit went so fast, it's not fair!
Thursday was the most difficult day I've had in a looooong time. The house was up and at em' early. The Steveson's were packing up and getting ready to hit the road. Christian and I were getting ready for the funeral. We said our goodbyes, and reality of not seeing them again FOREVER set in. We dropped the girls off at my in-laws for the day and made our way to the funeral. Again, I lost it as soon as we got there. The funeral was so hard - I pretty much cried the entire time. I'm not an emotional person, and I definitely don't show them often, but, I was definitely having a hard time keeping it in today. In our family, there are 9 grandchildren - 6 boys, 3 girls. After the funeral, we 3 girls were honorary paulbearers, while the boys carried the casket. Again, so hard. The church hosted a lunch after the funeral, and we all talked and reminisced together for a while. Then, the procession to Fort Snelling. They're really strict at Fort Snelling, we had to be in and out n 15 minutes, so it was quick. We all said our final goodbye, gave Grandpa a hug, and left. By far, the hardest part of the entire thing was watching my Grandpa say his final goodbye. Even thought she's been in the nursing home for a year, and he's been on his own, she was still his wife and he visited her every day. He was the only person she still remembered. Watching somebody say goodbye to their spouse of 58 years, their whole life, was just completely heartbreaking. I was feeling pretty exhausted after the whole funeral, so we made our way home and I rested on the couch. Christian did some picking up in the yard and little stuff around the house, and picked up the girls. We stopped across the street to visit with Bella and Sara for a bit and called it a night. Not a good day, not at all.
Friday was back to reality...well, as much as possible anyway. It was a rough day though. The girls were off to my mom's for the day and I was off to work. Christian took the day off to just have the whole week off...he cut the grass and did some cleaning around the house. His friend Lorenzo came over and helped him build a trellis for the pumpkins and do some little yard projects. I was off to work - which was CRAZY, it took me pretty much the entire day to route the stuff that had come back while I was gone and go through/respond to/deal with my e-mails. Ay! But, at least the day went quick. Sara and Bella stopped over to play for a while after work...we all grilled some burgers, hung out and chatted for a while. Once the girls were in bed, Christian and I started the latest season of Breaking Bad...they released the first half of the current season on Netflix this past week, so that was exciting!
Our biggest pumpkin so far...
Handymen back at work...trellis being built.
Saturday was a much needed day of NOTHING. And, I took major advantage of it. No swim, no plans, nowhere we had to be. Just us, at home. We had breakfast, did some picking up around the house (a minor amount), played with the girls and watched some TV. While the girls napped, Christian and Lorenzo did a few more small projects around the house (most excitingly, hanging my new spice rack!) and picking up in the garage. I finally showered and got moving, a little. Bella and her parents stopped over...she wanted to show us her awesome new haircut, and we ended up playing some yard games, ordering pizza, hanging out and having a little ice cream party. Unexpected, and low-key...perfect after the last few weeks!
A little late, but finally took Amelia's 3 year photo tonight. Better late than never! She actually grew quite a bust these last 6 months, I was shocked!
The trellis is done! I wish we would've known to build it right away, but it should still help.
Bella's new haircut...playtime and ice cream. YAY!
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Sunday was another busy day. We were off to spend the day at work with my friend Kelly and her family. We would've done it on another, less busy week, but it was the only week they really had free the rest of the summer, so, the girls were SUPER spoiled this week. The zoo was awesome though - the weather was great, the girls had a blast visiting the animals, we watched the Sparky show, had a picnic with our friends and hit up Como Town for a while. Amelia was SO happy to be able to go on the swings this time and they had a blast on all of the rides. We spent some time in the water and playing at the park before finally heading home. The girls passed out on the way home...Amelia continued to nap once home. Christian and Olivia ran to his parents to chat for a bit while I did some final cleaning around the house, finished laundry and FINALLY started on our mountain of dirty dishes. I ended the night/week with a trip to Target for some groceries and some soccer socks for Olivia. I was definitely exhausted by the time I was home and settled in.
So, that was our week. A lot of fun, a lot of heartache, a lot of memories made. It's still hard to believe that my grandma is gone...well, really , that both of them are. I sucks that our friends have come and gone already, and that they live so far away. But, I have to admit, it's nice to be back to reality after weeks of chaos.
Until next week!
