Over too quick!

Can't believe the weekend is over already. We didn't go anywhere on Friday until the end of the day when I took the kids for a walk to the train. On Saturday we went to a park in Des Plaines called Lake Park where the kids got to run around on some new playground equipment and Denis got to fly a kite really high in the air. I guess you could say we were all about building the kids' gross motor skills. We had warm weather but it was tolerable, unlike today. Hot, humid, sunny. We drove down to Hinsdale to have lunch at the Benjamin's house. Nikko was having fun running around in the front yard while the adults played stick ball, but Audrey was Miss Attitude from the get-go, sitting in my lap and refusing to be social at first. Ronin was also in this camp, getting ornery because he wouldn't give back the yellow stick the adults were using as a bat. "Ronin, why do you want that stick?" I asked him.
"Because I want to be mean," was his unfortunate reply.

Rena, Denis' friend's sister, was determined to get Ronin to like her and so she kept talking to him and prodding him and eventually charmed him into playing games with her. Ronin's a tough sell, so kudos to Rena! Nikko was content to run back and forth from their living room to the kitchen, but when he started opening and closing cabinet doors and discovered a box that looked like it had candies in it, Nikko turned on his whining. It was getting really bad so I had to start packing up the kids, our time to go. The boys fell asleep in the car, which made our segue to the next activity smooth.

We met up with Pat, Anna, Jovy and Max at Mystic Waters, the Des Plaines Park District pool, for some end-of-the-summer splashy fun. Nikko was a total fish, lurking with most of his body under water except for his head, right above his ears. Ronin favored the dolphin slide but soon discovered jumping off the side of the pool with Jovy, in the waiting arms of their parents (not me, I had crabby Audrey). It's been a challenge to go to the pool with all our gear, but a bigger challenge at this park because they don't allow strollers inside. Carrying the towels, backpacks and food bag while holding onto a kid's hand was our only option, but it worked out better that they were all walking. I hate it when Audrey decides that she wants to be carried, especially when we are taking a walk on a hot, humid day and we have 1.5 blocks to go before we get home. All the pool activity made for some tired kids. It was the end of a good weekend.