We are three days into our official summer vacation, although I think it started before memorial day weekend (if not sooner!).
We've been doing fun and different things:
Monday: Explored madison ave; walked up an down the street. the best part was not having any agenda, and the boys picked up on that feeling. a lot of times i have an expectation, or a plan in my head, and i never communicate it to them, then i get frustrated. they are not mind-readers of course! we walked into a shoe shop, tasted ice cream, and did something very fun. we went to the bead shop and made bracelets!! They chose the beads, arranged, and threaded themselves. they are quite eager to return!
We also spent time looking for something that might have been lost in one of my several handbags. In doing so, I gathered all my lipsticks/creams from all my handbags. Here was my loot. I thought it was hilarious so I took a pic. I didn't take a pic of the boys with my lip pencils all over their faces however...
On Tuesday, the boys accompanied me to my boot camp class, and Ibraheem exercised/did drills with me. He had loads of fun. Imraan on the other hand, sat in the grass and cheered me on the whole time - go mama! go mama!
Then we drove downtown - we took a different route, which was fun for all of us. We parked in Old Town, and bummed around. We walked into a fudge shop, oogled at the different chocolate molds. We walked into a *stuffy* aquarium shop and enjoyed beautiful fish (don't have to rush to Shedd now). We meandered through Wells, hung out at a fountain, then walked back to the car. We hopped in and I asked if they wanted to see the beach. After a resounding yes, I headed over to North Ave beach, parked, and in we went. We walked to the edge of the pier and back to a nice spot away from some groups of people and just plopped on the sand. the boys went to work in the sand, and i basked in all the glory of lake michigan. if it wasn't as crowded as it was, even if it was half as crowded, it would have felt like marco island. it was gorgeous. i took pix with my phone, will upload later.
So today was day three, and I was quite tired. In need of a break, some adult interaction, etc. I prodded the kids to go to bed (it was already 9pm) and kindly explained to them why I wanted them to sleep:
Me: It's time for bed and its past your bedtime. Please go to bed. I am tired and I don't get much break so after you sleep I can pray then rest. Imraan is on the bottom bunk, and Ibu went to the top. Both are tucked in and awaiting the 'back massage' that sends them to lalaland.
Imraan: (after careful thought) You are a good mom.
Ironically, I instantly perked up and was NOT TIRED. I love my boys!!!
