No Plans Weekend

Last weekend was our only open weekend in August. It’s basically “buckle up and hold on” mode from now until school starts. We have camping, cabin, a birthday (and birthday parties. Plural), Newsies, a Twins game, several doctor appointments, a trip to Texas (for mom), and a gala to fit in before the month ends. So if you need us … quite honestly, who knows where we’ll be. That said, we are SUPER pumped about everything on that list. Except maybe the doctor appointments.

We made the most of our only “no plans” weekend. By making plans. And it was so good. Sunday evening, I texted my sister and said “Kids went to bed at 9:45 last night because we were having too much fun with friends. It’s now 7:15 and we are just getting dinner because we were at the waterslides. Who am I?” And that pretty much sums up the weekend. Friends. Outside. Waterslides. Schedule out the window. [Also out the window … apparently my ability to use a camera. Photographic evidence of the fun is sparse.]

Saturday found us outside eating dinner on the deck with our Pilchers. Then the kids ran wild around the yard while the adults played “name that tune” on the deck. Eventually Ev, Jonah, and Katie joined and went to the respective kid/adult areas. The bigs even convinced me to join them for a moonlight walk around the block with flashlights to look for bats! We are loving that our kids are getting old enough that we can occasionally say “it’s a Saturday in the summer. Bedtime isn’t a thing tonight.”

Sunday was gloomy and overcast. And quite honestly, we would all benefit from leaving the house (Saturday had been rainy too). So we decided to check out the waterpark at ValleyFair. We’ve determined that if the park was not included in our season pass, it would not be worth it for our family yet. We had all the short people problems. The kids could only really use the splash pad (which they found quite dull), the wave pool (which they loved, but Fiona was ticked because they made her wear a life jacket. 48 inches can’t come soon enough), and the lazy river. We had a fun time, but they have more fun just doing the regular park stuff. 

We ordered Jimmy Johns for dinner because we needed freaky fast food (and JJ delivers!). Probably won’t be our last “eat dinner and head to bed because it’s late” summer night.