Rain, Rain :: Day 204

We started the day off nice and slow. Why not?! It's a break for the holidays and the weather is wet and cold, so we cozy up in PJ's for a few extra hours, just because we can :). Once we all get tired of that, we quickly eat breakfast and prepare for whatever the day has in store, even if that's nothing.

Today, however, is Chris' surprise birthday dinner. He had originally told everyone he didn't want to do anything, but of course, Janie couldn't have that (I would've done the same thing!). So she invited family and some of Chris' friends for a homemade dinner at their home. In order to pull it off though, Janie had asked me to pull Chris out of the house for a few hours. So I invited him out to take pictures while the kiddos run around the park. He graciously accepted and we spent a good few hours out in the slight chilly and drizzly Tacoma weather.

Alyx and Kate both loved this toy! Alyx also quickly learned that Chris can push him really fast, so of course, mom wasn't good enough. Hahaa!!! I thought Kate would get scared and not stay on it, but she braved it like a champ while her brother carefully spun her around.

Between pictures, Chris would play with the kids and we'd swap out between them. It was a breath of fresh air to have another adult around with me who interacts with the kids. You have no idea how big of a deal that is until you have no one but yourself.

After we exhausted the playground, we headed toward the conservatory where Alyx pulled out his camera, and I actually had to pull him out of there telling him to stop taking pictures! Hehee, who's kid is this?!

Since Chris had no idea what was going on later today, we headed straight over to their house after we left the park, while Janie had him running errands to the store so we could arrive first. He was definitely surprised (he even got Janie Pepto Bismol because she had to fake a stomach ache when he invited us over for dinner unknowingly). We had a wonderful time with kids, food, drinks, family, and friends. These past few days have been more than I needed, a complete blessing. I'm anxious, though, for Jeremy to be apart of these things with us. It's been so fun and having him incorporated will only be that much better! We're getting there!!