Labor day fun!

This year, Nathan took the weekend off, originally in hopes of going on a romantic getaway but because we didn't get it together in time (which was sort of ok with me), we decided to just be together. And go to Ikea. And go to the Indiana Dunes. But first thing's first...

Thursday night and Friday were spent doing practical family things like bathing the kids and running errands. On Friday night, we hung lights on our porch and had the first Front Porch Friday, which is a gathering on our front porch, after kiddos go to bed and is something we'd like to do often. Because we were late in getting the word out, our neighbors were the only ones that came, six of them. It was great because we got to hang out with them like we never had before.

On Saturday, we were up early, and decided to go to Ikea in Cincinnati. Because that's what you do: you do things when you get the chance to do them, like going to Ikea on Saturday of Labor Day weekend!

When we first walked in the door, there was a line for a guy making balloons into shapes. Of course, we did this, while Nathan went and did returns. It took awhile, but Amos' balloon motorcycle was worth it!

Next, we went up for lunch. Again, while in the looong line, we had entertainment: a steel drum band. Amos loved it and danced to his little heart's content!

After lunch, Nathan took Amos down to the play area (which is one awesome reason to shop there) and he and I raced around and tried to make the most of our Amos-less hour. Flannery slept in the sling and we made good progress.

After Baby Sister woke up, she got to have her first ride in a shopping cart. Yay! What a big girl she is!!

We ended the day with treats. Amos was especially excited about his ice cream cone and did his best to eat it before it melted!

We finally made it out of there around dinner time. The kids ate in the car and we made the trek home.

On Sunday, I woke up in a panic because Nathan was still there. And then I remembered, he had the day off! So we all had a nice and slow breakfast together, played a bit and then got ready for church. The funny thing though, was that since Nathan was home, I took it easy a bit too much and we narrowly made it to church on time. Oh the irony!

On Sunday night, Nathan and I went out to Macaroni Grill to celebrate our anniversary. It was delicious, as usual, and fun to remember past date nights at the Macaroni Grill, including the one after Amos' second shunt surgery.

On Monday morning, we were packing for yet another adventure. This time, we were headed north to meet up with friends from church at the Indiana Dunes. Lake Michigan was beautiful, as usual, and we had lots of fun!

The boys had a blast climing the dune and doing lots of digging. And on the way home, the entire group of us (40 people!!!) stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel for dinner. It was great to hang out and wait for them to seat us. The irony there was that they first offered us the smoking section (really??? it's 2010!!!) and we kindly declined. So then they cleared out the middle dining room for us that was right next to the smoking section!!! I was trying not to be irritated, but seriously, we might as well have just sat in the smoking section.

Anyway, a good time was had by all and by the time we got into the car for our 2 hour ride home, it was almost dark. The kiddos soon fell asleep and thankfully, we made it home safely.