Weekend Recap: Girls' Night, Family Nights

I'm already falling behind in my weekly weekend posts!  I wish there were more hours in the day.  At least it's that much closer to the next weekend?  I kicked off my weekend with a trip to Chicago to hangout with some of my best girlfriends.  It was long overdue and I needed it more than I even thought I did.  It took Sarah and I three hours to get there, but it was worth it.  We met up with our friend Jen and then enjoyed an amazing dinner at a quaint little restaurant.  Gotta love BYOB restaurants and sitting in a courtyard with strands of hanging lights.

Despite waking up once to worry about my babe, I had a great night's sleep.  We met up with our other friend, Sheila, for more girl talk in the morning before we head home.  Although I was initially super anxious to leave my boys home alone, it was good for everyone involved.  It was Andy's first time being alone with Ben over night and as expected, they didn't even notice I was gone. ;)  They went to the grocery store and to the farmer's market, but mostly they ate, climbed, and... spied on the neighbors.

Sarah and I both missed our babes (and hubbies), so we headed home before lunch.  Thankfully, the ride home was much shorter.  I know it was just over 24 hours since I had seen my boys, but it felt longer!  Pictures are great, but nothing beats hanging out with my little man (and hubby) in real life.  Since muggy hotness was/is in the forecast for the next several days, we decided it was time to hit the pool.  Baby Fish never misses an opportunity to practice his skills.

While he loves his floaty, he prefers being held (ALWAYS).  He was feeling pretty confident in his shark suit...probably looking for the pool thermometer.  

After all of our digits were effectively shriveled, it was time for a break.  Since Andy wasn't into sharing his Summer Shandy, Ben had to settle for the next most refreshing treat, a popsicle.  Unfortunately, it practically melted by the time he decided it wasn't toxic.

After a nap (for Ben), it was time for more fun.  One of Ben's girlfriends invited us over to grill out.  There were 3 babies there, but Ben was definitely the most mobile and busy of the bunch.  When we weren't chasing him and stopping him from eating chalk, we were trying to teach him the art of sharing.  I like to think it went well.  However, I will never understand the baby attraction to this purple phone.

Ben must have really got some solid playing in on Saturday, because he slept for 10 hours straight that night!!!!!!  While I got way ahead of myself by thinking that now that he is 10 months he will sleep for 10 hours, it was nice while it lasted.  Sunday was a fairly lazy day.  We took a trip to Costco and to the bike store.  We are attempting to start biking more, and Benji needed a helmet.

And last but not least, we had a graduation dinner for Auntie Anna's bf.  It was the perfect ending to a fairly relaxed weekend, and it definitely beat last week's Sunday evening.  For the record, the mouse was caught in the trap and the pest people patched up any possible little critter entrances.  Woohoo!

I think I am going to have to keep these posts shorter, because it takes me way too long to write one post.  I just don't want to miss anything!  My goal is to write more often and less lengthy posts.  Thanks for reading!