Even the cats are worn out. It was a FULL weekend, brimming with quality family time plus a date night. We kicked it off by making a rare Saturday morning family trip to the bagel store for breakfast. I'm not usually a participant on these Saturday excursions - that's typically my coveted Mommy Time. But since we were all headed to Kylie's second birthday party at Kangazoom, we made an exception. The bagel store wasn't up to their usual standards, but that was quickly overshadowed by our energetic visit to the Zoom. Kylie is our cutie-pie neighbor and just a touch older than Danny. Everyone is crazy about her (and her parents), so the neighborhood was out in full force to celebrate with her - okay, and take advantage of a free visit to Kangazoom. I don't know who had more fun, but Danny and Tim parked themselves in the big basketball house for the entire hour. Tim has finally found somewhere he can dunk! When it was time to go eat cake, Tim was only able to coax Danny out by allowing him to keep his ball - which he proceeded to hold onto for the remainder of the party. For her part, Clare bounded through the obstacle course at least a dozen times, and she and I got in plenty of mother-daughter giant slides. It was a quiet ride home.
Saturday night Tim and I had the pleasure of a dinner party to attend. One of his coworkers is married to a CIA-graduate (that would be Culinary Institute, not the other CIA). I don't know enough superlatives to give justice to this meal, so suffice it to say we ate well. Beyond the amazing food and wine, it was just cool to actually eat with the chef and inundate him with questions about the process. He only does this as a hobby now, and yet is passionate about it, so it was easy to see that he enjoyed the inquiries. To top it off, he's a North Side Irish (Chicago) guy. The other Home Depot people in attendance were a lot of fun, so it was a lovely, adult evening.
The action continued Sunday, with Sunday School for Clare in the morning (and dress-up for Danny) and another birthday party in the afternoon. It was yet another two-year-old, this time Lulu, sister to Clare's future husband Max (or so Clare and Max claim - and yet that's Brady with Clare on the bars...). The party was at the Little Gym, leading to more physical activity. Tim didn't work up quite the same sweat this time, though.
