Wow! What a Week!

This has been one of those weeks where you wonder how you managed to cram so much in to 5 days!

Monday morning. Greg got up bright and early and caught a plane to DC. He was meeting two other guys from his company there to do a server install. And all-week job. The boys and I ran our normal Monday morning errands, and then met some friends at Kids Planet for a playdate. Loads of fun as always!

Monday evening. Mom Mom and Pop Pop arrived! I let Michael stay up extra late (to 8:30 pm!!) so that he could see them when then got here. As soon as they opened the car doors, he ran over and threw his arms around them! He was so excited to see them!
Tuesday. Michael went to school in the morning as usual, and my parents and I started working outside. There was a lot of garden-work that hadn't been done in a while, and some areas that needed fixing up after we removed some overgrown bushes. We decided that we'd go ahead and do all the mulching too. I got to go out to dinner with the ladies while Mom Mom & Pop Pop watched the boys. It was a special thank you dinner for all the leaders of the teams for the preschool Silent Auction. We went to Chicora Alley downtown and had a great time!

Wednesday. Today was a day for fun. Well, at least part of the day! We drove down to Columbia, SC to visit Riverbanks Zoo. It is probably the nicest zoo I've been too. Yes, I did grow up outside Washington, DC. And yes, I did spend almost 38 years visiting the National Zoo. But the National Zoo has turned in to a dirty, concrete mess, with 1/3 of the exhibits empty, rude employees, and kids running around cursing. I'd rather go anywhere than that zoo! But Riverbanks is beautiful, and they have such a great variety of animals. The boys got to feed the giraffes! That was great! Later we drove home, and both boys fell asleep. While they relaxed in the afternoon, we started spreading the 4 cubic yards of mulch that had been delivered to our driveway that morning!
Thursday. Michael went back to school in the morning, and I headed off for a dental appointment. Let's just say "Ugh". But hey, it's done. We spent more time spreading more mulch. The never-ending pile of mulch! Later in the afternoon, we took a break to drive up to Marietta and go strawberry picking at Beechwood Farms. Our second strawberry trip of the season. Yummm!!

Friday. Matthew went to his morning of school, and I went to another appointment. Then I picked up Michael and we went to our Friday trip to the library. It's a little something we do together every week. Afterwards we stopped at the Hot Dog King and had lunch before picking Matthew up at school. The afternoon was more spreading of more mulch! Finally I went and met Greg at the airport around 3 pm. He had to go to class that night, and also had to study for Saturday's final exam, so he didn't want to come home before heading off to school. We went out for a cup of coffee while my parents watched the boys. Then he dropped me off down at the corner and I walked home so the boys wouldn't see him. That was the whole point of him not coming home. The boys would want to play with him (and he with them), but he really needed to go study.

Saturday. Greg is home, but off to school for the day. And final exams! One is in class today, and the other is a take-home due on Tuesday. My parents and I spread more mulch, and I think we are finally done! Now we're just waiting for Greg to come home, and then my parents will watch the boys while we have a date night! Yeah Date Night!!!

Overall we planted about 8 azalea plants, and about 10 of various bulbs, plus spread 4 cubic yards of mulch. Pop Pop also dug up a big azalea and moved it to another position, and Mom Mom moved three smaller bushes. Oh yes, and trimmed all the bushes that were overgrown or had dead spots.

So yes, we did a lot. And we are beat! But man, don't I have the best parents in the world? They come here looking for work to do, find more on their own, and watch the boys so we can go out. Thank you Mom Mom & Pop Pop for being so great!