day out for daddy

daddy had a lot of "work" work to get done this weekend, so i offered to take the kids out and give him a few hours by himself at home to work without interruption.

but first i started the day with letting daddy sleep in.  he has left the house at or before 6am all week and the kids and i discussed letting him sleep in.  they didn't get up super early which was nice.  we had some breakfast and then i made up our lunch to take out.

daddy woke up shortly before we left which made it a lot easier for me to get myself ready to go.  our first stop was lowe's to make the second part of the christmas train - the coal car.  both kids opted for the candy stickers in the holiday theme instead of the 'realistic' coal car versions (they each got both to choose from in their kits).  the place was packed and we had to sit on the floor with several other families.

we browsed around for a little bit to check out the christmas selection.  i hadn't realized how late it had gotten and we had to hustle over to the zoo so that we could eat our lunch before the 'story hour' at 1pm.  apparently, this is the first year they have offered a 'cabin fever' series of stories and craft events every saturday.  all i can say is that we will be back.

they put out carpet squares for the kids to sit on and then gave each of them their own box of popcorn.  i think they read 4 books and it was very interactive.  they even brought out a groundhog and told the kids about hibernation.  did you know that the groundhog is the largest mammal (maybe just in north america) that hibernates - not the grizzly bear?

i tried to get a picture before it started but mason didn't look at the right time

so a few minutes later he called me back up to take his picture!  he really hates to miss out on a photo.

i was surprised that the lady reading the stories was in costume.  it was really very nice.

the kids both got cards to hold up during a 12 days of christmas-esqe story.  madelyn had the first one and mason had the ninth.  he was so focused on holding it up at the right time and kept checking what the picture was that when his turn came, he missed it!  at the end they had all of the kids line up in order for the last reading of the list.  mason is supposed to be in the gap on the right side of the picture but was heading towards madelyn.  until he saw me holding the camera and stopped where he was to give a smile pose.

madelyn is on the left and mason is in an orange/brown shirt in front of one of the taller boys towards the left.

we returned home about 5 hours after we had left.  it seemed like daddy was able to get a lot of work done (he said so too).  the good part is that he can do the exact same outing with the kids next week and i can stay home!  love.