our saturday

It was my turn to sleep in this morning, so I woke up around 8:30am to the sound of Donovan saying he was gonna bike over to Ethan's house, and Quinn asking Zach to go upstairs to wrestle, "But can I wear my Captain American costume, Dad?"

In other words, a very standard Saturday morning in our home.

I got up and looked at the beautiful morning light outside and decided to go for a run, since Zach was home and I had the chance. I've been wondering what to do about running/exercise as the weather gets colder here... today was my second run in 30something degrees and I've been pleasantly surprised by how not-awful it's been so far. I'm not keen on running in progressively colder temps (or in the snow), but then again an indoor treadmill also sounds kinda awful (or at least boring, since part of what motivates my running is the beautiful scenery here) so I guess we'll just take it one cold snap at a time.

I got back to an email from Jody suggesting a trip to the Montshire, so after a quick shower Donovan and I headed out-- D fitting in their backseat alongside Sam and Ethan, resulting in the usual cacophony of laughter intermittent with cries of discontent as someone's snack was snatched away, then given back again. Things at the museum went well, the older guys running from place to place while Jody and I followed and tried to keep Sam from wandering too far off. Jodes and I had a chance to chat along the way, always a bonus. I don't usually see her during the week since she's busy with her rotations, so weekends are like my Jody Time when we get to catch up and hang out while the kids play.

We took a short break for lunch, then the boys and I went back over to play at Ethan's and then the playground for  while.

We eventually made it back to our house...for about 10 minutes before Ren came over and asked the boys if they wanted to go to the field and help him and his dad launch rockets. You did not have to ask my guys twice...  To the field we went, and before long Jody, Ethan, and Sam swung by on their way out for a bike ride. Apparently, rockets bring all the boys to the field.

We ended the day with Zach taking Quinn out for pizza for dinner (Donovan had a bit of a meltdown and insisted on staying home with me), and finally a (thankfully) fairly peaceful routine of baths and books and bedtime and the passing out of tired kiddoes who had had a very full day.

Our Saturdays may not always involve rockets and car adventures, but they almost always involve a lot of time spent hanging out with these dear friends. We often spend most of our day with Ethan & Co, the older boys walking or riding bikes back and forth from their houses and building hero factory guys and wreaking all sorts of havoc, and Sam and Quinn forming their own little bond as The Little Brothers, while we grown-ups make the most of our opportunities to talk about parenting and life and everything else under the sun, and there is laughter and sweetness and scheming and tears and it's not always smooth and almost never exactly peaceful... But amidst all the chaos there is love and joy and friendship, and I am so grateful for all of it.