Mom, I'm Busy!

Sunday night after we had read Green Eggs and Ham and The Big Red Barn and The Family Book and the Richard Scarry book that Sam calls his "piggy book" but before Sam had made his way to the blue playpen in the corner, Sam and I snuggled under the covers of Mom's spare bedroom and talked about what we'd done all weekend, what his favorite things were.

"Farmer's Market!" he said, and he reminded me of the Sponge Bob ice cream bar that he had eaten. "Icky eyes," he said. "TT eat the icky eyes."

We had stood under a tree in the shade with Sarah and TT while Ann and Zack shopped for bread along the crowded fourth aisle. Red syrup dripped down Sam's arm, and I noticed the gumballs for eyes that I thought he probably shouldn't have. I distracted him by asking him who his best friend was, and he yelled "Sarah!" while TT removed the eyeballs and spit them at the base of the tree.



"What about Bay Beach? Did you like Bay Beach?" I asked as I tucked the covers under his chin.

And he began to name the various rides one at a time. Airplanes. Race cars. Red choo-choo. "Bumble bee!" he said. "I ride bumble bee Sarah."

"Yes you did, didn't you? Did you like riding the bumble bee with Sarah?"

"Yes. Helicopter. Up and down in helicopter Annie."

"Yes. That's right. And horses. Remember riding the horsie," I said.

"Me no like ride horse," he said and I told him I knew that but that he was very brave for trying it. "Sarah like horsie. Sammy no like horsie," he said.

"And what else did we do, this weekend?" I asked.

We lay face to face under the covers and rattled through the long list of activities for the weekend... rides at Bay Beach, a trip to the Wildlife Sanctuary, playing in the backyard pool, a birthday celebration for TT, building castles and cars and trains and guns with the new blocks from Auntie Annie, chasing the kids around the yard with squirt guns, a trip to the zoo...


"I feed dragon, Mommy."

"Yes, you fed a giraffe. What did you feed the giraffe?" I asked remembering the leaves they were handing out because they thought the female might be pregnant.

"TREES!"

"Right. Leaves. What else did you see at the zoo?"

"Red choo-choo. And cranes. And lions. And ducks."

"Did you see a badger?"

"Yes. He hiding."

"And a moose?"

"BIG!!!"

"And the white alligator? Remember the white alligator?"

"See you later Alligator."


We had an action-packed weekend with the family, and even though we could lay there in the bed Sunday night and remember all the unusual things, the moments I will treasure were the times spent with family at home...

Sammy dancing the hot potato and peeling the banana to The Wiggles, Zack and Sarah showing Sam how their Nintnedo DSs work, Ann snipping beans in the backyard while the kids played in the pool and shot each other with water guns, Sam hanging from Ann's long legs as she gave him airplane rides over and over again on the living room floor, Sam following Zack and imitating everything he did (including telling Mommy "I'm busy" when it was time for a diaper change), TT peeling fresh farmers' market cucumbers but being unable to make any progress as we all ate them, Sarah wrapping herself in a towel and imitating an old lady with a cane, all of us scarfing down cheesecake and coffee ice cream after singing Happy Birthday to TT, Sam running up to the fan and singing Happy Birthday or "digger, digger" or whatever occurred to him after having discovered the funny sounds that came out when he talked into the fan, Sam and Sarah running circles through the living room and kitchen and dining room with Ann and I both saying "Watch out for the dishwasher" every time Sam rounded the corner into the kitchen where Ann was cleaning up, all three bed-headed kids sitting down to eat pancakes in the morning, Sam drinking "coffee" with TT and insisting on eating whatever Zack or Sarah was eating at any given moment, all three kids beating on Ann with Bob the Builder tools after she claimed the airplane was broken and needed repair, and so many other moments that were all about family being together. You can see more pictures of the fabulous weekend here.