Jed's got the day off. This calls for a celebration!

Last weekend we went to 'Fun Acres', a family farm nearby, for the medical student program Fall family activity. Jed was working that night at an ER an hour away, so I went to the party with the two kiddos. It was really fun. First we enjoyed a pizza dinner and visiting with our friends. Ben didn't eat; he was having so much fun running around with the other kids - getting in and out of the hayride trailer, sitting on the tractor, running up and down the grassy hill, walking along the bales of hay... He loved it. After dinner, when it was dark outside, we went on a hayride. A big blue tractor pulled us in a flat trailer lined with squares of hay. Eliza, Benjamin and I sat in the corner, and Eliza was all snuggled up and cozy with two little blankets wrapped all around her. I was in heaven with getting to snuggle with her on my lap and Benjamin sitting next to me. It was wonderful! And the hayride was cool too. :)

Jed had today and yesterday off work. We had SO MUCH FUN having him around. (The past two months have been very busy - it feels like he works every single day, and the commutes have been long.) We all felt very spoiled getting to hang out with him all day. When Eliza got her bath she had me, Jed, and Benjamin all hanging out in the bathroom with her, talking and playing with her. Jed wanted to play with her while she was in the tub, and of course where ever Jed is, the rest of the family can be found. We can't help but follow him around all over the house. :) So Eliza had a fun bath! I kept telling Benjamin he should just get in the tub too, so he can reach the toys and play with them easier. Finally he agreed and we popped him in there too. He was very good about sharing with Eliza and being sweet to her. (whew! :) Afterward, I got Ben out and we snuggled on the rocking glider in Eliza's room. He loves being wrapped up in his towel. Then Jed brought Eliza in and plopped her down on the other side of me. So I got to snuggle my two kids in their towels at the same time. That was fun. :)

The weather has been beautiful and warm, so we went on a family bike ride on Monday. Then, around 3:45pm, Jed suddenly burst into the kitchen, with Eliza all strapped up into her carseat and said, "We're leaving! Come on!" We loaded up in the car with me being totally out-of-the-loop about what this surprise outing was all about. :) Our first stop was to our friends home where Jed dropped off both kids to be babysat! And we embarked on a surprise DATE! We pulled into the movie theater and Jed treated me to a movie - Eagle Eye. It was really good, I thought. And so INTENSE! Then, on the way home, Jed surprised me by saying we were going to pick up some dinner too. We went to a really yummy grinder shop and ordered Reuben Grinders. (a grinder is a delicious toasted sandwich - I never heard of it when we were living out west; it must be a midwest/eastern thing.) We both love Reuben sandwiches, and this place makes yummy ones. Anyway, our date was so exciting and fun! Jed is the best at being spontaneous while also having his surprises well planned out - and he loves to surprise me. It's so exciting! I just loved spending one-on-one time with him, and going to a movie and dinner is so special to us - a night out! Yay! After our dinner we went and picked up the kids. Then I fed and put Eliza to bed while Jed got Ben ready for bed. We'd promised him all day that for Family Home Evening we would do that cute haunted treehouse craft that my mom sent him for Halloween. So, even though it was 8:30pm - one hour past his bedtime - we started on a major family craft! We had so much fun hot-glue gunning that haunted treehouse together. Benjamin just loved it! And Jed was totally into it too - he was the hot glue-gun man, and he was actually in charge of it all. I was a sidekick helper. My two boys were totally having a blast with it! I need to get a picture of the end product. It’s really cute. We ended at 9:30pm, read scriptures and popped Ben into bed. Very late night for him!