Sleeping with the Seniors...and under the Stars

We had a fun weekend of something a bit different. On Saturday, Marlon took all three kids on the synagogue camping trip, which was just an overnight at a campground about 25 minutes away. He had been camping many timeas in his younger days, being an Eagle Scout and all, but we've never taken the kids camping. I've wanted to try, but he's sure I'll hate it and we've had so many other trips to take that we just haven't made time for it over the years. This seemed like a perfect opportunity, though, because there were other dads to share in the work of cooking, etc. and to bring all the stuff. They even had a tent for us.

They had a GREAT time. They played a lot of frisbee and other outdoor games, they hiked 2 miles to the beach and played in the water, then hiked back. They bbq'd burgers, hot dogs and all the stuff that goes with that kind of food for dinner. They built a bonfire and had smores. They told jokes and stories around the fire. They went on a scavenger hunt. They had pancakes and eggs for breakfast. Then they went to the beach again for a few hours and one of the dads gave all 3 of our kids a surfing lesson (apparently they were all able to stand up.)

All 3 kids enjoyed some nice, relaxing, unstructured daddy time and he enjoyed it too!

I had a few options of what to do with my "free" 24 hours of no activities. I could have organized a girls' night out with my friends. But I didn't. I could have enjoyed a quiet afternoon, evening and morning home alone to get done one of the bizillion things on my to-do list. But I didn't. I could have spent the day at the Montage Resort and Spa in laguna beach using the $400 gift certificate that my friends gave me for my birthday a year and a half ago! But I didn't. Instead I gathered up Midnight and a little overnight bag and I went to my mom's senior living place. She and I and a couple of her buddies went out for Mexican food. Then, we went back to her place and we watched two movies I had rented in one of their lounges. (27 Dresses and P.S. I love You, both "ok" but not as good as I was expecting them to be.) Then she and I went back to her studio apartment and I spent the night. The next morning, we had breakfast, took Midnight (who was so amazingly good there) to the dog park to play with his friends, and then we went to a Party Planning Expo at one of the Irvine Hotels to see if there were any vendors of interest for planning Harrison's Bar Mitzvah.

It was nice to spend time with my mom since we'll be gone 3 weeks and since I've been so busy lately that we haven't done as much together. I was tired, though, b/c I didn't sleep well. Her bed is just a double bed, so it was crowed and I'm used to sleeping only with Marlon so I didnt' sleep well, though. She snores and rolls around a lot. :)

We all met back at home around 2 ish and spent the afternoon studying for upcoming tests, reading, doing some homework and hanging out. Everyone was exhausted because none of us had gotten a good night's sleep so we were ALL in bed by 9!