Oh the laundry!

Monday:

We got back late Sunday night, slept, then scurried out the door Monday morning to go to a Senior adult luncheon. We were able to share about our ministry with GoodSeed. They even made sure to include our kids in the invitation! 

We brought strawberry shortcake goldfish crackers, but we were also pleasantly surprised with the best cinnamon rolls ever!

Out friend, Connie, unlocked the closet and got cars out for our kids. Kora kept her baby close by.

We were there from 9 to at least 1 or so. I was so tired after, so I took a nap with the kids, then we got invited to go with Grandma (Sheryl) to take Alex for his birthday dinner. He didn't know we were coming and he was so excited to see us. Made my day! Although I'm 99.9% sure the excitement was for Doug, it still made my day!

Alex is 13 now! Crazy!

Some more Red Lobster pics, why are those cheddar biscuits so good?!? And why do I have zero self control? I never have room for dinner after eating half a dozen biscuits, give or take.

This was one of those dining experiences that makes you rethink going out in public with children. From start to finish, I was on edge. Kora was a little "busy", she finally settled down by Grandma, but fell out of her chair, which led to crying. The waitress felt sorry for us and asked if the kids wanted to see the Lobsters. Good thing I packed in the biscuits, cause if I had been hungry I'm not sure I would have been able to eat much. In Kora's defense, she was so well behaved the last time we were there and I'd say most of the time when we're out, but this just wasn't our day.

Alex had jumbo coconut shrimp...

When we got back to Grandma's, I attempted to tackle laundry. And I snuggled with the kiddos, and I guess we had room for Fritos, because I have pictures of us eating some...

Quick confession: I love doing laundry. Not sure if it's a product of living overseas without a dryer and now I just love the simplicity, or if there are other contributing factors. But I also think it's one tiny productive thing I have control over. When you're a nomad, and you have little control over your surroundings and schedule, the act of doing something measurable goes a long way. So, being "home" and getting some things done was pure bliss!

Banana, laundry, Fritos. I should also mention that I forgot Kees was eating this banana and dumped the laundry right on top of him. He thought that was pretty funny.

Tuesday:

Whew! After our long trip, then a busy-ish Monday, Tuesday was a catch up day, in a big way! More laundry, re-stocking the fridge, unpacking and situating our stuff at Grandma's place. It was nice. As close as we get to being "home" these days. So thankful our family has put up with us so graciously. We're a mess sometimes, most of the time, maybe all of the time, if I'm honest.

Apparently Kora was pretty busy this day! Lots of pictures of her doing what she does. ;)

We found out Grampa was nearby for a conference and convinced him to come eat dinner with us! We had Thai food, I made Doug go pick it up, I did not feel like take Kora out again! The food was amazing and the leftovers lasted for lunch all week! Yum, yum!

Grampa was happy to see the kids and made sure we knew Gramee was ready for them to come back to their house. (We did go back, later in the week!)