In the Absence of Naptime

Now that Luke has almost completely given up naps, and I've almost completely adjusted to that fact - well, maybe "almost completely" is a bit of exaggerated and wishful thinking - anyway... now we seem to have a lot of extra time in our day to fill with madness fun!

We have certainly had a very busy few weeks... and I have a lot less time to write about it, so without further ado, a quick review:

Update: well, it was going to be "quick" - but once I got started... you know the story; you've been here before! So now - a more-detailed-than-necessary review:

A week ago Monday, I picked Luke up from Museum School and he immediately begged to go to the Museum. In a moment of weakness brilliance, I not only agreed to take them into the Museum, but I also let Luke talk me into buying us tickets to the "big boat" (Titanic) exhibit. Although I knew the kids would not allow me to read every word in the exhibit, as is my preference, it didn't seem too likely that I'd have time to see it by myself, so a rushed viewing with kids was not the worst alternative. But to my amazement and relief, they were incredibly well-behaved (with one exception: the moment when Luke slipped under the velvet rope and into one of the mocked up "cabins" - I was plucking him out in a matter of seconds and ready to chastise him, but a museum guard materialized beside me and beat me to the punch! I'm guessing it wasn't the first time such a thing has happened....).

After the Big Boat, the kids enjoyed the children's museum area until closing time. Luke was mesmerized first by a magnet maze and then by the counting games on the museum's aged PCs, and Sarah spent the time in maternal bliss, carrying around a carefully blanketed baby doll half her size.

On Thursday, we met friends at the Botanical Gardens for the most chaotic nature walk I've ever enjoyed. Let me leave it at this: Luke fell headfirst into a pond. For real. (And we stayed and played for a good while after that; nothing quite like a little boy...)

Over the weekend, P had to put in a few hours at work, so the kids and I caught up on our grocery shopping. Here they are, a few hours in:

Am I a perfect parent, or what? Ha ha....

That night, a week without naps caught up with my little boy, and he fell fast asleep on the couch while he and his daddy waited for supper to be ready. Or maybe he was just bored because P was watching car racing?

And then before we knew it, it was Monday and time for Museum School again. This week, P met us so that he could accompany Luke to the Planetarium for a special Museum School program about the Moon. You would not believe the look of heartache and confusion on my little girl's face when her daddy took Luke but left her behind! So here it is:

But not to worry; she quickly adjusted to being the center of my attention:

And was happy to be reunited with her brother later.

Incidentally, the planetarium was "really, really scary," according to Luke.

And then yesterday, I made the somewhat reckless decision to go to IKEA, both kids in tow. It was an exhausting day - but which of the last few weeks hasn't been? And as a reward, I got to go to IKEA! And since they have chocolate milk, fun "rooms" to explore, and a play area for kids, it is now on Luke's short list of favorite places. (As we were leaving, I was explaining that we wouldn't be back for a while because it's so far away; Luke was silent for a moment and then sadly remarked, "I wish that place was right next to our house." Me, too, Luke. Me, too.)

Sarah had a pretty good time, too - even though she was too little for Smäland. It was quite a feat to drag her away from this comfy spot she found - and what must have been an extremely engrossing novel in Swedish: