lxforever

“His true passion was loving and raising his family. He was most proud of all they did together.”

—LeRoy The Great’s obituary

First, a roundup of retrospectives:
2014: Only notable for the MARIOKART reference
2013: A most fantastic chapter indeed / awaiting Baby1
2012: Shitty-ass May 2012 / pre-kids bonanza
2011: Classic workaholic homebodies Memorial Day fest
2010: Workaholics again / graveyard diggin’
2007: Missing. This is the day/weekend we got engaged SO it’s notable! But missing.
2006: JENNY VISITS!!!
2003: Back from EUROTRASHtour (jk)
2000: “PARTY ROOM!”, dwarf arms, etc.

Second, a short good ol’-fashioned update. I am writing this in the precarious position of hoping the kids stay asleep, while Jeff plays Zelda #BreathOfTheWild in all its gorgeousness and glory. It’s almost like having a meditative backdrop to my computer work, minus the random attacks of bokoblins and arrow-slinging. Anyway. We’ve had a fantastic weekend, and in the SPIRIT OF THE PAST, I am going to attempt to update without sacrificing as much privacy as I used to. GO!

EOTW:
My Memorial Day Weekend 2017 (like it’s some fancy-ass party or something, lol) got off to a great start when I took Friday off. (And the Thursday/eve before, I took the kids to the park to see my coworker/friend J, neat.) Anyway. Friday wound up being about random errands, random phone calls, and a couple of appointments, with a bike ride mixed in. HOWEVER, I capped it off with a SPLENDID and delicious happy hour with Terrae and Sara at The Lowbrow, complete with friend-therapy, new haircuts (not me, I was slumming), sangria, and beet salad. AMAZING! We also sat outside. Just exactly what I needed. Picked up the kids from daycare, made the fam some excellent BLTs, and goofed off in the playroom for awhile with Preschooler1 and Baby2. We have no idea what we did then, Jeff just said “did we go to bed early like a bunch of losers? Can’t remember.” Spot-on, Jeff.

Saturday after a questionable night of sleep there was a morning of a little MarioKart followed by napping(Baby2)/working out(parents)/playing in various places around where Mommy was working out while Mommy said “I’m not playing right now, I’m working out sweetie” repeatedly (Preschooler1). The quest for monkey bar domination continues! Finally everyone got their act together/woke up and we were off to the family picnic. Roll call! Basically all of the Burkes including the newest/youngest one and also an incubating one, plus CB+parents+kids. Yesssssss! Babies met and kids sort of played and we all ate great food and got bit up (by bugs not babies). Our super scooter rider demanded we go home after awhile and so we did. After some more playing/chores/napping, we managed to be late for swimming AGAIN, BUT ‘teacher evaluation week’ saved us and we weren’t. Score!! Baby2 and Preschooler1 are pretty good swimmers (I mean, for a baby/preschooler) and that is neat. Off to 5 Guys! Baby2 had her first French fry and we had our first ‘beautiful family’ compliment – a young gentleman came up to us to ask how old Baby2 was, mention his wife was 8 weeks pregnant (awwww cute!) and said “you have a beautiful family”. Awwww! Awesome. Yogurt Lab as a follow up, then grocery store and home to put kids to bed/watch a movie with stolen (from the picnic! NOT the store!) popcorn. Manchester By The Sea. Killer sad, horrible score, but decently done movie in a fairly real-life fashion. Mostly just nice to sit with Jeff on the couch for 2+ hours and watch a movie! Awesome!

Woke up Sunday tired as always but off to get COFFEE!! We all dressed and hit up the Richfield Caribou for egg sandwiches, poppy seed bread, and COLD PRESS/mocha(Jeff)! Immediately we hit it off with barista, who adored Baby2’s name, then we bonded over videogames, then as I shared my coffee with Preschooler1, Barista Lady gave me ANOTHER high five, saying she’d been drinking coffee since she was 2 also. Well then! What a grand time. She was also expecting a baby which was awesome. BABIES IN 2017 (mostly Nov/Dec at this point, FWIW). Ate up then headed to Fort Snelling Cemetery. By taking a wrong turn, Jeff wound up finding the BEST BACK WAY EVER into the Cemetery and we got right up to see his Grandpa’s grave. Introduced Baby2 and said some nice words and talked about death with Preschooler1. I wish I had met his Grandpa! Left me thinking about LeRoy a lot and how much I miss him. What a guy.

(Give thanks for this paragraph break) Nap skippage occurred and we found ourselves at Home Depot, getting a little lost but also playing with doors/etc. Finally home, Baby2 napped while Jeff worked out, then Preschooler1 and I zipped off to the plant store. PLANTS! Her patience was a little thin, which was fine, and we wound up with many pink flowers as well as a couple of pinwheels. NICE! Then a stop at the park for “just Mommy” time on the way home. The wading pool was filled up and we couldn’t help ourselves. Then did a lot of restaurant-ing/swinging/etc. Breezy and beautiful and sunny and fun. Home! Baby2 was up, yardwork was to be done, salad was to be made/eaten, and Erik arrived. Yay!!! The afternoon was spent playing inside/outside/riding the scooter/napping/cuddling/eating/etc., planted flowers with my very interested helper of Preschooler1, then playing MARIOKART!!!! Erik and Jeff were ruthless, Preschooler1 just marched along to victory each time as they battled it out. I realized it was getting late and I had to feed the household so I ordered a pizza. Fat Lorenzo’s delivered (literally and figuratively)!! We chowed down and then attempted bedtime several times for Baby2 (“did you give her Tylenol or No-Doz?!”). No idea what happened but eventually we all slept.

Monday, today, I finally woke refreshed, somehow. WHEW! Got up and got going to hot yoga which is just what the ‘doctor’ ordered (not actually). The instructor was great and I learned a new trick! “Firefly.” God I love yoga. Felt AMAZING after and did some fabric and booze shopping on my way home (not related/not same store). Made myself a nice lunch then did some drawing while Baby2 slept and Preschooler1/Jeff were in the basement hanging out. Peace and Quiet! Amazing. Preschooler1 then insisted on drawing with me (new obsession with my nice colored pencils, she has). The rest of the day consisted of Mario Maker, chores, making cookies, playing, eating, and watching Preschooler1 carry a giant toy piano with Baby2 in ‘hot’ pursuit. HAHA. Kids are in bed and now I think we will watch Veep. What an awesome weekend. Hope everyone else had a great one too!