Just a Typical Weekend

Some people look forward to the casual openness of a weekend. Two whole days to relax, watch movies, read books, play outside…whatever. Not us. When the weekend comes, we ramp it up. Throw routine out the window and enjoy all kinds of planned and unplanned fun.

I have to admit, while I love my routine, the weekend does catch me a little off-guard. Even though it happens quite predictably each week I’m told. It does provide a nice respite from my weekday battle against leaky sippy cups, rained out park play dates, toilet training, laundry and the shocking cost of a pack of white tee shirts (I mean, really?? $20 for a package of shirts my husband wears under his dress shirts?)

Last weekend was a biggie. ie: typical.

We celebrated the first birthday of our friend Hunter. His family is very special to us, we met them through the small group we led several years ago right before they were married, even before Ella. We shared an amazing trip to Italy with them, watched a football game or two, dinners out, dinners in, laughs, troubles. Two girls on our end and one handsome boy on theirs. We were excited to celebrate Hunter’s big birthday. Even Ella, who has a love/fear relationship with Alex was more than happy to be there and even happily went off with Alex to play beanbags. I love having friends who we can share these life stages with. It’s like adding to the family.

 

 

 

I was also fortunate enough to be asked to take Hunter’s 12 month photos. It was the first time I’ve ever taken photos for someone in a professional sense and not just me following Lily around with the camera. We had a fun time and I took a ton on photos. It was hard to only pick 15 to edit, but I had to set some limits on myself or I’d still be editing! :) Not that there was much to edit, just playing with colors, he’s too cute to edit!

As if a birthday party wasn’t a big enough event. We also squeezed in church and then signed up to volunteer in the nursery again. We’d done this prior to Ella so Loran could “practice on other people’s children” and it worked! He went from never caring for babies to changing diapers, walking crying babies around to calm them, mixing bottles and feeding like a pro before Ella even made her appearance. We went on “maternity/paternity leave” before Lily came and now that she’s 16 months old, it’s time to hop back in. So, more fun on the weekends for us while helping out other church families! Ella summed up her church experience best. When asked what she was going to do at church, she replied, “Learn about Jesus, eat snack and read books.”

So what do the Gutts do when they wake up on a Sunday without any plans? We refer to a handy book we received from my aunt called Exploring the Twin Cities with Children.  A great guide that highlights museums, festivals, parks and fun outings. We noticed that it was Danish Day! And there was a celebration brewing in Minneapolis. And we’re not talking the yummy pastry either, we’re talking the people. So, despite not being Danish, we loaded up the car and headed down to the Danish American Center. We had a great time wandering the grounds. Ella was invited to participate in a piano-led sing-along where she “sang”, danced and twirled. Lily threw in a few moves for good measure but was more interested in tossing her blankie to anyone willing to catch it. We had pastries, participated in a treasure hunt and watched Viking fights. It was a great day to be outside and feeling cultural pride to be Danish for the day.

 

Shhh…don’t tell anyone we’re not Danish. This place is crawling with armed Viking warriors.

 

Lily has no respect for warning signs. Right into the Viking fight ring she goes. And another grey hair for mom and dad.

 

I don’t remember the last time Lily fell asleep in her stroller, Danish Day was apparently too much for her. Cup in hand, mosquito bites on face, Lily passes out. Ella takes this rare opportunity to quietly steal Lily’s snack. Lily couldn’t even be roused when we put her in her car seat. Ella, on the other hand, was wide awake. Like Benadryl, Danish Day festivities affect people differently.