A smörgåsbord of activities....

Well, this post seems well overdue. I've been distracted lately with my day-to-day living and haven't been leaving myself any time for blogging. But, now I am. So, let's see... it's been over a week since I posted last, so I should have plenty to write about. Well, this past Martin Luther King Day weekend was very enjoyable. Ben had the day off of school for the holiday... and he usually has tests on Monday, but since he didn't this time around, we played all weekend. It was so fun. On Friday afternoon we went to the temple with our friends Aubree and Craig. Emily watched Emma for us, of which we were very grateful. After the temple, our friends went to spend time with family that were in town visiting and Ben and I went out for dinner. At this point, Ben's mom had taken over watching Emma, of which we were also very grateful (it's always a joy to have a babysitter!). We went to The Cheesecake Factory - Yum! We went all out and ordered appetizers, meals, and dessert. I chose the strawberry shortcake for dessert, which was delicious, along with all the rest of the abundance of food we ate. The Cheesecake Factory is well known for its ridiculously large portions. But, Ben and I never split meals, because we can never agree on what to get... and there's nothing worse than going out to eat and settling on something that you're not that excited about. Anyway, there were plenty of leftovers to take home.

On Saturday, we went to IKEA and ate lunch and shopped around. I was shocked that we got out of there only spending about 10 dollars on random items. One of the small things we purchased was a cute little bedside clock. However, we didn't really realize till we got home that it was a wind up clock, meaning it ticks like crazy. Of course, we couldn't have that in our bedroom, so it was banished to the living room. But, we didn't have a clock out in the main area of the home except for the microwave, so it's been put to good use.

Saturday evening, we spent some more time with Aubree and Craig. They came over for a game night at our place; Emma slept in her room, and they put their little girl down to sleep on our bed. It worked out well. We had lots of fun snacks from Trader Joe's, while playing Settlers of Zarahemla, a game they got for Christmas. It's very much the same as Settlers of Catan (a game we really love), but with some amusing additions, such as the option to buy stones toward building the temple. :) And, oddly enough, I actually found a commercial for the game, posted on YouTube. So, here you go....




On Monday, we went to Makutu's Island. It's basically an indoor playplace. Like, think of the McDonald's playplaces, but imagine a much cooler one. There are some great tunnels and huge slides and climbing structures. It's great fun. I had been there once before and really enjoyed climbing around myself. However, now that I'm getting rather pregnant, it wasn't my kind of sport, so Ben took it upon himself to take Emma up into the maze of tunnels and slides. We had a great time. We went with Carol, Emily, and Adam as well.

Anyway, the rest of this week, since Monday, has been just routine. This weekend will not be as eventful as the last, but hopefully we'll find some time to do something fun together as a family. I love family time!