Rec Center and Ben & Jerry's

I'm so tired; I take no responsibility for grammatical errors or unclear writing at this point. Still, I wanted to share about our day before it became a new day and I spiraled further behind in blogging. I still need to catch up from last week.

Most of the day was wet and rainy, so we kept our entertainment indoors. The trio and I went to story time at the library right by Jackson's school. The kids weren't especially engaged so I didn't take any pictures. They wanted to go the museum, but I thought we would all go this afternoon once I picked up Jackson. Instead, we went home and painted.

Every time the trio and I paint, Jackson comes home and wants to paint, too. I try to clean any evidence that we painted because I don't especially like getting it back out a few hours later. Thankfully, Jackson was excited to show me that he painted flowers today at school, just like we did.

It was still raining. I suggested we go to the museum, though Jackson asked if we could go to "the indoor playground" instead. The rec center is only two minutes from our house, so it wasn't any inconvenience to run by the house and grab the required socks for everyone.

Until today, the trio had been inconsistent with confidently climbing the highest structures. All four kids played hard and conquered all parts of the play area.

The photo below is of Jackson going head first down the slide. I thought it looked neat in black and white.

We enjoyed a popcorn and lemonade snack at home and calmed down for nap time. Amelia was the only toddler to actually fall asleep, but at least James and Maddie had some quiet down time in their cribs.

While scrolling through Facebook I saw a friend post about Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's. I don't like to take the kids out in the evenings, but I have a hard time passing up free ice cream. The kids were curious and excited when I told them to get in the van after dinner; we were going to get dessert.

The closest Ben & Jerry's is less than 15 minutes away, but not in an area we frequent.  It's in a large neighborhood that has shops, fountains, restaurants, boutiques, etc. I was relieved that I found a parking spot right by the ice cream shop, and that the sun was shining through the clouds. Jackson asked to take a picture with the cow.

This cow set Maddie off into a crazed terror for over ten minutes. Apparently we can add cows to the list with Santa and the Easter Bunny. She kept shrieking, "No cow! I don't like cow!"

Surprisingly, the line was very short and fast moving. It moved so quickly and I was overwhelmed trying to console Maddie that I just told the employee to surprise us with five different flavors. I have no clue what any of us ate! With the exception of James, most of the kids stayed relatively clean. I brought baby wipes to scrub everyone down.

Afterwards we walked around the main street and played in the splashpad. (It only operates as a fountain during the summer.)

I genuinely like hanging out with the kids. Maybe it's because they're smaller, but they notice so many details that I overlook. Yesterday we stopped to track a lizard. This evening we took time to smell the different flowers.

Our late night ice cream had a ripple effect into our bedtime routine. Baby wipes only do so much. A bath was a necessity.

Everyone went to bed half an hour later than normal. We have big plans for tomorrow, so I hope everyone gets proper rest tonight.