looks like someone has a case of the mondays

even though peter, erik, and i now have twice the weekend together that we used to, they're still way too short. last week ended kind of abruptly. when i got to daycare to pick up erik on thursday, he had fallen outside (on asphalt) and hit his head pretty badly. he had a big bump on his forehead, and they hadn't even put ice on it or anything. i was more than a little annoyed and very upset that they didn't take better care of my little guy. i talked to my mom and she very kindly volunteered to come over on friday morning to watch him so i could go to the lab and not have to worry about taking him to daycare. it was a huge relief because i really wanted to keep him home ... guess it's the mama bear in me, but i just want to protect him!

my mom came over on friday morning and brought us breakfast. i went to the lab to get a few things done before coming home and going shopping with erik and my mom. we went to get a birthday gift for my friend jamie's son alex who just turned one and had his birthday party on saturday. i wanted to get him a set of tonka wheel pals because erik really loved them at that age (and still does!), and they had a set that i had never seen before. they were so cool ... all different kinds of trucks. erik had a hard time giving them up (alex was really sweet and let erik play with them after he opened them), but my mom made it a little easier for him by getting him some hotwheels. i was all impressed that he was able to identify that bronco and hummer without me even telling him what they were. i think he carried that bronco around all weekend! we went over to the very sad and desolate century III mall to check out the last weekend of the snugglebugs consignment sale when almost everything is half price. we got erik a nice big bag of clothes for only $13. my mom insisted on buying them ... thanks mom!!! we let erik ride the easter train again. this time he got to ride in the engine. the older gentleman who was running the train let the kids go around and around and around, and after about 7 or so times around, all of them looked like they were ready to jump out the windows. one kid kept saying "mom?!?" every time the train went past. but erik really loved it. can't go wrong with a choo choo!



and of course we had to let him ride the little merry-go-round too.



(notice the bronco in his hand in both photos!) :D

after the mall we went to eat at at bob evans. erik ate and ate and ate for what felt like an hour. i couldn't believe how much that kid put away! i think he must be going through a growth spurt because he did the same thing at dinner tonight.

it ended up being a nice day and i really loved getting to spend time with my mom.

on saturday morning we met my brother adam and his family at the carnegie museum to check out the horse exhibit and equus-travaganza (thank you again mom!). they had some horses outside and a farrier doing a shoeing demonstration, but what excited erik the most was the horse that he got to pet. i think we went over at least four times to pet this poor horse who was pretty much pinned against a wall. the horse was extremely docile and hardly seemed to notice, but erik was thrilled and squealing with delight.

erik petting the horse:





morgan and marisa petting the horse:



morgan and erik sitting in the saddle that we later found out that they weren't supposed to sit in:





a few more pictures from the museum (notice the bronco, still in erik's hand):









in the afternoon we went to my friend jamie's house (i mean the CONRADS' house) for alex's birthday party. it was a lot of fun. erik had a great time playing with all of alex's toys and with a little girl mia who is just as bad as he is about not sharing and taking toys away from other kids! it was good for him to get a taste of his own medicine for once! i don't think it'll change his behavior though. don't get me wrong, they're both great little kids. i was so focused on making sure that erik didn't create too much havoc so i didn't take a ton of photos, but alex was so cute, especially eating gobs of green icing off his huge #1 birthday cake. erik had the best time chasing and being chased by diego the pug, and i had a blast watching the two of them run all over the place. i think diego enjoyed it too. they were so cute. here are a few photos.

erik in the car on the way to the party:



the birthday boy and his daddy jeff:



alex eating a football:



erik hoarding alex's new wheel pals:



erik completely scompered on the way home:



when we got home i went to the lab for awhile while erik and peter played. since erik only napped for a few minutes on the drive home, we were able to tuck him in a little early and had a date night in - a bottle of cabernet/merlot (first time i had that combo ... not too bad), take out from one of our favorite chinese places (lulu's noodle house), and a pretty terrible movie (three). i was so tired from the day that i was in bed before midnight, but it was a good tired and a really great saturday.

sunday was much more relaxed. we slept in and then went to the carnegie library as soon as it opened at noon. erik loves the library (especially the train table), and could hardly wait as they opened the doors. as soon as he got in, he took off running to the children's library. he played with the trains, read books, and looked at the exhibit of stuffed local animals they had there. he was particularly tickled by the chipmunk. i think he was expecting it to sing and dance! we had the place to ourselves for about 15 minutes until other kids and parents started trickling in. we stayed for about an hour and got lots of neat books for him. he didn't even put up too much of a fight when we had to leave. i made lunch for the three of us when we got home, and again erik had a very hearty appetite. he ate the entire quesadilla i made for him, a good bit of my turkey sandwich, lots of popcorn, and grapes. when we put erik down for his nap, i snuck out and went to phipps conservatory with my rebel to unwind a bit, see the gorgeous spring flowers, and take some pictures. the colors were so vivid and beautiful. i took a ton of pictures that totally don't do them justice. you can see a selection of them here.

here's a sneak peak:





















i made it home well before erik woke from his nap and was kicking myself for not taking my new macro lens. i'll have to do that next time! when erik got up, i took him to the playground while peter did some laundry and started dinner. we had a nice dinner and a quiet evening at home, trying to get geared up for the week that was to come.

like i said, the weekend went by WAY too fast, but it was really great. lots of nice memories. only four more days until next weekend!