weekend wrapup

as i sit here w/ my glass of wine, i must say, this weekend was jam packed and very eventful! the birthday party went off almost w/o a hitch, and my visit w/ my sister and her boyfriend went well too. i made plenty of food, which was promptly devoured by the guests. love how those pb&j sandwiches disappeared, and the parents seemed equally happy w/ adult food too. the kids loved the bounce house, and the art activity was a success. i need to remember to do that next year. the only thing i'd change is that i really want a way for everyone to mingle and introduce each other. i'm new at playing hostess, and found myself unable to really introduce the different people (playgroup vs preschool) to each other. my sister told me its nearly impossible to supervise my own kids, host a party, and introduce everyone to each other, so not to beat myself up. then again, the kids had a good time, and that's really while we were there. i guess i just want things to be perfect.
i took the boys w/ my sister and her boyfriend to the zoo last night for a special zoo event. renewed my membership while we were there, and boy was it worth it! m couldn't stop talking about the alligator, and the behind the scene tour of the elephant exhibit was wonderful. g was scared of the giraffee feeding, but since it normally cost $2 per person to feed the animal, i did my best to have him try it. he was reluctant w/ me, but auntie stephanie knew how to coax him into holding the leaves to the giraffee. the boys gobbled up the snacks i had prepacked, and we left the zoo w/o giving into the expensive, not great tasting food at the zoo. we left late (it was after 8pm when we got in the car), and decided to hit up red robin for dinner. i was reluctant-after all, i had the 3 boys, and it was just about bed time. they must have been hungry, because they were the most well behaved children, and sat between all of us while we devoured our burgers. they topped it off by falling asleep on the way home-heaven! auntie treated for dinner, and i was a bit relieved-since after the zoo and party expenses, i was not too keen on spending a ton of money out (when we still had leftovers at home). guess that's what you get for being single and kid-free.
today was relaxed. we ventured to visalia, and explored mooney grove park. we fed the ducks, and saw some gosslings (baby geese) while we were there. i spotted a family of 2 parents and 3 baby geese, reminded me of how i feel w/ my boys trailing after me wherever we go. m spotted the paddle boats, and i was reluctant to go, let alone have them go, since i wasn't sure they'd behave, be cooperative, etc. auntie said she'd take the boys, and her and her boyfriend were super careful about having the boys sit next to them, and i relaxed w/ hubby and baby e nearby. i got some amazing pictures, and on the way home, all m could talk about was his trip on a boat. g loved it too, and couldn't get enough of pointing to everything. e had a nice rest, and a snuggle w/ mommy, nothing could get better than that!
we had dinner at home (thanks to costco's rotisserie chicken-yum-o!) and my sister left home this evening. i'm glad she came, wished we could have snuck out for a drink or two, but w/ money and gas being at the forefront of our minds, we chose to stay home. maybe next time i'm in the bay area, we'll get away. i had a nice visit w/ her boyfriend too-he treats my sister well, and didn't mind the boys hanging onto him throughout their stay.
oh, and my sister took a ton of pics of me and hubby w/ the boys throughout the weekend. fell in love w/ her digital camera. guess what i want next?
anyways, i'm off to bed, have first swim lessons tomorrow morning. i'm a bit nervous-my boys are growing up too fast, way too fast it seems.