Hoe-ing and Poppin'

This weekend was a pretty great weekend. Friday my husband came home two hours earlier than planned, which was terrific because I then got to go out sans kids for dinner, drinks, and then perused Barnes and Noble for a while. By the time I got home the kids were in bed and the house was quiet. Very nice.

Saturday my husband decided to work a few hours of overtime in the morning so while he went in to his office I took the kids up to see my mom. On our way I came across these signs pointing to a train exhibit. I followed them up to a house in my parent's neighborhood. Well, in their backyard they had a huge model train with tracks, 8 trains running along them, full models of people, places, etc. I have never seen such a thing. A bit strange that this was their entire backyard. Did I mention it was huge? However, the kids loved it and it was certainly original and the owners were very nice as it was a part of a local "Train Tour" that they were supposed to charge for, yet allowed me to bring my kids for free. (Being neighborly and all :) ).

In the afternoon, while my husband and son napped, my daughter and I worked out in our garden. We planted some more flowers, corn, zucchini, tomatoes, watermelon, carrots, cilantro, mint, chives, onions, and sweet banana peppers. We still really want to get some strawberries planted so that is the goal this week. We planted them all from seeds, which could turn into a disaster. I do this every year and the majority of our vegetables and herbs do just fine, but on average we always botch one. I know you can plant many that are already started, but to me I feel like that's cheating. I want to grow it from infancy, I guess. Afterward the boys woke up and my daughter and I finished outside we went out for a late lunch/early dinner and pretty much called it a night after I played a few songs on the guitar for the kiddos. I don't know how many times I can play Puff the Magic Dragon before they tire of it. Apparently I haven't reached that limit yet.

Sunday morning we went to a Farmer's Market. It was wonderful and beautiful outside. There are these women who call themselves Mama Llama's (ironic since my daughter often calls me that) who make delicious empenadas. We walked around for a while, ran into a few friends, and left with organic melons, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, and a few apples.

The afternoon was spent just hanging out and relaxing. It was nice. My daughter and I did work a bit more in the garden, as the boys napped yet again, and we also set up her greenhouse and got her flowers planted in that. We also bought tickets for Disney on Ice: Disneyland Adventure Show that is coming to Phoenix in April. Thanks Jodi! The kids are really excited about that and both my husband and I are stoked to take them. Sunday night we had another BBQ, which is becoming a weekend ritual. The weather has just been too beautiful to pass up. It won't be long before we are baking in sweltering heat and standing by a hot BBQ will hold zero appeal. We made a quick trip to Target to buy Mary Poppins, which was a hit with both kids, our daughter especially, and settled in for an early movie night. My husband is now putting the kids to bed and he and I will probably end up watching Celebrity Apprentice.

All in all, it was one of the best weekends we have had in a while. So, how about you? What occupied your weekend?