A Weekend Alone with the Labeler

For a Mother's Day gift this year, Milt did the most wonderful thing.  He gave me a weekend ALONE - at home - without the kids so I could actually get something done around the house (and also go to a morning Women's Conference on one of the days.)  Milt took the kids to Washington D.C. for two days and I got to clean out the basement.  Cleaning out the basement probably doesn't sound like much fun, but I got to actually organize things in bins...with LABELS (and I really love labels)!  Plus, I got to get rid of all kinds of junk that I don't know what we were ever going to do with!  Now I can go down to the basement and find things right away when I need something - It's so nice and saves so much time!

Milt and the kids had a fantastic, memorable time on their journey.  They took Milt's Hybrid to save money on gas, so the kids got to be all cozy in the back together - fun memories!  Check out McKinley's joy at being so close to her lovely brother & sister - (which I think was taken on the ride back from the look of the girls' Mommy-less hairstyles):

They did have a fun new experience on the drive down to D.C.   Maddox had to go to the bathroom during the car trip when they were miles from the Interstate (we take the pretty, scenic..aka "toll-free" route for the first leg of the drive).  Since there wasn't a public restroom for miles, Milt pulled over near a field and let Maddox "water the grass" for his first time ever.  Maddox's reaction when he was done was to look down at the grass, then up at Milt, then down at the grass again and say, "AWESOME!"  These are the little things that girls just don't realize that they are missing!

While in D.C., Milt and the kids went swimming at the hotel and got to read their books in bed (basically a family highlight of every hotel experience).

They visited the Smithsonian American History Museum and saw some cool stuff like Dorothy's Ruby Slippers and C-3PO (I think we have to see these things every time we visit here).

Then the next day they went to the National Zoo.   I got to hear all about all the great animals they got to see - Maddox is still talking about the alligators!  Check out this great picture that MILT set up and took of the kids outside the Zoo.  I have taught him well! ;)

So the kids and Milt had a wonderful time.  In fact, when Milt saw our cleaned out basement, he agreed that it was totally worth a weekend with the kids alone (nothing makes Milt happier than getting rid of junk!) Now for next year, maybe I can clean out and organize my closet during a kid-free weekend...