While Dad's away

Chad's home! Chad's home! A treasured sentiment after any long weekend away from the familia. The dude just got back from a bachelor party in which him and 13 other guys boarded a cruise ship to Ensenada. Needless to say, several enthralling stories have been thrown my way in the 2 hours since he's walked in the door, most of which have to do with wild cruise goers and exorbitant amounts of alcohol. You do you, babe!

Anyhoo, the kids and I had a blast over the last few days! I didn't want to fall into the trap of "mom being the boring parent," so I legitimately scouted for things to do from Friday to Sunday. After picking up our amaze balls new ride last week (the fabulous Volvo XC90, baby!), you bet your bottom dollar that driving anywhere and everywhere was high on my priority list. So Friday we picked up my friend Nicole and her daughter Stella who live right down the street, packed Carter in the - wait for it... -  THIRD ROW, and took off for Downtown Disney! Yes, Friday we went to DTD with our friends all in one car! The whole thing made me overly excited. AND THEN that night the kiddos and I played for a very long time until it was lights out. Mama watched a ridiculous amount of awesome television (duh), then hit the hay.

Saturday was Carter's half hour ice hockey class, then the three of us participated in public skate for over an hour! Carter, now so much better on the ice and in love with his skating gear, blasted around and around while Kota and I legitimately skated along together. She was WAY more enjoyable out there than last time, let me tell you. Less dragging on my end, more stomping on hers. Next we high tailed it down to Ladera Ranch to hang with Gina and her babes, all the while obsessing over Vivi's (Volvo's name) sound system - heyo T Swift. I was thinking of spending the night at my parents' house that night because it was my mom's birthday and why drive back home when I would be making the drive again the next day, but then ruled against it. WHO in their right mind would pass up an empty house and our own beds?

So Sunday came 'round and what did we do? Go to public skate again. Yes! Us three active Cisneros's suited up and loved it, especially because Carter picked up this seal type thing that kids who are learning to skate use for balance. Kota grabbed onto it and mamacita just skated alongside her. It was awesome! Afterwards it was on to the Paplia home for some birthday festivities and then alllllll the way back home that night (again: open reign on television and relaxation time. Also, Kota was showing signs of an oncoming cold so I just wanted to get home). But honestly, the drive didn't bug me one bit because, in comparison to Mitsy (the centuries-old Mitsubishi I was driving up until we decided that Chad should drive it given his short commute to work), Vivi is so darn smooth that both kids fell asleep. I mean, come on. Never have I appreciated comfort so much as I do after driving Mitsy for a year and a half!

Anyhoo, what a great couple of days! Chad got home today earlier than expected, right after the three of us got back from playing soccer at the park (because when Dad's away, Mom is the bomb).

Now I shall re-commence my Monday cleaning regimen! I fell into this schedule where I literally only clean on Mondays and grocery shop on Fridays and I have to say, it's amazing. Deep, deep, deep, deep, DEEP clean at the beginning of the week, leaving us available for play dates and stress free fun, and then stocking up on food right before the weekend. It works well!