Surprise!

You all must have missed watching this cute girl grow!

The kids and I joined Eric's family at the zoo one day. {Note: I had to carefully choose photos to recount this adventure; I apparently poured myself into a pair of hot pink pants that weren't quite up for my post-pregnancy shapeliness. Eeek!}Elijah so enjoys being able to push the button and get a little shower. He was sad when they turned it off due to cool weather.The best part of this trip was having Haven and Luke swing together. It was only Haven's second time to ever be in a swing, I believe, and she LOVED IT! Both the kids were laughing like crazy; their joy was contagious.
Dear Elijah was a little confused as to why he was no longer able to swing in the baby swings. It's hard to be the big kid sometimes. Everyone was in a rush to get to lunch at Arby's. I didn't really understand what the big deal was, but just chalked it up to "they really like to have their lunch on time." Little did I know that we were hurrying because I had a big surprise in store. Grammie broke the news by saying, "We're taking the kids!" I stared at her; my heart started beating faster. {"Why is she stealing my kids?!?!} Laura stepped in and said, "Eric planned a surprise for you. Mom and Dad are taking the kids home with them tonight. Don't worry; Eric already packed all their things." I got a few more details ("Here's all the baby food we have...will this work?), realized the only thing missing was Mr. Moose ~:-(, and drove home sans children.

I got to do this little treasure hunt - finding a new dress, a travel coffee mug I *needed*, directions to Starbucks, nice jeans Eric had been asking me to buy for the last three years, and some other things. Everything was wrapped and hidden around the house or in the shed. It started raining, but I really enjoyed running around in the rain looking for my next surprise. Oh! The biggest surprise was a massage at A Moment's Peace. I've been there a few times thanks to some generous gifts, but this was seriously the most amazing massage I've ever had. I didn't really know if I could drive afterwards I was so relaxed.

Eric got off work and we went to Tayst, a restaurant we had been waiting to try for awhile. Everything there is locally purchased; it is also an official green restaurant. We had some kind of mushroom appetizer which was the best thing I have ever put in my mouth. Ever. Ever. Eric and I still talk about it. It melted in your mouth and was saturated with flavor. Oh my. It was so good. After dinner, we watched a show at the Ryman. Some Canadian-country group performed. Even though we had no idea who it was, we still enjoyed it. Actually, I knew some of the songs. (Thanks Dad!) Thanks for such a fun night Eric!
I'll be glad to do it again sometime~;-)