When I thought about leaving town for the Edel Gathering last Friday through Sunday, I didn’t worry for one second about leaving home. We had Jane when Philip was in med school, so the kids got used to not having Philip around much. Now that he’s in practice and has a more normal schedule, they’ve gotten used to having special time with Daddy.
I left for Edel early Friday morning (Philip took the day off to be home with the kids), so I ended up telling the kids Thursday night before we put them to bed that I was going to be out of town for a few days. Even though Philip and I have taken quite a few long weekend trips away from the kids, this was the first time I was going to leave them by myself. It felt WEIRD. I know they love me, but I was anticipating a, “Welp, see you later,” like they gave me on their first days of preschool. These kids don’t struggle with separation. Not this time, though. I’m going to blame exhaustion and the heat on their very emotional reaction. Jane started crying, that got Walt crying, and then Harry got in on the action. “But, Mama,” Jane said, “you better teach Daddy how to do all of the things you do!” It was like she forgot how he has always helped with everything around here (and more often than not does a lot of it better than I do!). Exhaustion tends to get the best of the Boucher girls. Philip really is THE MAN when it comes to his parenting and general domestic skills.
Fair warning: This is going to be one of those annoying posts when I’m that girl who goes on and on about how awesome her husband is. You’ve been forewarned!
So, other than cry their eyes out (not even a tear), what did they do while I was away? Well…
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Friday morning, Philip invited his sister, Maddy, to join him and the kids on a trip to Omaha to visit the Henry Doorly Zoo.
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For lunch, they went to B&G’s, an old-school diner with legendary loose meat sandwiches and root beer floats.
Jane & Maddy
Creepy smoking clown art
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Bathtime
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Saturday morning trip to Pioneers Park
Enjoying their room to roam free
Posing with the statues
I love Jane’s pose with her big sun hat
Feeding the geese
I love this picture even though it distorted the kids’ faces
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A stop at the nature center
Finding the Queen Bee
Checking out the stuffed animals
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Jane got a goose egg. “She just hit her head on a pole,” Dr. Phil nonchalantly explained. No biggie.
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Saturday night, Philip decided to have some of our friends and their 3 sweet kiddos over for dinner. He made pulled pork sandwiches with homemade BBQ, our friends brought sides, and Philip made peach crisp with vanilla ice cream for dessert. This guy.
Kiddie table
Sprinkler fun with friends
So, yes, I’m spoiled rotten. Philip and the kids had a grand ol’ time while I was away. These are just the things he took pictures of, but they did much, much more. I’m so very grateful for how he went above and beyond to make it a wonderful weekend for them. Surprisingly, the kids actually still missed me despite all of the fun they had with Daddy, and they greeted me with their biggest hugs and kisses upon my return. It’s good to be home, but I’m so glad they had such a great weekend with Philip.
If you’d like to read more 7QT posts, head on over to Kelly Mantoan’s wonderful blog, This Ain’t the Lyceum. (People, I’ve always been a big fan of Kelly’s, but ever since meeting her at Edel, I’m hooked. I’ll be writing more about her talk at Edel next week.)
