our last day with 5 year olds

We had a Slumber Party last night.  Carl & Lew slept in my Mom's room while Gretchen slept with me.  The night before, Carl slept in with me because his ears were still hurting and he cried whenever he laid down flat.  So, I set him up in my bed with my awesome "Husband" pillow.  The foam one Lew bought me 6 years ago when I could no longer sleep flat because I was pregnant with 2 babies.  I was able to get Carl all comfy and he slept semi upright - and slept without crying all night long. 

Anyway, they slept in well this morning.  The kids got up just about 8:00.  Me, too.  We wanted to go to their favorite play place one last time.  We went Friday afternoon, too.  See, you can only go there if you are 0-5.  So, once they turn 6, they will be too old.  But, shhhh....  the director told us we could keep coming!  They were so happy to see us - it had been a couple months since we last went.   Honestly, they are physically too big, but they love going there.  Mentally, they are not 6 when they go into this place.  They have their favorite toys and Gretchen loves the Art Room.  Well, Carl loves the water table in there, too.  Maybe we can go sometimes after school during the week when I know there won't be too many small kids for us to plow over. 

We went there the very first time back in April 2007.  My mother and I took them there when we very first moved here. I mean very first... the truck with our stuff had not arrived yet.  So, we had two 15 month old babies and no toys.  This place was the perfect solution!  And, they have loved going ever since.  I took a ton of photos, but haven't edited much.  Here are a couple from today... also the last day of wearing their #5 shirts.

After this, we did some shopping at Target to pick up a couple more Matchbox cars and goodie bags.  We're giving the party guests a Smencil (from Gretchen) and a Matchbox car (from Carl).  No pixie sticks or cheapy $1 store crapola.  No offense to you guys who fill goodie bags with those, but really... the car was $1.07 and the Smencil was $1.29.  Not much more than the $1 store crapola.  And, since the party is for 2 kids, I figured 2 little gifts was cool.  We'll see how it goes with the lack of pixie sticks.  It seems to be a law here that those are included in any goodie bag.  Next up, shopping and lunch at Costco.

Once home, they easily took a nap.  Carl didn't sleep much more than 1 hour.  I could hear him in there coughing - probably woke himself up.  Gretchen slept 3 hours!  Guess she is still catching up from her ear infections and vacation activity. 

I was super productive during nap time....  I baked cupcakes and made their #6 shirts.  I even had time to frost about 75% of the cupcakes before Gretchen woke up.  Before dinner today, I was all set for tomorrow. 

Wanna see how I make the # shirts?

Draw your number pattern.  Wash & dry all shirts and fabric to be sure they do any shrinking before you sew them.

Turn your pattern upside down and draw the outline onto the wrong side of the fabric.  Then, turn the shirt inside out and pin the number to the front of the shirt.  Be sure to center it.

Sew along your drawn line on the material.  (You bobbin thread will actually be what is going to be visible on the right side of the shirt.)

Snip along the stitched line to expose the fabric (reverse applique look).  Be very very very careful to only be cutting away the shirt layer and not the underneath printed fabric.  Those little white flecks are actually some of the fabric being pulled through by the needle during sewing. 

Ready to go!!  I let them pick their own fabric this year instead of coordinating it.  (I looked for monkey print because their party is at Monkey Joe's, but all the prints I found were either too big or too babyish.)  Carl picked the popcorn and immediately told me "I want a black shirt!"  Gretchen chose the fun party pattern, but left the shirt color choice up to me.  Hers is a Youth M (10/12) and his is a Youth L (doesn't have a number... guessing 14/16).

And here are my monkey cupcakes in honor of going to Monkey Joe's tomorrow....  (Nilla wafers, mini Nilla wafers, marshmallows cut in half for eyes and black frosting in a tube to decorate.)

I made Carl one with a pumpkin muffin since he doesn't like cake.  I wanted to bring ice cream for him, but Monkey Joe's won't allow you to bring in ice cream.  Bummer.  Don't worry - he'll get vanilla ice cream later in the day at home. 

We went out to dinner.  We tried to go to one of our favorite little diner places.  I will admit, it has been more than a couple months since we have been there.  Well, we arrived to find the place dark.  There was a note in the window from the owner saying they were closed and thanking everyone for their support over the years.  Bummer.  We ended up at Red Robin.  Typical Red Robin meal... wicked slow service and they screwed up Lew's burger.  So, they remade it... but all 3 of us were totally done eating before he got his correct order.  They took his off the bill, but still.... reminds us why we go to local diners, not the chain restaurants we have around here. 

Carl fell right to sleep - Mr 1 Hour Nap - while Miss 3 Hour Nap wanted to hang out and chat until almost 9:30!!! 

Tomorrow, I'll have party pictures!  Well, I doubt I will have time to share them tomorrow.  We are going to be busy busy busy!  I can try to get to them Monday while they are at school.  We have school Monday and Tuesday and then get 3 days off!    I am looking forward to the holiday.  I finished all of my Thanksgiving feast shopping Friday during the day so I don't have to face any crowds.  Or any panic when Walmart has no cranberries left!!

Tomorrow, I will have two SIX year olds!!!!