A Rainy Sunday

This past Sunday was a lesson in perspective. It was either a very unproductive day or a wild success, depending on how you choose to view it.

The day began very early for me, up staring into the glow of my computer screen, writing away on a few catch-up posts. Outside the rain came down in sheets. Inside, the house was quiet - except for the soothing tap of rain drops on our roof - the boys sound asleep lost in their dreams and the dog curled on my lap almost purring with relaxation. The sun was not yet up, but my day had started and the 'to-do' list was growing longer by the minute. Having been gone the past week, I had but Sunday to do the errands.

Sunday is usually soccer day in the Riley house. This Sunday J and I were both slated to play at 11. Judging by the level of my pool, I knew the games would be canceled and the day would be ours to do with as we please. This meant only one thing - errands!

So, once the boys were up and we all showered and got ourselves packed into the car, we headed off toward our first 'to-do'. Five minutes before our ETA Ayden dozed off for his afternoon nap. What to do?? Continue with the plan, wake him up and drag him into the store? Or find something else we could do while remaining in the car. We chose the latter and a hour later we made it back to our original destination....only to find as we walked around the mall, looking like deer in headlights -reading and re-reading the mall map - that the two stores we went to see were BOTH closed. Gone. Vamoose. Perhaps we should get ourselves out from under the parent rock more often, or, as I'd like to view it, we are spending our time more wisely these days =)

Since Ayden had been such a trooper, we decided he would enjoy some play time in the kids area.
This was J's first experience with Ayden running around like a little boy. Jumping and climbing and dodging the (what seemed like hundreds) of other kids. He was a little nervous to say the least.

In the end, I think he enjoyed watching Ayden navigate his environment and saw the amazing independence he exudes. Ayden was so at peace with himself, his intentions and the chaos surrounding him. He played his little heart out until we decided we should move on and try to accomplished another task.

We should have known the next store would be closed on a Sunday....of course! One of only two days a week most people are off work and the stores decide it would be the prime day to close.

So, instead we followed our stomachs to food. Being the typical cash strapped new parents, we broke out the gift card collection and decided on The Macaroni Grill. Ayden went to town on his mac & cheese and chicken fingers, then, being full and content, he felt the urge to kick back and relax...

What a ham.

By the time our feast was over, and we had nonchalantly kicked all the food on the floor into a small, more manageable (aka less embarrassing) pile, it was time to head home to meet Candice and Kevin for our monthly dinner.

Candice made us a wonderful rainy day feast of homemade chili and cornbread....does it get any better than that?? Oh wait, it just might...she topped it off with a fresh, out of the oven, apple crisp a la mode.

(I'll wait while you wipe the drool from your mouth)

As you know, this Sunday also happened to be the Super Bowl. Ayden was styling in his Manning jersey (yes, I do realize it is the wrong Manning, but it's the thought that counts!), so we did a mini photo shoot in the backyard.  Here are some shots.

For more pics see our Shutterfly page.

In the end, we got ZERO errands accomplished. But we did have a wonderful day filled with family time and the fantastic company of our dear friends. I'd say it was a wild success =)