Memories and Meltdowns

My sister, Amy, is great at planning fun and memorable things to do with her kids. She recently asked each of them to make lists of what they would like to do with the rest of their summer and she has set out to make it all happen. Today's events included a trip to a park, ice cream and a bakery and Jake, Jenna and I were invited to come along. But it wasn't just any park, any ice cream or any bakery. We went to Preston's Hope park and even though it felt like a million degrees outside, Jenna was unstoppable. After only about 30 minutes, I wimped out and needed to beat the heat with the next stop of the day - La Gelateria. I had two flavors, the names of which I can't pronounce, but they were basically hazelnut and chocolate chip. Oh. My. Heaven. Jake had the hazelnut and cinnamon (surprisingly good!) and of course, Jenna had pink (raspberry). After scraping every last bit with our mini spoons that Jenna called "shovels," we headed across the road to stop #3 - The White Flower Cake Shoppe. The Shoppe was on the Food Network Challenge and designed a Cookie Monster cake for the Sesame Street themed challenge. Even though we didn't get to meet the actual cake artist who was on the show, we did try a couple of gourmet cupcakes. Jenna picked out cookies n' cream and the guy at the counter threw in a lemon one for the the poor sweaty pregnant lady. De-lish! We had a great time and are glad we decided to brave the heat and hang with the Frankies. Thanks for a great afternoon! (Go here for pictures! Thanks Amy! )

Unfortunately, our day went downhill as soon as we walked in the door. I hadn't even put my purse down when Jenna asked if she could watch a show. Really? We just got home! And when I told her no, the afternoon-long meltdowns began. She did play puzzles for a bit and a crazy thunderstorm kept us entertained for about 30 minutes but the majority of the time from 3-6:30pm was spent whining and throwing fits. I think it was a combination of lots of activity, heat, a minor sleep deficit and maybe a little too much sugar. Maybe. So, she was in bed (and asleep!) at about 6:45. Whew. Tomorrow? We're taking it easy. And definitely taking naps.