Getting Out Wednesday

So far my "Getting Out Wednesday" idea has been a good one! I honestly can't tell you how much adding one little weekday of spontaneity has done to make me happy. In case you're just catching up, I've been a total recluse since Noah got onto a two-nap a day schedule and it has been rendering me almost batty, so I'm trying to get us out of the house once a week to do something fun.

Today, it looked like it was going to rain, so the kids and I went to the Austin Children's Museum. Since Noah generally naps at 9:30 and the museum doesn't open until 10 and I didn't want him to fall asleep in the car, we headed down there a little early. I put Noah in the Ergo and we walked around the 2nd street district trying to get him to fall asleep. JM and I pretended to be urban dwellers and got a coffee (or a cup of crushed ice. They had bins of drinks at the counter and the nice barista gave JM some of their ice in a cup and JM thought he was hot stuff) at Jo's Coffee Shop and had a lot of fun watching the construction workers in their hard hats on various construction projects on the street and doing some window shopping. That area, with the new W Hotel, high rise apartments, cafes and shops, makes Austin seem a lot more like a big city.

We had fun meeting Aunt LaLa for lunch at Mama Fus. John Michael got baby chopsticks with his lunch and had fun using them for the first time. And, because he is the luckiest kid in the world, we also had to stop at Delish for cupcakes, since I (accidentally) parked right by there (ehem). I hate to say it, but I think I Delish has knocked off Cupprimo as my favorite Austin cupcake. So moist, those cupcakes!

JM has his third birthday party this weekend! How is that possible? I tried to keep it "family-only" and small this year and didn't account for the fact that people might not be able to come (doh) so only a total of two of JM's favorite buddies are coming and I feel bad! Next year, maybe we'll shoot for a few more attendees :) Anyway, low key it twill be... Breakfast tacos, mimosas for the parents and digging in the rocks at the park is on the agenda!

I've reading this book called "Stay Home, Stay Happy" about being a happy stay at home mom that my mom sent me after hearing its author on the Catholic radio station (not because I was sad, but just because my mom is that kind of mom who likes sending her daughter stuff that sounds interesting). I like the book a lot. The author is a mother of 5, so has a lot of good advice (get a mom- mentor, exercise, make sure your kids spend time with their grandparents, etc). It's funny because spontaneity is one of the things she recommends for being content staying at home. She thinks that it's good for both parents and kids not to be on such a rigid schedule all the time and I agree. Believe me, this is an area where I need a lot of work. Being both a Virgo and a type-A personality, I love me a good schedule, but how fun is it to do something different! Are you spontaneous with your kids? What kinds of things do you do and how do your kids react?