Fun Family Day

Yesterday we had our first Fun Family Day as a family of five, and it was so much fun.  We have spent days together as a family of five... but this was a day out and about specifically devoted to family fun.

We started the day with the cleaning gal at our home... which always makes for a great day.  She cleaned while we left for our day out and when we came home, we had a beautiful clean and sparkling house.

We got out the door and drove an hour to Costco.  Hubby and I enjoyed the drive and Tracey got to watch a movie in the car.  All of the kiddos fell asleep on the drive, which allowed me to go in Costco for 30 minutes all by myself to shop while Hubby hung out in the car with our sleeping babies.

Then we went to the Rec Center near Costco where Tracey got to have fun with toddler gymnastics and then in the swimming pool.  Hubby and I used to live near Costco, when we first met and were first dating, so an old friend came to the Rec Center with her new little baby boy to visit with the twins and me while Hubby and Tracey swam.  Eventually, we will love for all of our family to swim together, but with three non-swimmers, two of whom cannot even sit up yet on their own, we just don't have enough hands get for everyone to be in the water safely.

After we left the Rec Center, we drove an hour in the other direction to Tracey's preschool and had our first ever parent-teacher conference, where we were the parents.  It was Hubby's first time meeting Tracey's teacher, and it was a lot of fun to hear how she thinks Tracey is doing and what we can be doing at home to continue to foster her education and development.  Then, we went down to Tracey's classroom and she got to show off and show Mama and Daddy, Howard, and Caroline what works she likes best at school.

Then we picked up a pizza on the way home.

At home, we enjoyed the pizza we brought with us, and then family Looney Tunes (the old fashioned kind).

After all the kiddos were in bed, Hubby and I continued the Family Day with a new app on our phone called Family Face Time, which is an app designed for families to play games together.  It is intended for two larger teams, but Hubby and I had a lot of fun adjusting the game so we could play against each other.

It was such a great day, and an event I hope we can continue with regularity.

We spend every day together, and every day with our kids is wonderful... but there is something very special about all of us packing up in the car and doing special activities together for the whole day.

It is a day when Mama and Daddy do not send emails or make phone calls, a day when Mama does not keep laundry going, a day when Mama and Daddy get to hold hands on the drive, a day when nursing happens in the car and the entire process involves a little bit of crazy for our whole crew to participate... but what a wonderful family activity and memory we create.

... And then, as I checked facebook for the last time last night, after our wonderful day, I saw this picture... and what a perfect, true cord it struck after our wonderful family fun day...

The truth is... it didn't really matter what we did yesterday... it mattered that we were all excited, we all did it together, Hubby and I talked about it all week and made sure that Tracey understood what a special fun day it was going to be for everyone, and then we followed through and we did it.  And tomorrow we will discuss how much fun it was and begin to plan for our next Fun Family Day and talk about what we should do next time.