Family Time

Lately I've been making a very honest effort to spend a lot of time together as a little family. Each weekend I try to plan something on Saturday where we can go out together and just enjoy each other. I've been working really hard to make dinner early enough that we can all sit around the table and eat together (yes, even Amelia). Max has really been loving this time. Sad I know that it wasn't really a priority before -- we tried so hard just to get Max to eat that eating at the table wasn't really effective. But now it's much easier for Max and he is seriously loving it. He gets all of our attention and eats all of his dinner and because we eat so much earlier now (Tyler and I used to wait until after the kids went to bed to eat) we go out for walks and to the park before bedtime. It's made such a huge difference in the dynamic of our family. It has really made us feel closer and we love it!



Recently we found this little park and had a good time feeding the ducks some goldfish crackers (that was all we had) and running around and going on "adventures" (what Max calls them). It's really fun for him to do stuff like this because it gives him the chance to do whatever he wants really. I try to give him very few rules and limits when he is outside. It's the one place he is able to explore and play and run as much as he wants.





He had fun climbing on all the rocks and playing hide and seek. Here's one spot he decided to hide -- under a park bench. He seriously thought he was so clever. His head was pretty hidden... feet, not so much.



Lia was pretty excited about this M&M wrapper. After we had eaten dinner we went to Longs and got some candy as a treat. Amelia saw this wrapper and did not let go until we got in the car and she fell asleep. She loved it.







I am loving our new "family time" together. I have to say, it's a lot of work. It's much easier to let Max eat in front of the TV and wait until the kids go to bed so Tyler and I can eat. I've missed cooking and loving that I get to do it again, try out new recipes and experiment. It's been good for all of us!