Child-Free Weekend

Jacob and I were given the luxury of sleeping late and spending time together this weekend.  We packed the boys' suitcases and sent them off with their grandparents.  The boys were very excited about staying with their Boompa and Bleu and Jacob and I were excited about having some time to spend together as well as some time to just relax.  Jacob's parents arrived around 10:00 Saturday morning to get the boys and they all seemed eager to get back to Jacob's parents' home.  The house was really quiet after the boys left so Jacob and I decided to watch a movie.  Logan has been asking to see Where The Wild Things Are ever since it came out.  Jacob and I had heard mixed things about the movie and wanted to watch it first before allowing the boys to watch it. The boys love the book--we read it often and have even acted it out on occasion.  I know that they think the movie is going to be as cool as the book and after watching it with Jacob I fear that my 3-year-old might be disappointed.

We rented the movie and watched it in hopes of enjoying it.  Sadly, we did not enjoy it.  The wild things in the book seemed fairly happy--at least I thought.  I know that when I read the book with my boys they assume the wild things are happy too as they march around and roar and hang from trees.  The wild things in the movie did not seem to be the same wild things in the book my children love so much.  They seemed depressed and angry.  They fought a lot and were mean to each other. Even the land in which they lived seemed gloomy and depressing.  Jacob and I sat there and watched it and all I could think was, "Logan is going to be so disappointed." A big part of me didn't even want him to see any of the movie--better to just leave it alone and keep reading the book!  When the movie ended we sat in silence for a few seconds before I blurted out, "That was horrible! Just horrible!"  Jacob, of course, started laughing at me, but then agreed that he found it to be depressing as well.  We decided that since we get to keep the rental for two days we would just let Alex and Logan watch certain little parts of of the film--the wild things playing--scenes that wouldn't leave them feeling sad or wondering why the characters they love so much in the book are so different in the movie.  I think what bothered me the most is that this movie is based on a book that so many children, including my own, love so much.  They could have made it a fun movie, but instead it was just drab and depressing.  After the movie we decided it was time to just to do fun things!  Ha.

This morning we decided to go to IHOP for breakfast.  We, of course, slept in first since we didn't have little boys waking us up early.  That was really nice for a change!  We got up, got around, and headed to IHOP.  We figured we would have to wait a while because it was later in the morning, but we walked in and were seated right away.  The hostess sat us in a booth behind a family who had three children.  The father and one of the sons were sitting directly behind me and the boy, who was maybe 8 years old, kept turning around and trying to make eye contact with Jacob. I could feel him right behind my head and I would be lying if I said it wasn't a little annoying.  I can recall times when Logan would stand in a booth and try to smile and make conversation with the people seated behind us in a restaurant.  He hasn't done that in quite a while and he is 3-years-old.  This boy made Jacob and me proud of our sons.  Alex will actually sit still for the most part in a restaurant--they know how to act in public and we are so thankful for that!  The children behind us were loud and moving around and the father just seemed tired and perhaps overwhelmed.  Part of me felt bad for him.  It made for an interesting eating experience though.  The funniest thing that happened this weekend also happened at IHOP.  Jacob was enjoying his coffee and I was finishing my breakfast when I suddenly saw something out of the corner of my eye--followed by a "plop" sound.  Jacob and I both looked down at my plate of pancakes to find a little ball of paper sitting in the syrup.  We both looked at each other and Jacob started looking around.  There was a group of men sitting behind Jacob--they were probably in their 50s, at least--and they started giggling. It was the funniest thing. I couldn't help but laugh and then Jacob started laughing. I had eaten most of the pancakes and was actually finished with them so it wasn't as if they had ruined my breakfast, but it was funny to see a group of grown (middle-aged) men acting like a bunch of teenage boys.

Needless to say it has not been a boring weekend.  We have enjoyed spending time together and got a good laugh from our breakfast experience.  The boys will be back this afternoon so I better wrap this up so we can enjoy the remaining time we have left together.

Until next time . . .