working with auntie

first of all, let it be known that brad has been gone just over 24 hours.  okay so it has been exactly 30 hours since brad left on his golf trip.  because i am counting and i am bad at being without him.  by bad i mean horrible, terrible, no good.  for all the times he thinks i am joking or kidding him when i tell him he is my superhero, the times without him prove that he is my hero.  he is my rock, he is my perspective when things are crazy but just fine.  he is my teammate, my coach and my cocaptain of parenting.  i am the first to admit that i am awfully dependent on the man, but i cant help it.  he is awesome.

but he is gone right now and we have to move forward.  so, last night, we did the only thing we could to assuage our remorse at missing daddy.  we visited beans at work. 



i navigated the veen down the streets of grand rapids to the sounds of my adorables demanding when we would arrive.  and, after a lengthy 45 minutes, we pulled into ameritemp.  upon arrival, maxer leapt out of the veen and immediately began peering in windows in hopes of spying his auntie.  bear bear joined in soon after.  ayla jo followed suit.  all their spying paid off as they spotted her sitting at her desk gesturing for us all to come on in.

lucky for us, beans was not the only one awaiting our arrival.  her whole office greeted us in the lobby.  what a welcome.  i almost signed up all three babes for temp work right then and there. 

the boys proudly reported their names, and baby blue repeated weston instead of saying her own because she was just a bit overwhelmed with all the adoration coming from the office girls.  the next moment, the boys started hauling things out of the backpacks they had packed with snacks and toys for the trip. 

the very first offering max whipped out to show and tell was a recorder.  brad's old school recorder from holland christian music class in middle school.  for real.  i died laughing in an ecouraging way.  he promptly sets said instrument to his lips and plays an original tune much to the delight of all present.  i fled the scene as cupcake suddenly decided she needed something to show auntie beans to.  and it was in the veen.


so i rushed back inside with my daughter's baby, whom she named ayla, and she showed all the ladies and they all were very excited.  bear, not to be left out of this crazy show and tell promptly pops a squat in the middle of the lobby and opens his backpack, which is oozing a reddish liquid, and begins shoveling combos into his mouth.  not to worry, he offered some to all present.




auntie beans took the snack break as an opportunity to give us a tour of the rest of the office.  the boys were drawn (pun intended) like a magnet to the whiteboard where they colored while trying not to erase all the important details already written on the board.  i seized those moments to actually pay attention to the tour and overall bask in pride as my little sis is so professional and successful at life.





with our last stop being auntie beans desk, the children quickly wreaked havoc over all she had and then found a large exercise ball to throw at one another until the office seemed entirely to small to fit all the daring happenings.



 uncle austin arrived and away we went to partake of some fine dining. arby's. some beef and cheddar, chicken tender, curly fries, mountain dew and chocolate shakes were inhaled and we set off to meet our newest cousin/nephew zeus the dog.

with some new bones and lots of enthusiasm, we became fast friends with zeus.  so friendly were we that we took the whole party on walk to a park.  until it rained and we walked faster back to the house.  maxer took charge of zeus and went ahead and let go of his leash allowing zeus to intimately meet a neighbor puppy.  bad noises were happening, but no pup was injured.  though i am not sure how friendly the neighbors are going to be at the next block party...

side note:  things in grap are a little different than in overisel.  max was quite concerned about the shoe and shirt adorning the zoerhof's yard that belonged to neither auntie or uncle.

all in all, we wrapped the amazing night up with a little tangled on tv and a littel white trash soap opera in the back yard.

thank you auntie beans and uncle austin for the evening of fun, we love you.