Out of the House

I might have talked about this before, but Eric loves the "Drawing Pad" app that is on our iPad. It's great because he can draw all he wants but we don't use any paper and there is no mess and no cleanup. The program lets him use stickers, paint, markers, stamps, and crayons. This picture just makes me laugh because he looks so relaxed in my bed. I guess he was just taking a breather from all of that hard work drawing on the iPad. :)

It's so hot outside right now that the kids mostly want to stay indoors. Patrick and I like being able to get out of the house, though. Yesterday it was the Cheesecake Factory for lunch at North Star Mall. Eric has been a bit tired this summer with his later bedtimes but almost the same wakeup times and refusing naps. I love seeing him go to Anthony here for some comfort although it means that he is a little cranky. Anthony loves his little brother and he's so good with him. Alex didn't want to come with us. Sometimes I worry about him!

Today, it was only Patrick, Eric, and I going to La Cantera Mall. Anthony and Alex wanted to stay home and play with their various electronics. Anthony got up early for an extra training session with his club soccer coach and a couple of his teammates, so he had his active time already. Alex was with a friend at least, but again, he didn't want to go anywhere. Patrick gets frustrated by this during the regular week when he wants to go do "something" but Alex just wants to stay at home (Anthony is usually at PE Camp). He said that is why he really misses Natalie, because she always wants to go do something too.

We walked around La Cantera for a couple of hours and mostly window shopped while Eric rode in the stroller. For the first time we went to the "new" area (just finished last fall) where we found this beautiful landscaping and a set of stairs next to some nice waterfalls. I took the opportunity to practice taking pictures while Patrick gave Eric some pennies to throw into the water features. They went all the way up the stairs and then came down, jumping part of the way. I love how Patrick is such a fun Papa and I love how Eric loves jumping. Sometimes Eric can be frustrating at home, but here he could run around as much as he wanted.

It's back to work tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to a short work week.