For some reason, the kids weren’t sleeping last night.

In regular two-hour intervals, Taylor and I awoke to squeaks, squeals, and screams. Our militia trio had snuck out of their beds to play & bang on the piano. Normally Tay is the one to get up with the kids at night since I struggle with anxiety & insomnia. But last night was an exception; and we took turns wrestling three very hyper children back into the beds.

Morning came around, much too early. The boys were already up. Not even the threat of a very grumpy mommy could put on a damper of the promise of breakfast. In fact, I’m not sure if they ever went back to sleep after I tucked them back in at 4:00 AM. Clearly, they’d found a reason to keep playing their games despite the white noise and complete darkness. Arrow had finally passed out in her own bed.

I was exhausted. Taylor was exhausted. The kids were exhausted.

Obviously, the only thing to do was to call in a hooky day (Tay didn’t get the choice to duck out of work and we missed him!)

After Arrow and I had a midmorning nap, and after the boys ate everything and anything they could get their hands on, we packed up into the car and went for a drive.

Our first errand was to the vet clinic:

We donated some new & used blankets to our favorite clinic. The animals use them during their procedures or for comfort in their temporary kennels. The kids were thrilled to donate them to the kitties and puppies at the clinic.

They were disappointed, however, when we didn’t get to see a single animal in sight. Normally the lobby is full of beloved pets waiting for their appointment but was surprisingly empty today. The staff was sweet to make a show of gratitude to the kids for their blankets. I think they could tell the kids were bummed out. We had a little talk in the car about their feelings and what it’s like to do service without seeing the results.

Next, we headed out to a new-to-us park:

I really liked the toddler sized playground. Sander had SO much fun climbing the things that were within his scope to do so. It did make me think about the lack of all-abilities parks here in Utah. I just finished the Speechless series on Hulu (which is funny and charming) but it did open my eyes to how the world isn’t built for kids who travel by wheelchairs.

Arrow and Archer really got into the advanced playground which had me going 😬😬😬 most of the time.

But they loved it, and nobody died, so I guess it’s cool? 🙃

Finally, we came home to a mandatory house nap. Of course, because I suggested it, nobody actually fell asleep.

It was a lovely day to break from the norm and have some fun in lieu of being crazy irritable like we usually are without good sleep. 🙂