There's No Place Like Home

Today I packed up the kids (and my parents) and headed off to visit Chris at his home away from home (his apartment by the hospital he's working at this weekend) to celebrate E's birthday a few days early. We went to the nature center and took a walk in the very cold blustery weather, and the boys had a great time walking in the woods even though it was pretty chilly. M and E had fun taking turns running ahead, hiding behind a tree, and then jumping out to "scare" us. T was fairly tolerant (whined a lot but no real crying) of being wheeled around in the stroller wrapped in a huge blanket inside an even bigger snowsuit. Grandma doesn't want her baby getting cold! The nature center itself was a pretty nice one, and we had fun looking at the beehive, watching a snake poop (that was a new one for me), and petting the animal furs. T was just as excited about the ceiling fan. It doesn't take much to impress a seven month old, I guess. We had dinner at a BBQ place, opened some presents, ate some cake, and headed home. The boys were super excited to see Chris for the day but I think they were pretty happy to get back. When we've been gone for a while M always tells me, "it's so nice to be home." I always think it's nice to get back home, but I didn't realize that kids feel the same way. I guess there is just something about having your own things around and your own bed to sleep in. I know Chris likes the autonomy he gets while moonlighting (and the money doesn't hurt either), but I'm sure he is looking forward to tomorrow night when he also gets to come home.