Slow goin'

Since we got to my brother's house on Monday, we've kind of taken a slow approach to getting the day started. Right now it's 11:30am and I'm still in my pajamas.

Yesterday, we hung around the house and let the kids just play in the morning. Our plan had been to go to Stone Mountain, but the weatherman had other ideas. So we had lunch at home before heading out for the day. The afternoon consisted of Monkey Joe's -- one of those indoor inflatable jumpy places, Borders and Fuji Hana hibachi grill for dinner. I have pictures to share, but no cord to upload them from my camera, so you'll just have to use your imagination for now.

My boys had never been to a hibachi restaurant before. They loved it! They each caught fried egg in their mouth and couldn't get enough of the fire. (I'm trying not to worry about their fascination with pyrotechnics.)

Annie, in one of her wanna-be-cool 'tween moments, passed on the flying egg, until she saw everyone else doing it. Guess fun outweighed cool; I'm glad.

Camryn caught an egg in her mouth and was so proud of herself.

"It's my first time to ever catch the egg, Aunt Amy!" she kept saying over and over.

Charlie was quite interested in the chef.

"When did you decide to be a cook?"

"How old were you?"

"Do you ever cut yourself?" (You know, flying knives and all.)

Of course as cool as they thought the hibachi chef and his tricks were -- the giant flame and the onion volcano were favorites, there was no way those boys were going to bother eating what he cooked. So as we all enjoyed steak, shrimp, chicken and veggies from the hibachi, Robbie and Charlie munched through cheeseburgers and fries.

Poor Jack, though, being 3 years old and not getting a nap does not lend itself to staying awake for the hibachi show. He slept soundly through dinner!

By the time we got home, I was ready to sleep soundly, though I didn't go to bed for another 4 hours -- it was Biggest Loser night.

I have a wicked cough that started as a tickle in my throat but seems to be finding a home in my chest. It is kicking my butt. It wakes me up in the middle of the night (who am I kidding? Cough or not I'm usually up in the middle of the night). So I've been going back to bed around 4 or 5am and sleeping late -- until after 10am two days in row!

The cough just kind of comes over me quickly. Last night I coughed so hard that I thought my water had broken -- until I remembered that I am not pregnant, which is when I realized that I just peed myself a little bit.

I am hopeful that Stone Mountain might be on the agenda for this afternoon. It's gray and cloudy, but not rainy. I remember thinking it was so cool to go there when I was a kid. I'd love to take my kids to see it. Plus, what better way is there to wear out five kids than to hike them up the side of a mountain and back down again?