Possibly one of the most fun toys ever (the boys version).
Possibly one of the most annoying indoor toys ever (Mommy's version).
There are 175 of them - yes, that's not a typo - one hundred seventy-five of them! And they are all over my house. Which on some days, like the days when we're sick of being trapped in the house and need a bit of novelty, when they're going to be lots of fun.
And then there is today, the day I am trying to simultaneously keep three children out of mischief (climbing the outside of the stair rail, dancing on the dining room table, tearing the couch cushions apart and building big slides (don't ask), keeping them out of the kitchen cabinets that they now pull dining room table chairs over to get to - so fun - and out of the freezer) AND get us all packed and ready for our trip to the beach tomorrow. Daddy is working today, so I'm in charge of all of that. Today is not a good day for the balls. Tripping over them every time I take a step is not my idea of fun, despite Connor's laughter at my clumsiness.
And the only reason they are downstairs in the first place is because we had the bright idea of putting them in the little guys room last night. Laugh if you must, but it seemed logical late last night when we were trying to finish cleaning up the house after guests, taking down Christmas decorations because we're leaving early Saturday morning, and trying to organize all the new toys and figure out where to put everything!
We decided to get the inflatable swimming pool out of the garage (the one that's coming in holes on the bottom from a puppy who shall not be named who enjoys "swimming" when no one is looking), and put it into the little guys room (which is huge and open without the extra full size bed these days). We put all 175 balls in there, fully expecting them to be scattered everywhere but inside the pool. But who cares, it's in their upstairs bedroom, where no one ever goes but the family. We thought it would be a fun, quiet toy to have in their room for them to play with in the morning when they're wide awake and the rest of us are still sleepy.
We didn't exactly get to test that theory. What we didn't realize is that they would be so excited by it at night that they wouldn't go to bed - until 11 p.m. when Mommy finally drug the thing out of their room, balls and all, and into the hallway! Sawyer had lined up all the green and yellow ones on their bed and was asleep in the middle of them all. Xander was still jumping around and tossing balls everywhere - at 11 p.m.! The pool is back in storage in the garage, and the balls are in their case in the pantry, reserved for "special" occasions, or at the very least days Mommy is not trying to do something as massively time-consuming as packing for vacation for a family of five!
Oh well, on the bright side, after their late night adventure both boys took a very early, very long afternoon nap. Mommy managed to get everything packed and loaded into the truck except the last minute essentials (on my list, for those who know me and my OCD-ness). And whether or not the naps will be a good thing the day before our all-day drive to the beach, well that remains to be seen . . .