the SON shines: Dandy Day (Prepare for a Plethora of Posted Pics)

"We made a big, big, big, HUUUUGE mess!"

Tyler's first words to us this morning, right after he piled onto us and created a spontaneous group hug.

But, I promise, it did get better from there, big, big, big, HUUUUGE mess or not.

This is the first Saturday in forever that I've been able to sleep in. I had a sub at work and the boys did an awesome job of entertaining themselves while B and I slept.

Of course, it helps that making a triple big, h-quadruple u-ge mess kept them busy. But, it turns out, there are some things I'm willing to trade for the luxury of sleeping in.

Also, Noah presented us with cards, complete with pencils taped to each.

Who wouldn't have a great start to the day with that?

And, as it has been so long since we had a fun Saturday together, we decided to live a little and do some things we don't ordinarily do. We decided our day was going to be totally awesome.

We started with a trip to Allen for some Freebirds.

You cannot know the beauty of a burrito until you have tasted Freebirds. Brian and I began our love affair with The Bird even before we began our love affair with each other. Til death do us part. If you think you love Chipotle, it is as if you could have held the wind in your hands and you settled for a fart in your face. It is not even fair to compare the two.

(Dear Beloved Freebirds, I am sorry I used the phrase, "fart in your face" in the same paragraph where I spoke your name. I had a strong point to make and I also absolutely adore alliteration. Feel free to forgive. See? Alliteration just adds pizazz. So does rhyming.)

Afterward, we stayed in the Village at Allen and played in the train depot area, where there was also a Texas-shaped maze we had fun playing hide and seek in. Well, I had fun until a kid spit on Tyler - twice - and I thought Brian was about to get into a fight with a preschooler. Papa Bear came out. I found it kinda sexy, but also thought him being thrown in jail for assaulting a kid, spit or no spit, could quite possibly ruin the flow of our easy-going day.

Shortly after Brian nearly drop-kicked a kid (which had not been in our plans for our totally awesome day), we made our way over to Collin Creek mall to check out the Butterfly Festival. Hundreds of butterflies filled a large tent in the middle of the mall. As we entered, we were handed cotton swabs with gatorade at the end to attract butterflies. The boys were fascinated. With the butterflies. Not the cotton swabs.

Even the big boy. Let's see how many body parts we can cover in monarchs.

Anniston even got a special butterfly.

Later, we took the boys for a spin on the train inside the mall. Tyler went first since Noah wanted to ride by himself. Because, you know, "there just isn't enough room" for two boys in a four-seater engine. And, when it was Noah's turn, he made a complete goon of himself. I wondered if he'd snuck a few licks of the sugary gatorade. I guess he was just so giddy over the fact that he got to ride the train all by himself. Before we ended our trip, we got coupons for free Chick-Fil-A ice cream. CFA, could you be anymore endearing? YUM!