July 22nd: Sleepover!
Ernest had been begging me for a slumber party for months, so Stephany and I finally set up a date. Let's just say Ernest was sooo excited that he couldn't wait for Saturday to arrive. We met Stephany and Stephen at the movie theater to watch "Monster House". Ernest being the loudest kid in the theater -as usual. From there we took Stephen back to our house. Grandma and Grandpa were waiting on the front steps for the troops to arrive. Ernest couldn't wait to show them that Stephen came home with us. I brought all of his stuff inside (one filled backpack) while Ernest wanted to show Stephen the flashlights Grandpa had attached to his tractor for night driving. I made them have dinner, 1/2 a Peter-Pan sandwich each, before they could unleash themselves to the fun of driving through the woods in the dark. They took turns chasing each other with the tractor. Jumping on and off while it was going its lightning quick speed of five miles per hour. I don't know if Ernest was showing off or just being a boy, but after the third crash into a tree I had to pull them off the tractor. Ernest, naturally, wasn't happy about the ordeal, mainly because they never really made it into the woods. I convinced them that it was cool down time. Especially since a very large and noisy cumulus nimbus threatened not far off. So the boys cooled off on the back deck to popsicles and sparklers.
Finally cooled off and emotions in check, we all came inside. I washed the boys off and convinced them to change into their pj's. They did so willingly as I promised them a movie. Ernest is really into "Star Wars" (the original ones) or more accurately into outerspace so I put in number 5, forgetting that we had watched it only the week before. Well there was a slight outburst about the movie from Ernest and we finely got underway with number 6. They watched an hour of it because it was getting late and they're only 4 after all. After taking turns brushing teeth they finally collapsed into bed. I turned on Ernest's star light and let them talk. Of course that talking only turned into an argument about sleeping arrangements. Apparently Ernest wanted to sleep on the air mattress and Stephen wouldn't give it up. I had to explain to Ernest that Stephen was his guest and that he needed to cater to his guest, even if it meant giving up a chance to sleep on an air mattress. Finally by 11pm both boys were sound asleep. Meaning that it was my turn to collapse into the pillow.
Despite his late bed time, Ernest stuck to his early rise time of 10 to 6. He came into my room telling me that Stephen was still asleep and wanted to wake him up. I told him to let Stephen sleep for a little bit longer and we went out to the couch, were I fell back to sleep and Ernest quietly watched "Lasie." Stephen was able to sleep in an extra 2 hours, thanks to my coaxing. But when Ernest finally pounced, both boys were ready to go full force. Somehow we managed to wrangle them to the breakfast table for eggs and toast. After breakfast I used the mattresses and sheets to build a fort in the bedroom. Which became there safe zone when they asked me to play monster and chase them around the house for an hour before switching to doing something that Stephen wanted -playing with cars.
The rain finally started to quit and so dressing the boys in raincoats we all went outside. First we went to the vegetable garden so the boys could pick some fresh green beans and tomatoes. After which, they piled into Ernest's tractor and went for their ride in the woods, minus the flashlights and the dark. Stephany came to pick up Stephen around 11 am. Shortly after lunch Ernest asked to lie down on the couch and within 10 minutes of watching SpongeBob fell asleep. After all the excitement Ernest slept an amazing 11 hours Sunday night, something he hasn't done since he was a newborn.