Friday: birthday

Today was Joshua's birthday!  We ended up going to Dutch Village.  It was my idea, but Joshua was happy to do it as long as he got stroopwaffles.  I didn't go last year and there were several changes that have happened recently.

The first change was that the kids get a free, homemade stroopwaffle!  They gave Joshua an extra because it was his birthday.  We started out at the ferris wheel, like normal.  The line is slow, and if we get there right away we can usually go twice without getting off.

Next we did the swings.  It was the favorite ride and we did several sets of the ride.  Again, it wasn't busy enough that we had to get off in between rides.  While on the swings I realized the duck pumpers were gone.  That was a bit sad; they were always fun.  The zip line was also gone and the train playground moved to the zipline area.  That was probably a good move; I never saw anyone on the zipline.

A goat!  The babies are so cute.  The barn burned down recently and a new one is being built.  The duck pumpers were also gone.

A new ride was slow-carts.  They weren't terrible, but they were slow.  This was a new thing again and probably only worth it if the line isn't too long.  

Then the making of, and more importantly, eating of the stroopwaffle.  Isaac made Joshua's second one a bit later as we were about to leave because Joshua really didn't want to make it.

A quick break for the playground.  Joshua went sloooooowly down the pole while Isaac managed to climb up it.

One carousel ride.

Joshua did the pumper cars.  Isaac was too tall.

They tried to walk together.  There was a lot of laughter.

And lastly, the kids were found to be witches while I was found to be innocent.

Everyone had a good time, although I do think that Isaac is getting a little old for it.  He was a good sport though, and enjoyed the time he was there.  Next year I could probably get away with just buying some stroopwaffles.

Sunday: life

We had some friends over today.  It meant cleaning the house, and Joshua and I had a hard time with it.  We learned about each other, apologized, and will try better next time.

I also need to remember that food helps.  When he was finally ready to talk I gave him the spoon for the brownie mix and he said that was the best part of his day.

Saturday: alarms

 Why does the low battery alarm always go off around 2am?  Every single time.

Thursday: excersise

We walked around the lake this morning; we didn't have any plans to leave the house until mid-afternoon and we needed to do something.  The weather was perfect.

Joshua finished his phoenix in the morning.

This afternoon I joined the kids for rock climbing.  It was a fun time.  This is Joshua's last time for a while; he's decided to take a break and run for a while.

I had karate this evening.  We worked on forms, and that's always my favorite thing.

Wednesday: text

We were on our way home from swimming lessons and debating about a stop at the library: I had some overdue books, there was one book waiting, but we were also waiting on a few holds that Isaac really wanted.

We decided to wait.  I got about three streets from the intersection that would send us to the library or home and I got a text.  Isaac's holds were ready!  It was perfect timing.

In other news, I've been making the kids slowly declutter their rooms this summer.  It's a good thing I'm having them do the decluttering because they are getting rid of more than I would have!  It does help that I'm not making them sort it...if they don't want it anymore it goes in a box and then I figure out what's happening with it (keep, give away, or trash/recycle).  Today Joshua finished his white bookshelf and I mentioned that the boxes under his bed were next.  Well, he decided that he just didn't need them anymore and put the whole boxes in my big box that was storing the stuff until I could sort through it.  Isaac added a bit and now my box is overflowing...but it's a good thing.

Tuesday: chaos

I went out to lunch with a friend today.  When I got home, I found that chaos had ensued and a ton of items were now in the wrong spot.  

*Lovies were switched

*Hand soap was on a night stand

*Shoes were in assorted places

*The cat carrier was in the shoe closet

*Chairs were all messed up

*Etc.

I noticed some of them right away, but didn't really understand what was going on until later.  For some of them I think the kids overestimated my level of caring about an object.  I imagine there was a lot of laughter during the time though.

Monday: busy day

While not crazy busy, today was one of the busier days we've had in a while.

*We went blueberry picking.  The goal was a full bucket and we got that in about a half hour with no complaints.  However, the ice cream machines were being cleaned and that was a let down for everyone.  The kids got pie and a donut instead, but it wasn't what they really wanted.

*We did some chores.

*The kids had swimming lessons.  The clocks in the pool we were in today were about ten minutes fast.  We got there a little early, but the lesson was still on the short side.

*Screen time.  A bit shorter than normal, but an important part of the day.

*Some friends came over, mainly so the kids could play with the Legos.  Natalie and I played Dominion, and that was lovely.

*Dinner!  Finish chores!  Have fun before bed! Bed!!

weekend

Honestly, it was a pretty normal, but always nice, weekend.  We didn't have any plans, so we worked on our Lego sets, played games, and did a few chores.  The kids played on the beach this afternoon while I read in the hammock.  

vacation Friday: escape room

 (I'm almost done!  These posts are important to me, but I wish I could have gotten them done just a bit faster.)

The morning started out with donuts.  Joshua also helped Seth with the racing game.

I finally got on it too.

Game room decor:

Two families went to Kennedy Space Center.  While it sounded really interesting, we needed another down day.  So we hung out at the house with the Parrs.

There were a lot of photos taken.

Even Grey Bear got in on the action.

In the afternoon we did an escape room.  It was a good room, although there were a two lasers that didn't work and that made it a bit hard.  The moderator noticed before too long and said something, but still.  We got through some of the "hard" parts really quickly.

Room 1:

The other group had also stopped at the beach; Joshua enjoyed looking at their shells.

So yeah, just a down day with normal stuff, but it was still really nice.  We did have time to pack since we were leaving first thing in the morning.  In the evening the adults talked and crashed.  Laura fell asleep on the couch reminiscent of grad school days.

I missed one from yesterday:

Friday: a bird

I've had to travel from the north side of the city to the south side of the city a lot this week.  Usually two to three times per day.  Well, there was (is) a dead bird right after the bridge.  All week I've been watching the two parts of the carcass slowly move forward along the one-way road.  I've told both boys as I find it...interesting.

Anyway, we were traveling on the road for the last trip of the week, all looking for the bird, and I thought it had disappeared.  Maybe someone finally cleaned it up?  Nope.  It had managed to travel really far in the three hours since my last trip and was just farther up ahead.  We all got a laugh about it. 

Joshua finished Star Wars camp.  I think he mostly had a good time, but didn't enjoy "light saver" training and got poked in the eyebrow and so that was what I heard first today when he got in the car.  He did come back with some pretty cool things though.

Thursday: clocks

None of the clocks in our house gives the same time and it is driving me nuts.  They're all +/- 5 minutes, but it's enough that it can really mess me up.  I know there is an easy solution to this, but I don't enjoy changing clocks.

Isaac and I started his next Minecraft set and it is going very well.  Things were a bit touch and go for the animals at the beginning, but once we found some of them already made things have been going smoothly.  We went out for our treat since Joshua was in camp; we split a cherry and apple pie.  We both enjoyed the cherry more.  Then he had some gift certificates to the Peanut Store and got 'adult' chocolates.  There's nothing really adult about them, but they're more expensive and so the kids have usually gone for quantity over quality.  He enjoyed the first few that he got.

Wednesday: minecraft set

 Isaac and I finished his Minecraft set this morning...it was good to have two people working on it.  I had a note on my sheet that it may have gotten mixed up with another set and that was definitely the case!  We had so many extra pieces when we were done, and of course we were missing a whole bunch of piece too.  We were able to find most with ease (some with super-ease), but some must be with the other set.  We don't know which set it got mixed up with, so that's a bit of a problem.  Hopefully they'll show up, but if not I made notes on which pieces we need.

Tuesday: this and that

 Joshua rainbow colored some Legos this morning.  

Isaac and I got groceries and then worked on the Minecraft set.  Now that we're getting close to the end we're missing a lot of pieces, but most of them are normal pieces that we can find in loose Lego easily.

After lunch we did some errands, the kids went rock climbing, dinner, karate.  Nothing all that special, but still nice.  Oh!  After dropping off Joshua I saw a van with the company name of 'Creative Ice Rentals'.  I thought a long time about what the company actually did, because renting ice seems like a poor choice.  Renting ice sculptures seems like a poor choice.  I briefly thought about ice machines, but are there that many that it needs a rental company?

It's ice machines.  "Ice machine sales, service, and leasing."  I guess I understand all of those options, but their name does not seem to describe what they do.  Creative?  It seems normal to me.  Ice?  It's actually an ice machine.  Rental?  I feel like a lease is slightly different than a rental, although that one is pretty close.  (I just looked it up.  Rentals tend to be shorter, <= 30 days, and leases tend to be longer.)

Monday: Minecraft Lego

 Isaac received some Minecraft LEGO sets a few years back that were well played with and therefore got all mixed up.  It's been one of our goals to get them all sorted out this summer.

Joshua has science camp this week, so we got started.  It was slow going in the very beginning with lots of missing pieces, but we hit a grove in the middle with just some missing pieces.  I'm hoping we can finish up the first set tomorrow, but tomorrow is a bit of a busy day so we'll see what happens.

Isaac and I also played a game of Dominion that didn't take forever, which was rather nice.

Saturday: favorite animals

 Joshua: what is your third favorite animal?

Amanda: My third?  What is my second?

Joshua: polar bear.

Amanda, surprised: oh [I thought that was my first].  What is my first?

Joshua: cat

Amanda: fair enough.

Amanda: ok, my third.  Hmm, well, that's not something I've thought about before.  Cardinal.

Joshua: what is your forth favorite?

Amanda: oh, we're doing this.  Uh, jelly fish.

Joshua: fifth?

Amanda: Really?

Amanda: well, let's see.  I've done a mammal, and bird, and a fish...ish.  I should do an insect.

Joshua: or an amphibian

Amanda: yeah.  Well, let's go with water strider.

Joshua: what's your favorite amphibian?

Amanda: the geckos we see in Florida.

And with that I have a fifth favorite animal and probably will never be able to change it.

Also, I found out my sink is magnetic!  I was thrilled.  And a bit sad, as I feel like there were so many waterfall science things I could have done with small children.   I might have Joshua do them anyway.  Eleven years without realizing my sink was magnetic.  I feel like I should do something else amazing with this.

Friday: friends

Friends came over tonight!  The two other families also only have boys around the same age and there are a lot of connections within the group (high school, work, college).

The kids played really well together and enjoyed the lake.  At one point most of them were trying to get on the paddleboard and it was hilarious.

Thursday: vacation

Ben took the day off today.  We started with pick-a-brick cups.

Joshua made an amusement park.

The rest of the family was a bit confused about mine for most of the build.  To be fair, this is what they saw:

When it got turned around, they saw a small bedroom with a sign that says, "Dream Big".  The assorted builds are all different dreams.  A monster dream, a space dream, a nice outside dream, a firework dream, and a trees in the wrong colors dream.

Ben had a bit of a hard start.  He ended up with a Picasso chick.  Its the same on the opposite side.

Isaac had a hard time too, but ended up making an infinity cube.

Last night Grey Bear was very worried that Snowfoot wasn't getting enough attention and decided that he needed to be cuddled all night.  Snowfoot was put into my pillowcase so I wouldn't forget.

Joshua and I also made raspberry buckle.  However, he dropped the sugar container.  At first I thought it was mostly fine...the container spilled right side up and not much sugar came out.  But then...it turns out that sugar is really hard to clean up from such a spill.  Also, my sugar container was cracked.  I was actually pretty mad about that, but I didn't realize it for long enough that I was smart enough not to say anything to Joshua.  I was also smart enough to realize that the sugar container is not really that important and that there were some weird emotions remembering Mom's sugar containers that I recently got rid of.  Anyway, I fixed it with some packing tape and called it a day.  We'll see if, or when, I get a new one.

vacation Thursday: picture day

Welcome to Thursday!  I don't think anyone actually played Scrabble, but everyone nicely kept the themed words going throughout the week.

Since it was a low-key day, it was pancake breakfast morning.  We went all out and pretty much gave the kids sugar topped with pancakes.  It's vacation after all.

I didn't take any pictures of the normal bedrooms, so this will have to do.  Having so many bedrooms was wonderful.  The kids could sleep in the fun rooms, and every family still got two rooms.  In our case the kids kept their stuff in the second room and Isaac showered there, but every family had some nice flexibility to do what they desired.

                             

The Legos came out mid-morning.

Ben slowly attracted more and more kids.

Meanwhile, Joshua was working on making a castle in the foam pit.

More children came, so more LEGOS came out and Ben had to move.

Then he caught an adult and all but one of the kids.

Ok, so he was the distraction while pictures were getting set up.  I like the picture, but wish I had been sitting up a bit more.

The kids, again in age order.  They figure it out pretty quickly.

The mad kids.

Everybody!

Everybody being crazy.

Traps.  There is always time for traps.  I'll trap in a dress.  (Although I do have shorts on.  I found some with a pocket for my phone.)

I really trapped him.

...although it appears that I lost a sock.

Joshua finished his castle.

The ladies went out for lunch.

                                                   

Then to a chocolate museum.  Some history of chocolate, some chocolate sculptures, and a tasting.  

The chocolate tasting was really good.  I ended up getting some for Ben for Father's day: some dark blackberry and some dark spice.

Our tickets also included fondue.  I shared with Katy and it worked out well because she didn't like the bananas and I don't love marshmallows.

It was also Katy's birthday!  While we were gone the guys picked up the cakes, decorated, and the kids swam in the pool.  

I finally got on the ninja course.

...and off it.

We tried getting dropping pictures of the kids; it worked for some.

This hop had some weird name, but I was able to do it.

Meanwhile, Ben and Katy went to Disney Springs so that Katy could get Gideon's cookies.  Since it is often a long wait, they could also go to the Lego store.  Well, it turned out that there was only a 15 minute wait for the cookies, which is unheard of.  I was expecting they'd be gone most of the evening, but they were back within a reasonable time.  And the pick-a-brick wall had a bunch of pieces that we don't have in cool colors, so that was exciting.  It's a good thing that I brough a chip suitcase, because we definitely needed it on the way home for Legos.

I played with the kids in the pool again.  Probably mern-urp, which is me pretending to be a shark.

Cookies came back in time for the kids to enjoy some.

And Ben pointed out all the cool pieces he found.

After the kids were in bed we played Decrypto.  I like the game.  It's similar to code-names with some twists.  We were still able to have some 'girl clues' to the chagrin of the guys.