Tuesday: meh

Today was only ok.

To cap it off, it was Isaac's last ice skating lesson.  Now, I know that he hadn't improved all that much this session.  (He even seemed to go backwards a bit in the middle.)  But when I got his 'score card' it said that he mastered all the level 2 skills, and none of the level 3 skills.  This is exactly the same as at the end of the last session.  Exactly!  What were the teachers doing?  Even I could see that he needed to bend his knees more...march more...take more steps before gliding.  Going back and forth on the ice isn't helpful after a point if you're just doing the same wrong form over and over again.  I tried to give him some pointers to work on, but saying them in the car is not as helpful as saying them on the ice.  There weren't that many students that he couldn't have been given a few more pointers.

So I came home from that a bit grumpy.  Now, Isaac said that he had a good time and has no idea about his progress.  We're not doing the next session due to scheduling conflicts, but I think that is a good plan anyway.  If he wants to try again at the end of the school year the break will be good...or he could try something else. 

Monday: Sandy Pines

Today we went to visit my aunt and uncle at Sandy Pines.  It was a fun day of exploring a new area and catching up with them.

We explored several of the playgrounds.  The structures were somewhat the same, but there were several differences between them also.

We went to the splash pad/pool too.  The splash pad's water was cold!  I had brought the water shoes along, and I think that helped their feet...but not my feet.  I didn't stay in for very long.  We also went down the water slide.  Isaac loved it, but Joshua preferred the shallow pool better.

It was the boys' first trip in a golf cart.  While they quickly got used to it, at the beginning there were many "this is going so fast!"

The boys really wanted to play mini-golf.  Really really a lot.  And it was hilarious.  Joshua would let you get his grip correct, but did not want help hitting the ball.  There were a few times where everyone was hitting their balls, trying to get it in the hole, and instead creating chaos.

We often had Joshua pick up his ball and just put it in the hole...and for one green he decided this was the hole.

The day included cookies and ice cream and in Isaac's words, the day was "super!"  They both fell asleep on the way home, which I always take for having had an excellent day.

Sunday: Happy Birthday

Today's my birthday.  It was an excellent birthday.  The kids (and Ben) let me sleep in.  Really, what more could I want? 

Church was good.  I played Warcraft and quilted.  We had dinner with Dad and Pat.  (I had a hard cider.  I have found that I like hard ciders.  However, it made my toes SO HOT.)

We set up our small tent in the basement and the boys are having a sleepover.  Joshua always wants to have sleepovers with anyone, but Isaac had been saying no for too many times so we paused them.  This seemed like a good compromise.

(This is seriously my favorite tent ever.  It goes up in a minute.)

Saturday: guests

We cleaned the basement up today because we were having guests, and I really don't know why we don't do it more often.  (Well, I do know.  But I still wish we did it a bit more.)  I let the rumba go and the boys played keep-away-from-the-rumba for about thirty minutes.  It's nice having the space back, at least for a bit.

It was lovely to have friends over too.  The kids played well in the water and then after dinner too.  This allowed the adults to talk and it was nice to get to know everyone a bit better.  Joshua tried teaching two of the girls Sleeping Queens.  This is especially hard since Joshua barely knows all the rules.  Isaac ended up joining in, and that worked better...or at least I think it did; I didn't actually see any of the game.

Friday: GR Children's musuem

Today we went to the Children's Museum with Dad, Pat, Landon and Greyson.

Oh, but first I got this from Joshua today it is, "To help you remember that you love Dad."  I'm not sure why I need the help, but the sentiment is cute.

Ok, back the the Museum.  Isaac loved the silver mirrors outside as we were waiting for it to open.  He does obsess about his colors a bit.  If it is silver, he loves it.

This museum was a lot of fun, but there was more free play in it than Impression 5.  (That one is more play to learn.)  It was right up Joshua's alley though, and he played rocket and fire truck for quite a while.

Isaac's favorite part was the spinning wheel.  I could have spent longer there too, but was called to a fire.

I got a short puppet show.

Isaac did some bouldering; Joshua tried and was getting the hang of it but then gave up.

We played with bubbles.

And built stuff.  We built several domino runs too, but those didn't get any pictures.

The boys found the diner/construction zones and played at those for quite a while.  I was happy to have missed the diner; I get fed so much pretend food that I'm often pretend stuffed.  We finished out the trip with making some bridges.  Joshua was in charge of hammering all the bolts.

actually Thursday: this and that

We started out with a short walk with our neighbor and then playing with their kitchen.  My boys sure do love feeding me, but they don't like eating their own cooking very much.  During this time Holland Rescue Mission also came to pick up a bunch of toys.  I got rid of several large toddler toys.  The toys were loved, but haven't been played with a significant amount lately, so they can be passed on to someone who will love them better.

After that, we worked on taking the paint of Joshua's loft for a bit.  I finally found tools that seem to work well, so the boys are more willing to help...it is rather addicting to get the paint off when it actually comes off.  Then we still had some time, after playing Uno and Sleeping Queens, so I decided it was time for our yearly "clean under the fridge."  First of all, there was so much less this year...a comb, a receipt, and a magnet.  The boys are getting older.  Secondly, after I pulled out the fridge they pretty much took over.  I finished a small part at the end, but they did most of it.  I guess behind-the-refrigerator is a cool place to be.

Joshua still loves playing with Voltron.  During rest time I heard him say, "dear lion, please help us find a trick to poop on the bad lion's head."  I can't remember what the context was, but it was still hilarious.

I gave blood today.  The needle poke hurt more than usual, but it also seemed to go faster than usual.  I was in and out in about thirty-five minutes.

Thursday: around

Today we stopped by Hope College.  I confirmed that over the summer CIT upgraded all the computers to Microsoft Office 2016.  This is a bit of a problem as I ordered the 2010 book again.  Now, it isn't a huge problem because there are only a few things that really change, but...it would have been nice to have been notified.  I was hoping to keep using 2010 one more year and then jump to 2019.  Students have been doing their homework on 2016 for quite a while, so I think we're going to use 2016 and deal with any problems as they arise.  I've also been using 2016 at home, so I more-or-less know my way around it.

We also finally took pictures of Joshua's quilt and picked up a card holder for him.

We played one round of sleeping queens and one round of Uno.  Uno was a bit more fun because Uno is much better with three players, but Joshua only tolerated being on his own team, even with a lot of help.

We've been reading "The book with no pictures" a lot lately and at one part I have to say, "my head is a blueberry pizza."  So today we made a blueberry lemon pizza and it was delicious.

Note the flashlight.  In the middle of baking the light bulb on top of us burned out.  Joshua immediately said, "I got it!" and ran off.  I had no idea what was going on.  He returned with his flashlight so that we would have enough light.