Sunday: birthday party

Sunday night we had a small birthday party for the boys.  This summer is a bit crazy and I told them I could only handle one party.  I did get two cakes though and they had plenty of presents.

I find that the effort I'm putting into birthday parties decreases each year.  The kids don't seem to care.  I'll probably try to have two parties again next year, but the amount of effort will otherwise probably stay about the same.

Last Saturday/Sunday: Saugatuck

We went with Ben's parents by boat and spent the night in Saugatuck.  We had a beautiful day for traveling.

After we got there and had ice cream, of course, Joshua and I went for a walk.  It was a pretty interesting walk.  We found a flower garden, sidewalk stairs, a secret passage, a playground, and a gazebo.

It got cold and Isaac was covering himself with a blanket.  For some reason Ben joined him, but the blanket didn't fit very well.

The boys also got to sleep in the secret room on the boat, but they went in and out of it so much that it wasn't much of a secret. :)  They loved it though!  

In the morning we had a lovely French toast breakfast and slowly went home.

Tuedsay: normal day

It was a rather normal day today.  We played some games, kids had swimming lessons, Isaac had science camp, and Isaac and I had karate.

Amanda, to Ben when he got home from work: How was your day?

Joshua: good.

*Five minutes later*

Ben, to Amanda: How was your day?

Joshua: good.

While it is understandable that he answered at least one of them, the fact that we weren't talking to him and that he answered the same question twice went right over his head.

Monday: dominion

The day started out with a game of Dominion with Isaac.  It was one of his new sets, so we only used that set.  It was a slow game.  Fun, but significantly longer than most games.  There were a lot of bad things that happened on a regular basis that kept us from getting money quickly...and we were trying out the new cards.  The game play worked really well even though there were a ton of new mechanics.  (I expect they'll be shorter in the future because we'll mix the new cards with the old cards and we won't have as many bad things..)

Isaac had a camp in the afternoon, so Joshua and I were going to meet up with one of his friends from school at a playground.  However, it was rainy right before we were supposed to meet, so they came over to our house.  After a bit the boys started playing by themselves and I taught the other mom Dominion.  These games were shorter, so we were able to play three of them. :)

And just like that, the day was done.

Friday: naps

 We were excited because Horizon sat on Joshua's lap for a while.  (He didn't get to nap with me, and was feeling sad when I woke up.)

A few minutes later Joshua was excited because Horizon was sleeping on his lap.  A few more minutes and he was sleeping too.

Thursday: games

Today there was nothing on the calendar, surprisingly!  We got groceries and made a quick stop at the library.  Joshua and I rode our bikes around the lake and we played a ton of board games.  The kids don't seem to enjoy the same games which is annoying, but it also means that I have some one-on-one time with both of them.

Most of the games were really fun, except for red black.  Yes, this dumb card game has shown up in our house again.  The rules have changed from when Isaac was two, but not by much.  Joshua looked at a card, asked me, "red or black?" and I'd respond with red.  Every time.  I didn't want to be playing this game but it was almost bedtime so I persevered.  He did add a few extra questions, "what number between one and x?"  I always guessed x, and it was often correct.  Joshua was entertained by this game for a longer time than I was expecting, especially since I always gave the same answer.

Wednesday: Sandy Pines

 Uncle Lee and Aunt Sue invited us to Sandy Pines again!  We had a great time.

We played some mini golf.  Isaac improved a ton from the first time in 2018 when we visited.  Joshua has improved, but will often just hit the ball a ton.  We just play for fun though, so it doesn't matter.

Then we went swimming.  Isaac was a little on the fence about it because it was in the low 70s, but we decided to go anyway.  It was an excellent choice.  He loved the water slide.  Once Joshua finally gathered up enough courage to go down the water slide he loved it too.  I think they both went down it at least 20 times.

We then went for lunch and ice cream.  Joshua crashed while waiting for the food, but the ice cream seemed to pick him back up again.  Phew.  We stopped by one additional playground and swung a bit, looked at the flowers and bird feeders at their house, and then were on our way.

We got home and I crashed.  I didn't think that we had done anything that hard, but I laid down for a nap almost immediately and was asleep within two seconds.  I woke up a few times to direct the children on the school work they should be doing after they had screen time, but just could not wake up well.

We also got the wrong package from Amazon.  It was supposed to be for another house and of course we didn't get the package that we were supposed to receive.  Amazon deals with the stuff easily, but it's annoying.  I couldn't just wait to see if my package showed up correctly because I need some of the items by Sunday for a birthday.  Joshua and I took a walk and brought the incorrect package to the correct house, but just left it on their doorstep.