Wednesday: as a game

In the morning, the boys and I stopped rampaging monsters from destroying our home.  It was close, and they destroyed some of the towers, but we defeated them.  (We played Castle Panic)

We went and recovered some of our health.  (We got donuts.)

We did a quest to find an item and bring it back.  (We got some games from Out of the Box with a gift certificate.)

I tried to take over the world, but failed.  (Isaac beat me in Dominion.)

I did my daily quests.  (I did some chores, specifically cleaning the kitchen.)

I recovered some of my health. (We had lunch.)

I did an escort quest.  No one attacked us this time, although I almost saw an attack yesterday during an escore quest. (I brought Isaac to science camp.)

I went to a healer. (I went to a doctor.)

I recovered more health. (I took a nap.)

We dealt with some royalty. (Joshua and I played Sleeping Queens.)

I battled in the arena. (Joshua and I battled with Lego Spinners.)

We went in a maze dungeon.  Several bad guys were killed.  (I told Joshua about my day as a game and he totally bought into it.  We went to the park so he could practice with his scooter and we circled around some of the things to kill them.)

A final escort quest. (Bringing Isaac home.)

Recovering more health. (Dinner)

More daily quests, including animal wrangling and farming. (More chores, including catching the cats for a nail clip and picking raspberries and strawberries.)

I leveled up one of my skills. (I worked on my quilting.)

Next up...recovering more health for tomorrow.

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.