Saturday: Amy and Brian

 Amy and Brian came over for most of the day today.  We've been playing games with them about once a month so it wasn't the "catch up for the last year" that it sometimes is, and that was really nice.  We played Space Base and Isaac joined us...and won.  After lunch we went outside.  The kids played in the water for several hours.  The adults mostly sat in the shade enjoying our time together.  It was a beautiful day and very pleasant to be outside.  Near the end we wanted to play a game but there was still a child swimming.  So we did the responsible thing and played a game on our phones so we could still watch the child.  It seemed a bit silly, but at the same time was just want we needed.

Sunday: time stop

Isaac took the pictures for a time stop earlier this summer.  We finally got the stop motion video put together.

Friday: another new hike

 We went blueberry picking today, but the season is getting close to the end and the picking wasn't as good.  It was a bit disappointing since store-bought blueberries are rarely as good.  We have some though.

Then we went on a small hike with Cheryl.  We explored a new trail.  It was this crazy small trail and the trail head had a really small sign and parking was just some squished weeds in front of it on the road.  (It was obvious that it was a place cars parked though.)  Anyway, I loved the place.  It wasn't a long hike, but we saw lots of mushrooms and some bat houses and we were in the woods.

The only other excitement of the day was when Isaac slammed Joshua's head into a corner of the wall.  Joshua was so nice about it and the first thing he said to me was that it was an accident.  Anyway, it swelled up nicely and Joshua went to lay on the couch.  And proceeded to lay still for the next ten minutes.  Then he almost fell asleep.  While he only had one sign of a concussion, the phone nurse recommended that we get it checked out.  We went to urgent care.  By the time we got there Joshua was closer to his normal self but we went in anyway.  Long story short he may have had a very mild concussion but the only thing we really need to do is keep him away from activities that could further hurt his head.  So no wrestling or traps for a week or so.  Joshua's a bit bummed about the traps, but it doesn't make a huge difference in his life.

Thursday: success

 Today felt like a successful day.

I've never been to Mt. Pisgah (near the beach) before, although I've wanted to do it for a while.  I didn't know much about it, other than it had a lot of steps, so it was an adventure for everyone.  And a wonderful adventure it was.

We enjoyed seeing the area from up high.

Then we went down a side boardwalk only to find a trail system.  There were a lot of hills and "root steps" and the boys loved it.  (I may have taken the picture below from ground level to make it look steeper though.)  And we didn't get a treat with this outing!  I feel like we've been getting lots of treats lately.

At home we did home things.  There was some circuit work.  Some Legos.  Some chores.  I recently purchased a new fan because three of our fans have died in the last month.  We have a box fan for noise in the bedroom, but it's loud.  The new one is so nice and quiet but still blows air well!  Now I just need to get the boys to stop touching the buttons.

I took a nap!  While I had a very short one yesterday, today was the first normal one of the week.  I've missed them.

Isaac did a great job at rock climbing and Joshua did a nice job working on school chores during that time.

I cooked up some Italian sausage to go with our spaghetti tonight and it was delicious.

Wednesday: busy-ish

Today was an odd busy.  There were a bunch of things on the calendar, but I didn't have much doing.

Anyway, Dad came over in the morning and spend almost two hours answering questions for Isaac.  I learned a lot too.

Joshua had a playdate at a playground with a friend.  He had a blast.  The parents of the other kid were much quieter and they had several younger kids to watch, so it sometimes felt a bit awkward.  I don't mind not talking, but I also hope they weren't expecting more from me.  Afterwards we went to DQ to continue to celebrate Joshua's birthday.

 

Tuesday: pñt

 J: Mom! Runs into my room

A: yes?

J: Piñata without the vowels is just pñt

A: yup

Joshua runs out of the room

Sunday: normal

It was a pretty normal Sunday for us.  The weather was cool.  I've been opening up the house lately because we're not being hit by the heat wave affecting the rest of the world, but today I only opened up the slider a little bit.  It was too cold at 64F to open it up the whole way.

We watched church from home.  I enjoy doing it that way, although I'm not sure it's always the best plan.  However, it's summer and then we can worship with Ben.

I finished my puzzle today.  It was an odd one: it was pretty easy to find all the pieces within a column that I needed, but there were several times I had a hard time with the fit.  Sometimes I'd have a group of two pieces connected to two other pieces and thought it was completely correct only to realize it was incorrect.  It is a pretty puzzle though; I'll probably keep it.

Isaac chose Magic: The Gathering as his family game.  Not too far into the game I thought we were getting close to being done and got him out instead of just hurting Ben or Joshua.  Well, after that the game dragged and I felt pretty bad about having got him out so early.  He dealt with it as well as I could have hoped though.  It's annoying but he stayed at the table for almost the rest of the game and there were no tears.