Ben was having a back procedure today, so we decided to play racquetball in the morning! It was lovely. Ben won both games, but I put up a good fight. We have obviously lost some skill, but it was also surprising how well we still did. We had some great serves and some good volleys. ...it was good exercise and we were tired at the end.
Like normal, we went to Fort Wayne for a weekend over Spring Break. Joshua, especially, was so excited. He was hoping for waffles or French toast sticks for breakfast and to go to the wooden playground. Liz delivered both delicious breakfasts and we went to the playground.
When we got there in the evening the cousins immediately started doing their thing. They didn't have all that long though because it was already 9pm. This time Ben also came with us! Usually he stays home and works, but we were happy to have him along this time.
Saturday, after homemade waffles, JJ and I played Dominion. He wanted to play and it's one of my favorite games, so I brought ALL the cards. We ended up playing three times throughout the weekend so while it might still have been overkill to bring that many, it was reasonable.
We had a late morning trip to go get croissant-donuts. They were delicious! I split a donut with Isaac, so ended up with half a lemon and half a chocolate peanut butter. I liked the chocolate peanut butter better, but they were both very good.
Then we went to a nearby farm. It had rained a lot recently and so the trails were slightly squishy. As normal, Joshua fell down in the mud. It wasn't as bad as his last mud escapade though, and he just walked it off.
We also saw activity at the blacksmith shop, so we stopped by to see what was going on. It turns out there was a ladies blacksmithing class, but they were finishing up and the instructor was so happy to tell us about what they were doing and show us things. Several times I thought it was about time to go, but then she'd say, "and let me show you..." and we'd learn something else really interesting.
Sunday.
The plan was to go to the playground after lunch. JJ and I easily roped Ben and Isaac into playing a game of dominion. Ben and I trounced the kids, with Ben winning overall. JJ had a bit of a hard time with the strategy with the set of cards. (I mean, I kept giving him additional rules each time we played. He did well with the rules.) Isaac's plan didn't pan out at all and he never acquired more points. I was a bit surprised about that because he usually has a plan.
The the kids continued playing with plus-pluses. They had started on Saturday, playing with them for at least an hour, but on Sunday they played with them for several more hours. The adults were all rather surprised, but happy that they found something that worked for them.
If the afternoon we went to the wooden playground and the kids had a great time! They played their normal game. It was a bit warmer than previous years - it's often grey and cold, and this time it was mostly sunny and cool.
The kids were really tired at the end of the day and had a hard time figuring out where to sleep. It was finally figured out and they fell asleep quickly.
J: I thought Dad was reading tonight.
A: He is. I'm just changing [my clothes in the bedroom].
B: Don't change! I like you just the way you are.
I: So Mom's reading?
B: That's what you got out of the conversation? Let me replay it for you...
Ben says the whole conversation again.
J, coming into the bedroom: What did you say? Why are you laughing? I thought you were reading.
B: Let me tell you the whole conversation...
Ben says the whole conversation again.
So, after the third time, I can relate the conversation word for word instead of approximating it like normal.
I know I'm behind a lot of blog posts, but I won't forget them. I've found that if I keep going and back-fill it works better for me than trying to keep everything in time-order because I don't always want to write the exciting blog posts - they're often rather long. But I will.
I had a lot of things on my to-do list today and didn't finish a lot of them. It is a bit of a problem, although I suppose I got all the really important ones done. Friday is looking rather busy, so we'll see what happens over the weekend. Otherwise I'll try again Monday.
Nothing overly exciting happened today. We're having some issues with our taxes. I brought in all the documentation back in February and they're just contacting us about a problem. I know extensions can be filed and whatnot, but it's still rather annoying.
Today was not all that exciting. We went to get some groceries and return pop cans and it was snowing. Then we went to the library and happened to see Joshua's friend, who was there to watch a movie. Joshua ended up staying with them while Isaac and I came home and played Dominion.
I did some chores. Not enough to have a clean kitchen, but enough to stay on top of the important things. Last night in bed I realized that 3 out of the 4 appointments that I (or the kids) have over the next two weeks have conflicts. I resolved two of them today. The groceries are put away and the laundry is all clean.
Today's main activity was going to try racquetball with the kids. It was actually a really good day, since Hope was still on Easter break. We're debating about it being Joshua's main exercise during the summer. It went a lot better than I expected...even though Joshua tweaked his wrist at the end. They liked the echoes, could sometimes hit the ball, could serve the ball well enough, and overall had a pretty good time.
I won the actual game we played, 7-0-0. Just to make sure they don't think they're doing too well. We did cycle through twice, because Isaac had a really good return that I couldn't reach.
I also found a lot of instincts ingrained in me. *Don't look backwards. *Crouch down when you don't know what's going on behind you. *Serve to the corners. *Move to the middle
The crouching one was the funniest, because the kids are not strong enough hitters to actually hurt me even if they did manage to hit the ball. But otherwise my back tingled too much.
I completely enjoyed myself. I miss racquetball.
The kids were bored on-and-off today, so they decided that we should move around the bedroom furniture today. I wasn't about to argue, so that's what we did in the afternoon. They were amazing helpers! And strong. The whole project took about an hour, and that included cleaning all the dust bunnies and putting the room mostly back to rights. Ben was surprised when he got home.
Joshua is at a sleepover tonight. We've tried doing this sleepover several times and it hasn't worked, but since it's now 10pm and he's been sleeping for over an hour I'm optimistic. Last night when I reminded him it was a bit rough, but by the morning he seemed to have snapped out of it. I also brought him over pretty late, hoping that if there wasn't too much time before bed to get wound it up would be easier.
