Ben: a wheel that makes noise when rolled. (Video will be on instagram eventually.)
Isaac: two water slides. A cylinder and a cupcake tops would go down the slides, but most other pieces wouldn't.
Joshua: had a hard time getting started. He was rather on the edge for the beginning - no original ideas and the tower idea didn't pan out. Finally he settled on making abstract creations with the same pieces. It involved a lot of trading, and we all really enjoyed it.
This morning was spent with my college Roommate and her family. Her husband, and my engineering friend, was sick last night so wasn't able to be around, but I'm hoping to see him a bit tomorrow. We went rock climbing, because that's how we roll, and then to Good Earth. Rock climbing was fun. They hadn't gone before and seemed to enjoy themselves. Good Earth is in their new, and weird, location. But they had the same menu and more space for the tables. It was a lovely morning.
After nap time we did Lego Challenge. Joshua divided us into teams of two this time and we had to build cat play structures.
Isaac and Amanda's:
*Black and Yellow. I did most of the darker side to the right in the first picture, Isaac did most of the yellow side. Then we added some bridges and foilage to combine them together. I like how my climbing stand spins. Isaac did a nice job with box and cubby placement.
Joshua and Ben:
Brown with primary colors. The main focus is a laser pointer, and you can see the red dot on the ground. It also includes a large climbing tree structure, some jumping things, an aquarium, a stream, a cool bridge, and a fountain for clean water.
We took our yearly visit to Uncle Lee and Aunt Sue today. As always, it was a lovely day. It did start out a bit rainy, so we played a game for the first little bit. Then we went to the pool for a little bit. They have a nice water slide; not as exciting as the water park's, but still nice. We also played Shark in the pool. It is basically one person chasing the others while saying, "Merrr-nerp." Because obviously, that is a hunting shark sound. However, it also turns out that playing shark in a rectangular pool is difficult - it's easy for the shark to win.
We had a lunch and then mini-golf. Aunt Sue had one amazing shot where she hit two other balls and then got a hole in one!
We ended with some ice cream and a playground. It was nice to catch up with them again.
Well, today didn't have any plans on the calendar. So, as any sane mom in the summer, I made a few. We brought half the pop cans back for deposit. We picked up Isaac's pottery from camp. (He was a bit nervous about how they'd come out, but he was happy with them.) We played racquetball.
As normal, the day ended up filling up such that I didn't get many chores done. I played two games of dominion with Isaac. We were also on a waitlist for a library program, that I figured we wouldn't get in. An hour before it started though, I got an email and a call that we were in! It was a macaron tasting downtown.
We each got a drink and two macarons. We split them. I got a tea and Isaac got an Italian soda. The flavors we chose were salted dark chocolate, blackberry, raspberry creme brulee, and mimosa. We both like the salted dark chocolate the best and blackberry the least.
So, for a day with no plans, we had a ton of things to do.
Today we defrosted the chest freezer. The kids helped in the beginning and did a great job packing food into other locations to keep them cold. I was rather surprised at how well they packed stuff in, actually.
I also was happy with how all the food went back into the freezer. I know I got rid of a few things, but I was able to reorganize well too and it feels so much happier.
Isaac got his prize from the rock climbing competition. It's unclear whether he got second (per a note in the prize bag) or third (per the coach's memory). He got a bag, a chalk bag, lots of stickers, and a t-shirt.
Also, I finished two 5.8 routes today! One was a new one that I flashed...the handholds were easy to grab. The other one I've been working on for a while and have never managed to get more than about 1/2 way up. Something just worked today and I did it twice!
We started out our day in the water park...sort of. It doesn't open until 10, and guess who wakes up way before then? Pretty much all of us. Joshua and I started working on a scavenger hunt. He's always the person I can count on to walk around and explore whatever place we happen to be in, but the scavenger hunt helped to give us purpose. We got all but two items, but by then we needed to get back to the room.
I don't have many pictures from the water park, but my notes say we had a great opening! The lines weren't too long, so Isaac and Ben did the Flowrider and Joshua and I rode the water coaster in the back a few times.
We eventually met up and eventually tried all the rides, including a twister ride. It always had a line, and it shot you out into a funnel and then you just dropped about four feet into the pool. We did it a few times throughout the trip, but it wasn't our favorite. There was also a tube ride that was only open once in a while: we finally got on it and it was not exciting. A calm ride. Ben and Isaac did the extra big drop slides, where you stand on a floor and then the floor drops out from under you. Joshua and I had no desire to do that; so Joshua got me on the FlowRider because the line wasn't too long. It was ok. I'm glad everyone else was enjoying it, but I was content watching.
During this time Ben also managed to get a cut on his big toe. He was walking quickly, trying to get to some friends before they disappeared, slipped, and cut his toe on the floor texturing. The nearby life guard was helpful, but the supervisor that he called to actually help (because the life guard was life guarding) was not ideal. Oh well.
We ate lunch in our room. The room had an extra three feet between the end of the beds and the tables, and it was wonderful. We were able to spread out just a little bit more. We also tried to eat two meals in the room to save a bit of money and I thought it worked really well. Between a decently sized mini-fridge and a microwave you can do a lot. I brought a lot of paper stuff so we could just throw it away, but also some containers for left overs. I actually brought way too much food, but at the same time I'm not sure I'd bring any less.
After lunch we went to the outside waterpark for a bit. It was sunny out, so it was busy! We tried all the water slides, but only once or twice. We didn't do the big one from yesterday because the line was way too long. We then joined our friends at Tom Foolery's for a little bit. (Joshua did not enjoy this ride, but I did!
We went to a nearby restaurant for dinner and it was so fun! There were Lego sets (official sets and stuff they made) by the tables as decoration. And a train brought the food and drinks to your table! It was an excellent choice.
We went back to Tom Foolery's afterwards for a little bit. We played a few more games.
If I recall correctly, we also went back to the water park near closing. It wasn't super empty, but we rode a few rides and enjoyed the hot tub.
Joshua was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. (We had altered his bedtime back a bit the week before. He can usually handle staying up late on vacation, but we also needed him to sleep in. He did a great job.)
My favorite thing lately is hearing the kids laugh together. They've been playing a lot together yesterday and today and they kept laughing about something. <3
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