Tuesday: play-doh

This week I gave the kids a chore: clean out the play-doh bucket.  It's rather large and the kids don't use it much anymore, so it needs to be decluttered.

The kids found the play-doh that was bad and played with the good play-doh for about four hours.  So, I feel like my plan worked.  I was able to actually get things done today.  It felt good, although a lot of items I got crossed off were just normal things like laundry that will show up again soon.  I also got (most) of the kitchen cleaned for the first time in about two weeks.

Monday: ups and downs

Joshua had a rough morning. I wasn't planning on doing any errands today, but Joshua and I went and did some errands because he needed a changes of scenery.  It worked.  We had a nice time in Lowes and got a new toy for the cats in the pet store.

Then Joshua worked quite a bit on making a cat tree at home.  (There's a reason I keep so many boxes!!  You never know when you'll need just that size.)  The rest of the day was better.

Sunday: pick a brick cup

We did some pick-a-brick cups this afternoon.

Amanda: warm and cool wheels

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.

Saturday: friends, Lego challenge

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.

Friday: Sandy Pines

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.

Thursday: no plans

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.

Wednesday: freezer

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!