This morning we went to a playground with some friends.
Then we went to a natural playground nearby, only to find out that it was gone! I was so surprised. Anyway, we decided to talk to the birds of prey area. The kids seemed only partially excited, but they figured out ways to enjoy it.
Today some friends brought us mountain biking! Well, it was probably more like trail riding, but it was still bumpy with hills. It was a bit tricky and both boys had a fall, but everyone also listed it as the good part of their day. I had a great time.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
