Friday: walk

It was a beautiful day (and we had a bit of time to burn), so we went to some trails.  It wasn't too busy.  The trails were smaller and more 'trail-blazy' than most trails we've done recently, and the boys seemed to actually enjoy it.  They often don't, so it was a nice change of pace.  Maybe it was because Ben joined us.

We walked by a fast river.  The boys were a bit scared.

It was our anniversary.  We got a few pictures, but we didn't exactly dress up for it.

After taking assorted pictures Joshua wanted one with just Ben.

Isaac thought he saw a Venus flytrap in the water.  A minute after looking, Ben realized there was a frog.

We found a bench!  The boys immediately turned it into a toy.

Thursday: rainy day

Isaac finished up the shelves

A few years ago I had a crazy idea of collecting bubble wrap so that the boys could have a bubble wrap stampede.  I was cleaning out the basement and it was rainy today so it seemed like a perfect time to actually get them out.  They had fun, but it didn't last quite as long as I was hoping.

Joshua wanted to do sensory activity, so I got some quinoa out.  (It's been used as sensory before.)

Wednesday: life skills and Lego challenges

Joshua made a four scoop ice cream cone as one of his Lego challenges today.  I also challenged him to use color appropriately, and it worked very well.

Isaac's life skill was to put together shelves that we had just got.  He did an excellent job by himself, but the shelves themselves are rather large and unwieldy so he did get some help.

Joshua's next Lego challenge was a pirate ship.  He used colors well again and it turned out great!

It was also a nice day today, so I pushed Joshua in the stroller to pick up some cat food.  He fell asleep for the second half, which was the second goal of the trip.

Tuesday: Joshua

Let's start with Lego challenge.  Grandpa Paul gave him "make a big A, a little a, a happy A, and a silly A."  He changed it (of course) to "a big E, little E, happy E, and sad E."

He also made a treasure chest that opens when you put a key in it.

This evening Ben and I were in the office and the boys were supposed to be doing their chores.  Instead we hear a big thunk outside the office and Joshua says, "Oof, that definitely did NOT work as a parachute."  We laughed so much.  (It was a pillowcase, by the way.)

However, soon after that there were so many tears because I wanted him to feed the cats.  So many tears.

Monday: Happy Birthday

Today we celebrated Tornado and Horizon's 2nd birthday.

The boys got out all the special food and made Lego gifts and decorations.

They got wet cat food.  Horizon licked it quite a bit, Tornado ignored it.  Possibly the candles scared him.

Joshua opened his presents.  He had made them a heart out of their colors and a cat.

Isaac made a cake...

That could be cut into two pieces with a dull knife.

In other news, we started working on addition because number flash cards are boring.  Does anyone have a trick for telling the difference between a six and a nine?

This is what Joshua made me yesterday.

Today Joshua made a water park as a Lego challenge.  It was quite detailed, with a slide, water shooter to knock over a person, a pirate ship, and ...something else.  The something else came with a die and needed to be rolled in order to move it.

He also made a rather impressive tower out of Rhino Hero.

Isaac and Dad have been doing mail chess for a few months.  It's been a bit hard because we weren't sending a postcard back very quick and Isaac kept forgetting to move his pieces.  So we finally moved it on-line, because screen time limits are out the window right now anyway.  Isaac found several lessons and spent quite a while doing them.  He also pulled out our chess board and was doing something with it.

A few months ago: women

One day at karate there were a lot of women.  We're usually rather outnumbered, so we took a picture.

There aren't many adult females.  There's one near my level, but I haven't seen her lately.  I know there are some at the next higher level, but I just don't seem them because they're in a different class. There are some high-school black belts, and they almost count.  (Hmm, maybe they've graduated by now.)  There were several that have dropped out semi-recently for assorted reasons.

Good rambling, I know.

In other karate news we still get to test this cycle.  And we get to take it for free this time!  We've been doing virtual training twice a week.  It's going better than I expected; I'm sure we're not doing as well as we would in person, but I think we're doing ok.