Legos, Video Games, Grandma Camp Awards

I came home from Spokane last Friday and picked up Nico from my parents' house, bringing home with us a crock pot full of sausage and sauerkraut that Nico had put together: dinner!

Grandma sent me these pictures from their day together on Friday. Apparently Nico REALLY won Monopoly!

Nico has ALL the money and properties!

Friday night it was a very simple decision to open up our lego from Grandpa Russell to start putting it together - we were finally all together in the same spot! Nico started in on it and got a lot done, we picked up the rest on Saturday and finished it on Sunday.

The lunar lander! Nico played with it for quite some time on Sunday night.

Saturday it was also imperative that in the afternoon we go to Fred Meyer to BUY Monopoly. Guy took him, and they didn't have the version he wanted, so he bought the regular version. Nico and I played it after they got home.

That night we watched Wonder Park (Guy's choice) downstairs (Jeff & Allicia and kids were away), and ate yummy pizza. We've had a long string of great movies, we haven't seen a bad one in a long time.

This week was the LAST week before school starts! And it's one of the only weeks this summer that Allicia and I were both home on a Monday, which is our day to hang out. So on Monday morning we sent the kids downstairs to play video games while we stayed upstairs to play board games. She taught me a new board game called Azul, and I taught her how to play Pokemon.

Tuesday, Grandma Camp started out at Bruce and Rory's apartment complex's pool. It's huge!

Guy and I had a date that afternoon for lunch. We went to Pho Le.

Afterward, we went to St. Vincent's next door and found an A&W mug we bought Nico, and a new shirt for Guy. Nico loves A&W root beer. 

Wednesday was another video game day.

Today was the last Grandma Camp of the summer. To celebrate, there was a BBQ and Awards Ceremony. Check out the video at the end of the blog! Each grandkid was awarded a serious award and a silly award. It was a great way to end the summer and look back at the same time.

School starts next Monday. Nico received a post card from his speech therapist, Mrs. Williams. 

What a great bunch of people he's got at his school.

The promised video is below. This has snippets dating back to June! Enjoy!

BIrthday Party, Chess Tournament, Nachos!

Saturday was a fun and full day. We celebrated Grandma Salisbury's birthday at Smokey Mountain Pizza. Our private gathering room has its own door to the parking lot, so I took a video of the kids after they ran out to greet Grandma and Papa when they arrived. Watch the video and beware when Nico starts running back toward me, WHACK! Yeouch!! The video is at the bottom of the blog post!

Happy Birthday (today!) To Grandma Salisbury!

Straight from the party, Guy drove Nico over to JUMP (Jack's Urban Meeting Place) for a Chess tournament/party. They went a little early because JUMP has a slide from the 5th floor of the parking garage that goes all the way down to the ground and Nico wanted to try it. But it was closed! Instead, they climbed on the jungle gym until the party started.

This afternoon I received this email from his chess coach:

We already signed him up for next year chess.

Saturday night we rented Mary Poppins Returns from RedBox, it was my choice. We all loved it. After the movie was over, Nico asked, "I want to watch ALL the Mary Poppins movies, are there any more?" Nope, shucks!

There was one evening this week (I think Sunday night) when Nico was very sad. We had said no to something he wanted. So here is Guy snuggling him on the couch. Guy sang to him the song he used to sing to him several years ago when we lived on Krall st. "The sun is sinking in the west...." Nico remembered the song and started crying. It was a very sweet moment. I'm surprised Nico remembered the song! When Guy put him into bed, he whimpered in his bed and started crying again and said "Daddy I want to spend more time with you." So Guy got up into Nico's bed and they hung out for a while.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, swimming nights, if we get to the Y a little early, Nico is able to play in the kiddie pool. Here's a shot of those shenanigans.

I love the Y swimming lessons. There are 4 life guards on duty. And, the air is very warm, not just the water, which means Nico doesn't get cold and shivery! He's able to make it through the entire 30 minute lesson. I am hooked and will probably never go back to lessons at the Natatorium. 

Tuesday night at Cub Scouts, the Birds of Prey were there!

Cub Scouts snack.

Nico has been on a nacho kick lately. He made these by himself.

Nico's friends across the street are moving in June, and I chatted with their mom about it and asked if she'd be willing to share their landlord's phone number with us so we could potentially move in after they move out. If across the street doesn't work out, we plan to move somewhere else THIS SUMMER! The time has come! We would love to stay in this area so we are hoping for the house across the street. We are super excited and being very dreamy about it. We are working hard to make it work!

This week was Nico's first standardized testing day for 3rd grade. It was a math test today. 1-2 hour tests, about 7 tests total in the next few weeks. We ordered him a vibrating wrist band that vibrates every 5 minutes to help keep him on task. I am looking forward to hearing from his teacher how it works for him at school. It will arrive on Saturday!

Enjoy the video!

Soap Carving, Auditory Testing, Sleepover!

Last Friday, Nico pulled out his pocket knife and started carving his soap figure for Cub Scouts. He decided on a horse.

For Saturday movie night, Nico chose Ferdinand as the movie to watch. We couldn't find it available to rent on Amazon Prime, but we did see that it was available at the RedBox at M&W Market. So Nico and I walked over there to rent it. As we were leaving I hear someone yell, "Joanna!" and it's Guy, he had stopped at M&W to get gas after he was done running errands, so we rode home with him.

Ferdinand is a VERY good movie. And the pizza, was VERY good.

Earlier on Saturday Nico and I completed his shelf by adding book ends, a pencil holder, and wrapping the edges with a bumper so that he wouldn't bonk his head at night. Here's how it looks!

On Sunday we celebrated Papa's birthday at Smokey Mountain Pizza. I can't believe I got NO pictures from it! But it was fun, Nico and Lexie played games in the arcade, and it was fun to get together, have some food, eat some cake, and celebrate PA!

Bright and early Monday morning was Nico's Auditory Processing testing. We drove out to Amity Elementary school to meet with the audiologist. She remembers Nico from Madison Elementary, where she had come to test all the kiddos' hearing. 

Nico went into a soundproof room, and the audiologist went into a different one that was connected by a window they could see each other through. I couldn't hear what they were saying to each other, but I did have a pair of headphones next to me that let me hear what Nico was hearing.  He had to go through a gamut of testing.

He had to pick out what someone was saying in one ear, with background noise coming in to the other. He had to identify "High" or "Low" for a series of tones, repeat words that were said in one ear, at the same time as a different word in the other ear. "Which word did you hear in your left ear?"

She said this kind of testing can be hard on kids and that they often take breaks, and indeed we did. Nico needed two breaks. The first one, she came out of her room first and said, "That last one was hard on him so we're going to take a break." He was discouraged that he couldn't get them all right and it was really getting him down. She told us while we were on the break that from what she was seeing that he's actually doing better than most kids his age. That seemed to cheer him up a bit.

The final report was what she had reported earlier - that for all the tests he did, overall he was testing better than kids his age. This means he has NO auditory issues! 

The only somewhat "off" thing is the reflexes in his left ear. Like you can test your knee reflexes by hitting them, they test ear reflexes by sending sound into the ear and measuring the reflex response. She said that the reflexes in his left ear are not quite what they should be. 

Alos, throughout the testing she saw that he favored his right ear and could generally understand things better when heard through his right ear. She said typically kids tend to favor their right ear. The language center is on the left side of the brain, and when someone hears something in their right ear it goes straight to the left side of the brain, so the response is quick. When something comes in through the left ear, it goes straight to the right side of the brain, so in order to get to the language center it has to cross the hemisphere over to the left, which takes a bit longer and is more pronounced in children.

I think they're mostly done with all the testing at school, and we'll talk about the results in a few weeks at another meeting.

On Tuesday, Guy took Nico to Cub Scouts only to find out they weren't meeting that night. Doh!

Wednesday morning I left on a trip and am still there - in Northern California at a conference. I will return home next Monday.

Nico stayed with Guy Wednesday, and today my Mom picked him up from school after Drama Club. Nico wanted to show her his classroom, so he took her in there, and his teacher was still there, so she was able to meet his teacher. Grandma said she was sweet and that she loves Nico.

Bruce and Rory are also staying the night tonight at Papa's and Grandma's. Mom sent me a picture of a snack bar she made for everyone tonight that was a hit! 

And here is Pa reading to Nico before bed. From here it looks like a Richard Scarry book!

Ok that's it for this week!

Table Rock, Last Baseball Game, and Grandma Camp!

On Friday Guy and I went to Boise Fry Company for dinner on a DATE! Jeff and Allicia watched Nico for us. I got some sweet potato fries and some deep fried brussells sprouts. Yummy! Afterward we went to Fred Meyer to get a present for Rory's birthday. We picked out a pretty dress and a unicorn hat. She loves unicorns!

On Saturday we actually skipped making pancakes, and in fact, Nico ate no breakfast at all before we hiked Table Rock with friends early that morning. He was not hungry! He ate some sausage and cereal when we got home, though.

When we got up to the top of Table Rock we climbed down to some caves on the opposite side, the path takes you around the base of the rock and you climb back up right in front of the cross. It was really cool, except for the smell and all of the graffiti.

Climbing Up

Climbing down to the caves

After we got home and Nico ate breakfast, we went straight to his baseball game, his very last game! Papa and Grandma Salisbury brought Lexie, Rory, and Bruce with them to watch the game as well.

Waiting for his turn to bat.

On team picture day, the coach on the left was sick, so he wasn't in the official picture. Here is the unofficial picture of Nico's team! :)

After his game, we went to Jimmy John's and then Pa and Grandma took him with them! He stayed with them until Monday, when I went to pick him up.

Apparently while over at their house, they went up to the attic, then up to the highest point inside the house, then into the crawl space. Hah. What fun?

Waiting their turn to go up into the attic.

 The highest point in the house.

The lowest point in the house.

The middlest point in the house.

Nico is the one who has the ball.

Lexie asked me to bring henna over on Monday when I came for pizza and Rory's party. I obliged! I hadn't done henna in almost 6 months!

Saturday night, Guy and I made pizza on our own and watched Mortal Kombat. On Monday we watched the movie Hackers together. Guy wasn't feeling well Monday evening so I went on my own over to Grandparents' house for Rory's party and to pick up Nico.

Nico's last day of school is tomorrow! Today was Field Day. Nico had asked me almost a month ago to volunteer on Field Day. He was insistent and told me to call up the gym teacher to let her know I wanted to volunteer. That's serious business! I just waited until they asked for volunteers and I added my name to the bunch. So I was there at his school this morning.

Next week I'll be updating from Arlington!! It might be a day late. We are excited for our trip, we leave next Tuesday!!