Grandparents Russell!!

Last Friday, Nico had an early release from school, and guess who picked him up?? Grandma Russell! The Grandparents Russell came into town shortly before the end of school day, so Grandma walked over to the school to pick him up. That afternoon we made our way to the Botanical Garden.

That evening, Grandma Russell had an activity for us that she had planned superbly well - sugar cookies in the shape of a circle, yellow frosting, and a variety of colors of squeezable frosting. We were to make EMOJI cookies! This was so fun and that first night we made two pans full of them.

Reading a new comic book from Grandma Russell

The next day, Saturday, we went to the James Castle House. This was the house where the artist James Castle used to live, in Boise/Garden City off in the Hill Rd area.

The last time that the Grandparents Russell were in town, we visited the art museum and had seen some of James Castle's works. James Castle was deaf, he made a lot of his drawings using an ink he made himself from charcoal and spit. I loved seeing the house where he used to live. It was inspiring. I saw several of his works that reminded me of art that Grandpa Russell has done. The similarities were astounding!

A few pictures of James Castle's work.

After that, we went to the Boise Art Museum. We're typically not allowed to take pictures in the Art Museum, but they had an exception this time. There was an exhibit by Jae Yong Kim called Donut Ever Forget Me. Several hundred donuts he created (not edible) and decorated.

Tacos for lunch

Nico ate both of these! This was at Madre, a gourmet taco restaurant close to downtown. Excellent!

After lunch, Nico went to the Grandparents Russell's hotel and did some swimming with Grandma! For dinner on Saturday, of course we had PIZZA! We watched Three Stooges while we ate. 

Nico building his pizzas

 Making more emoji cookies after pizza

Sunday was church, and hanging out!

On Monday morning, Grandpa, Guy, and Nico went out to breakfast. Nico ate a pork chop, two slices of bacon, and scrambled eggs. After they came back home, I stayed back while the crew went to visit the Discovery Center and Zoo.

We said goodbye to the Grandparents Russell after dinner on Monday, and they headed back to Arlington Tuesday morning. We will see them again shortly at the very end of May when we make our trip to Arlington! We are looking forward to that. 

Tuesday was a lucky day for Nico because his glasses arrived!! He is taking great care of them, cleaning them often with his little spray bottle and cloth.

Guy and I had a trip to Moscow planned for Wednesday, so we spent a bit of Tuesday packing and getting stuff ready. Plans changed on Tuesday evening and it was decided to postpone our trip. My mom still offered to watch Nico for a few nights, so Guy and I decided to turn our next few days into a staycation. We went to the library, we ran errands, we watched shows and went to Chipotle for dinner. On Wednesday night we took Guy's acoustic bass guitar that used to belong to his Papa (his mom's dad) and had it restrung with new strings. 

You could tell that the guy who did it really enjoyed his work. After taking the old strings off, he conditioned the neck of the guitar with a castor-oil based oil and let it soak in. It instantly brightened it up. 

This afternoon was Ivy's birthday party. Nico wasn't with us but we went anyway! It was at Quarry View Park. Pizza and cupcakes, a pinata, and presents.

Oh, and what has Nico been up to???

They went to Altitude

They went swimming at the hotel that Nico and Lexie and my parents are staying at just for fun.

Hotel breakfast. HAVE to have bacon!!

And now for a thrilling spring break adventures video! Some videos taken by Grandma Russell and Grandma Salisbury. Oh, and some of the pictures in the post were taken by them too!

Spring Break!!

On Friday Grandma Russell walked with me and the kiddos to drop them off at Chess class. Avery was able to come with us because it was sibling day at chess!

Grandma was able to see the library at Nico's school and also his classroom and where he sat.

Guy and Grandpa and Grandma were able to experience the paella at the Basque Market in Boise for lunch. They make a huge batch and when it's gone, it's gone. They got their tickets ahead of time and it sold out fast.

Nico had an early release that afternoon and we headed over to the Botanical Garden. Check out the video at the end of this entry to see snippets of Nico's Spring break, including some from the Botanical Garden!

On Saturday we went to Birds of Prey. We listened to a talk about the birds at the center, and then walked around the building to see all the interesting bird facts.

Afterward we went to Jimmy John's for lunch

From there, the Grandparents Russell took Nico and Guy to visit Aunt Ruthie and GG and Aunt Pat. I headed home to bake some bread, cookies, and meatloaf.

Saturday night was pizza night, we ordered in from Smoky Mountain Pizza, and we watched Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole on the TV downstairs while we ate pizza. Jeff and Allicia and their crew had gone out of town for the weekend, so we were able to use the downstairs area for a movie!

Sunday was church, and then a visit to the Library for a talk about birds in Boise and how to recognize them. Each time the speaker came to a new slide with a new bird, she would ask if anyone knew what it was. Nico was in the back with us and so she would rarely see Nico as he raised his hand to answer. Such a good student to raise his hand! Grandma told him that he could blurt the answer, and so he waited patiently for the turn of each slide, and then would blurt out the bird.

Afterward, he told Grandma he wanted to check out a story book with birds in it, and our Grandma Librarian was on the case and found the exact kind of thing he wanted. It was amazing, I'm not sure how she did it.

She found this one, along with some Bird and Squirrel graphic novels and a few others. Perfect options for Nico. 

Nico and I read this one before bed tonight, the whole thing. It was a cute story. 

Sunday night, Guy and I attended Bible Study like usual but Nico stayed home with the Grandparents. He was able to take a bath upstairs, and then Grandma read him books before bed. After Guy and I got home, him and Grandma and I went downstairs to watch an episode of Father Brown on Netflix. Totally worth staying up late for!

Monday morning, Nico and Grandpa Russell and I went to an art store in downtown Boise to get some art supplies. Idaho Blueprint and Supply. Quite a nice selection!

We came back home for a bit and then headed out for more adventures. We first went to the downtown library to check out a few more books, then to the Discovery Center. We ran into friends from church there, Nico's friends Lazarus, Leona, and Matthias.

From there went to the Boise Fry Company to eat some lunch!

Nico loved the food there! Afterward we went to the MK Nature Center.

From there we came home, and spent the rest of the evening relaxing. Grandpa and Grandma left the next morning. It was such a fun time having them here for a few days, we will see them again in June when we visit Arlington!!

Tuesday mid-morning another batch of fun started for Nico. Grandma Camp! I dropped him off Tuesday and picked him up this afternoon (Thursday) before dinner. 

On Wednesday Grandma sent me these pictures with this note: 

"Nico discovered the girls were wearing "fake" glasses and wanted a pair!  So while we were in the mall I sat outside Claire's and the girls took Nico into the store to fit and find him a pair that looked good on him.  It was adorable to watch them trying them on him and commenting their opinion.  In the end this is what he chose!"

This evening at dinner he told us all about the mystery of the printer that kept printing without anyone initiating it. He told us how on Tuesday night it printed "Shouldn't you be in bed?", and then another one on Wednesday with a symbol from Watcher in the Woods (scary movie), and then another note in the DVD case of the movie. 

Other things that happened while at Grandma camp: Smores, Pizza, Easter egg hunt, Jump Time. They even met some new friends. A family friend, Robin, came over with her 4 grandchildren to participate in coloring egg cartons and then of course the egg hunt. They also played games with a parachute, one in particular where they bring the parachute up and then all go inside (see video) to have a "government meeting". They spend the time in their meeting saying "You're guilty!" and voting people out. It's hilarious. I witnessed them playing this game when I came to pick Nico up this afternoon.

Government meeting time!

Robin reading a book to the kiddos.

 Ready to decorate their egg cartons.

Grandma sent me this picture this morning:

And then tonight before his shower he told me his tummy didn't feel very good, and I asked when it started and he said that he felt sick this morning like he was going to throw up (picture him pretending to throw up), so "I did iPad and drank milk" and that made him feel better. Before dinner he was whining of a hurt tummy and said "I feel like I'm going to throw up some day." he he. But then when he saw what I had made for dinner - TOAST on white bread, he said "Ok I'll eat". I had also made spaghetti and salad but he was only interested in the toast. 

Evelyn was over for dinner as well. After dinner they did art using the new supplies. Evelyn was in heaven.

I gave Nico a little back massage with some essential oils before bed. I hope he feels better tomorrow! I didn't send his supplements with him to Grandma Camp. Perhaps I should have! They are good for tummies.

Video!!