We had a nice relaxing weekend at home, taking advantage of having the house to ourselves and watching a movie downstairs for pizza night. The Last Unicorn.
Monday Nico started his Parkour camp. It's a stunt-man camp. When I picked him up after 6 hours there, he was so super sweaty!! And he begged to stay. On Wednesday morning before camp I asked him if he liked camp, and he said "Kinda". I asked what he liked least and he said "doing flips". I asked what he liked best and he said "free time", where he gets to run around the place and do whatever he wants. They've had the chance to play with nerf guns several times which he has a lot of fun with. There is a video at the end of the blog with him jumping off of something very tall.
We have been playing lots of Candy Land.
Wednesday after Parkour, we met friends at the pool. We didn't stay long. Nico got super cold.
Wednesday evening Guy took Nico downtown to pick up his gift card from Rediscovered Books. $10! He picked out a United States Atlas to buy. He has been studying it every chance he gets, and telling us all the facts. He found a very interesting page that shows you which natural disasters happen across the US. He used to ask questions about this all the time, mostly just to make sure that no natural disasters happened in Idaho. The only one was Earthquake on Idaho, but on the east side. Allicia told me that there was a night a few weeks ago that Nico came out to go to the bathroom and Allicia and Ivy and Avery were there, FaceTiming with Evelyn who was at Allicia's mom's house in Twin Falls. Apparently Evelyn was worried about hurricanes happening in Boise but Nico went right to work reassuring her that there were no hurricanes in Boise and that by the time they got here there would be nothing left of them.
But back to the Atlas, tonight part of his prayer was "Pease help me to learn a lot from the Atlas book". He is in bed now studying it.
The Parkour camp is about a 2 minute drive from Papa and Grandma's house. Nico asked if we could go to Grandma's house after Parkour on Tuesday, we weren't able to then, so we went over on Thursday. Grandma had made some yummy banana chocolate chip bread that Nico and I both loooved.
We are preparing for a rearrangement of furniture on Saturday. First things first - get rid of our yellow table. Here's what the space looks like without the table -
Guy and Nico walked to Starbucks in the heat, and I came and picked them up after. They gave him a HUGE Italian Soda!
Friday morning I headed to Pullman with my dad, he picked me up and we arrived around 3pm. It was my cousin Dan's wedding. Pictures from my weekend:
I got to sit next to my Aunt Mary Anne during the wedding
And my mom
My dad and my brother. David was a groomsman in the wedding.
My cousin Molly and one of her daughters, River.
I have no picture evidence of Guy and Nico's weekend but Nico had his last swim lesson on Friday. They went to the Market on Saturday and dropped off their reading book bingo card at Rediscovered Books. He had enough to be entered into a drawing, which he WON, a gift card! Not sure for how much, we just need to go pick it up!
I arrived home on Monday afternoon. We just hung around the house the next few days, Guy had the day off, and we started uncluttering some stuff in the Clubhouse and down by Guy's desk. We've been watching Mr Bean (the cartoon version) for entertainment at night.
Yesterday Guy picked us up some fireworks. We didn't get many. Sparklers, pop-its, some snapping ones, and some snakes.
Nico lit a lot of them! Here he is lighting some snakes. They're the hardest to light.
He would pick up the leftover ash and rub them between his hands.
Nico has been caring for a few things around the house while Jeff and Allicia are gone. They have a lizard named Sweetness that they caught, so Nico went every day to one of the neighbor's yards to find box elder beetles, Sweetness eats 3-5 of them every day. The neighbor's yard is all rocks. I went with him to help a few times. He also had to get the eggs from the chickens and bring the mail inside. They paid him for all this.
So, the blog is late being posted! A lot happened Thursday!
Nico woke up with a tummy ache. We were planning a trip to the Toy shop to get a magic tricks kit but we decided to postpone it. But then he started feeling way better, so we went to get the kit. On Saturday while Guy and him were at the market, they saw a magician. Nico was chosen to come up and help him with a trick. When the magician did his trick and fooled Nico and the crowd, Nico said "but I don't know how to do magic yet" almost tearfully, like if he had known how to do magic he could have not been tricked? Afterward, the magician told Guy and Nico they could get magic kits from Toy Town. So they went there and found one they wanted. Thursday Nico and I went back to get it. On the way there Nico said when he grows up he wants to be a magician and an ornithologist. Like perhaps doing magic tricks with birds.
It wasn't until later I realized that he didn't yet know that magic wasn't magic and that it's actually just illusion and tricks. He was expecting to actually be able to make things levitate. I think he's warmed up to the idea of illusion, though, and Guy helped him with the kit, he was getting frustrated not understanding what the directions were telling him to do.
Thursday afternoon Allicia returned with the kids. Jeff returned late last night from a Katmandu work trip, and they are packing up the car and are leaving today (Friday) for Seattle! While home yesterday, Avery was taking a bath/shower and did a cannonball into the tub and smacked his face, biting through his lip. Allicia took him to Urgent Care along with Evelyn, who had a bug bite on her leg that was infected. I stayed home with Ivy, we played Zelda and watched Moana, while Guy put Nico to bed. I had most of the blog update already written but forgot to finish it off last night before bed! Evelyn stayed over for dinner last night. Nico was so excited to see her after her being gone so long. He quizzed her on the states and how to spell them and other facts. Evelyn was very receptive to all of it and, and even shared an interesting fact to Nico about wolves, saying that since Nico is sharing info with her, she is going to share some info with him. So we learned that wolves are scavengers.
Here's Evelyn holding her water cup behind her. If she spells "Washington" right she gets to dump water on Nico's head.
Allicia asked Nico if he'd like to be hired again to do chores while they're gone, and he said no. hehe. I'll be doing them. Instead of finding elder bugs we are going to get a bucket of crickets from Zamzows to feed Sweetness while they're gone.
Last Friday we had the chance to go to the Zoo with Allicia and kids, plus one of Evelyn's cousins.
Nico patiently let me run errands all morning one day this week, so I gave him a bit of Discovery Center time in the afternoon. I promise he had WAY more fun than what he looks like.
Saturday we went to a few garage sales and then had some time to kill in a parking lot waiting for someone to show up so we could sell them something. Nico got out of the car and practiced climbing into the car through the two front windows. He successfully made it!
Saturday night I got to choose which movie we watched. I chose 2 and let Nico pick between them. The Man Who Invented Christmas, and Mune: Guardian of the Moon. He chose Mune. It was a cute movie!
Nico has decided that he doesn't want to a "black-out" on his bingo card, but just turn in what he has so far to be entered into a few drawings because he has a bingo. He got 15 done out of 24. That's pretty good!
This week in swimming lessons Nico has really progressed. He is not afraid of the water anymore!! He can do a back float without help, and a little bit of a front float, and he can propel himself forward slowly doing his "ice cream scoops". I have a short video of that down below. He still has a ways to go, but I can't believe how far he's come in 2 weeks!! He was able to go down the hydrotube slide today as a treat.
I am heading out of town tomorrow back up to Moscow for my cousin's wedding. The boys are home alone this weekend! See you all next week!
On Saturday we went out with some new friends! About a month ago we were going to garage sales and came across one where the stuff they were selling looked like stuff we own or have owned in the past. Guy was even able to purchase a box set of MST3K from them. So, we went out to pizza with them! They are very nice, but they are moving to Ohio in July!
But before pizza on Saturday we had a fun morning of garage sales and going to the library. We played some board games while we were there, and ran into some church friends (the same ones we hiked to Table Rock with a few weeks ago!) they stopped and played a game with us. We found a fun game called Scrambled States of America. Nico has been really interested in states and capitals lately so this game was seriously perfect. So perfect, in fact, that we went home that day and Nico spent his own money to buy it on Amazon!
This is Nico playing a counting game, until I looked over and GASPED, finding the states game on the shelf. We quickly switched games.
Sunday was Father's Day. Nico picked out a funny card for Guy and Nico picked out some tropical flavored Swedish Fish for him. It was a nice day at home!
Monday was Nico's first day of swim lessons! It was overcast and a little chilly, they only did 15 minutes in the water before they needed to stop. They are working hard, Nico is a bit resistant, I coaxed him with Blue Cow Frozen Yogurt if he could get through a whole lesson without holding his nose when going under water, but "blowing bubbles" instead. He is having a difficult time relaxing in the water but I think the one-on-one lesson is helping him a lot more than the class session did last year. We went to Blue Cow after the lesson on Wednesday. He did hold his nose once but that was because he didn't have time to get a breath of air before going into the water. I figured I wouldn't dock him for that one. I prefer him doing that over sticking to the "rules" and getting a lung full of water!
Monday afternoon I had a doctor's appointment so I brought Nico over to Pa & Grandma's house. His cousins were over there too and they had a fun day.
Nico stayed overnight that night and I picked him up early the next morning so we could go visit GG. Unfortunately, I locked my keys in the car while at my parents' house and we weren't able to make it! I called GG and we rescheduled for Thursday. When Guy was available he came and bailed me out. In the meantime we went on an "adventure". We went around the block on bikes and scooters, following the sidewalk to the left and never getting off of it. I was impressed with how well Grandma managed the kids. Watch the video at the end to get a glimpse!
We've been playing Scrambled States of America non-stop since it arrived on Tuesday.
Riding scooters on the greenbelt.
This morning we were able to finally make it to GG's house to visit her and Aunt Pat!
Video below with a few snippets. Have a great weekend everyone!
We continued our time in Arlington last Friday, we woke up at Cama Beach and had an early morning bird walk. Nico and I got another game of chess in on the big chess board, and a friendly neighborhood cat followed us on our walk.
Part of Grandma's shell collection
After our bird walk we went to the Cafe and got breakfast, then walked back to our cabin to pack up and call the shuttle. We loaded all our stuff into the shuttle and they drove us back up to our cars. From there we drove the 30 minutes back to Arlington.
For lunch we went to La Hacienda, a favorite from our last visit. We got Nico the same thing we got him last time, the Carne Asada, and he gulped it down just like last time.
Friday afternoon Guy and I and Nico drove to Lake Stevens to visit friends of ours, Rusty and Ellen. Nico remembered being there 2 years ago and asked again for the Thomas the Tank Engine toy he remembered playing with. They still had it! So he spent time putting that together while the rest of us talked.
Friday evening I'm pretty sure we just hung out at home, there were lots of books to be read and Grandma Russell helped us quite a bit in finding books to help fill in Nico's book bingo sheet. Before our trip I picked up a book bingo sheet from Rediscovered Books in downtown Boise. Last June they did this same thing, each square has a different kind of book listed (for example, an autobiography, or a book written by a woman, etc), and when you finish reading that type of book you write the name and author in the square. If you get a bingo you are entered into a drawing. If you get a blackout (which is what we're going for), you get to go to an after hours party at the bookstore. While in Arlington Nico read almost 12 books! Most of these were children's books for ease and speed of reading.
Grandma made another trip to the library while we were there, and you might remember that when we lived in Arlington our house was right across the street from the library, so while she was in that area she got a picture for us. Looks about the same!
Saturday morning we had considered going with the Grandparents to the Farmer's Market in Mt Vernon, but we were feeling a little homey that day so we stayed behind. I mixed up an ice cream recipe for use later in the ice cream maker, and then we attempted to put together a 3D puzzle and soon gave up.
The Grandparents arrived home with treats and meat and veggies. They even picked us up a whole bunch of strawberries which we enjoyed eating for the remainder of our trip.
Grandpa showed us part of his knife collection.
Saturday for lunch they went to Tokyo House (I stayed home for napping purposes). Nico enjoyed some fried rice and sushi!
Playing a game of Clue Jr.
Saturday we had pizza! Woohoo!! We watched Mr. Bean which Nico really enjoyed. For dessert we tried to make ice cream but it didn't freeze well enough, so instead we had strawberries covered in the liquid ice cream. Strawberries and cream. It was tasty.
Sunday morning we were able to visit our old church. It used to be Marysville Church of the Nazarene, now they are Generations Community Church. We saw a lot of old friends. After church we stopped at Jimmy John's for lunch before heading to Pullman.
It was sad to leave them, we had so much fun. We will see them again in July for Nico's birthday!
On our way to Pullman.
The drive as about 6 hours, we arrived and were welcomed by my Mom. For whatever reason, Nico was not aware or had forgotten that we would be seeing Grandma Salisbury at the hotel. He was so shocked to see her car there! Grandma took us to our room (King suite with jacuzzi tub!) and then took Nico to Taco Time, bringing back some burritos for Guy. She offered to keep Nico overnight in her room for the two nights we were there, and Guy and I were able to watch a movie late into the night. We watched Hunger Games the first night and the sequel to this the 2nd night. Apparently there are 2 more movies! They are on our list to watch.
Monday morning Guy and I ate breakfast and then drove to Moscow (10 minute drive). We did a little shopping, then picked up lunch at Paradise Cafe at the Moscow Mall and brought it back to my mom's room. Her and Nico had driven to Moscow to pick up my Grandma!!
My mom found a really good cake shop (across the street from our hotel!!), so after lunch we enjoyed a gluten free dairy free cake.
Me and Grammy
A little while after lunch, Nico, Guy, and I got into our swimsuits and went to the hotel pool! We played for about 40 minutes, then Guy and I got out and let Nico play for a while longer. He shivers after a while in the pool so he was going back and forth from pool to hot tub.
Then we said our goodbyes to Grammy. Mom took her home, bringing Nico with her. She took Nico to a park in Moscow afterward before coming back to the hotel. Guy and I went to coffee and then started watching our 2nd movie!
Tuesday morning started our trek back home! We arrived around 4pm and stopped at Taco Time to pick up food on our way into Boise. We unloaded the car and then sat down to eat. Phew!
What a great trip we had! We are almost all back to normal routine now.
Wednesday Nico got a haircut. (tried to get one before the trip but they were booked!)
In the evening Evelyn, Avery, and Nico all went to VBS at Jeff & Allicia's church. It was water night, so they all got in their swimsuits. 90 degree day!
This morning Nico and I parked our car near the library and then walked on the greenbelt to the post office where we found a key to open a package locker. Inside was a package for Nico from the Grandparents Russell, a supplement to his bird journal, a book of birds in the West plus a birding guide.
(By the way, our conversation on the way home: "When I get older I want to live in Caldwell. It has the highest crime rate but I still want to live there because, I don't know, I just do. I'm going to be an ornithologist and I'll live in Caldwell and I'll study birds.")
This evening was another VBS. He took the $20 that Grammy gave him to donate tonight. What he said: "The girls gave more than the boys. If the boys give more, then they'll win!" Allicia texted me after she dropped them off that the boys are now ahead by $10. Heehee.
Ok I think that's it for this week. Enjoy the video!!
