Strider Video!

BBQ on Sunday up at the cabin! I stayed home because of a sinus infection, fever, etc. But the boys had lots of fun! There was a game my mom put together that started with a clue, so the kids could find a hidden butterfly. Guy was the one who found it. At the end of the game everyone split up the prize which was a bunch of coins they got to take turns choosing, so Nico came home with a bag full of quarters to add to his piggy bank. He also came home with a tractor hat that my Mom got for him while they were in Ohio!

Nico was very proud of it and he has been wearing it a lot (whenever we remember!) Thank you Ma & Pa!

On Monday morning I was feeling so much better so I took Nico to the Strider Park with the camera mounted on his bike. I didn't check to make sure there weren't any smudges on the lens before starting, and I also didn't check to make sure I had it on the highest HD setting, but one of these days I will remember both of those things! The video still turned out incredible though, and I am very happy with it. (See video at bottom of entry) We went on the trail twice, and Nico had so so so soooo much fun, going so very fast over the ups and downs, he kept saying that he was going as fast as a race car. It really seemed like it at times. I had to run to keep up with him. It was great exercise for both of us. Then we "relaxed" by playing on the playground.

We had enough time on Wednesday afternoon to take another trip to the park to do another circuit.

So, my Mom also got me something from Ohio - pure maple syrup! She came over last night and we split a banana pancake (1 egg + 1/2 banana, a little salt) with butter and maple syrup on it, just to try it out. Incredible syrup! Guy and I and Nico all had it this morning on our pancakes. (Did you know that we eat pancakes almost every morning?) 

Today we had pizza for dinner. This was the first time Nico has ever had pizza. He made his own:

After he put all the cheese and toppings into one big pile in the middle of the pizza, I helped him spread them around a bit. He said that he really liked the pizza, but he barely ate any of it. Maybe it was the big sandwich he had for lunch. 2 big pieces of bread, turkey, cheese, mayo, mustard. He really liked that.

So here's the Strider video. Be sure to switch the HD on because it looks much better that way. (After the video starts playing, click the gear symbol on the bottom right of the video and choose the highest setting)

Adventure!

Saturday we went to the Saturday Market where we discovered the Sprouts Kids Club. Every week they have an activity for the kids. This week the activity was coloring a plate with whatever foods the child wanted. They also give every kid 2 tokens each week. Each token is worth $1 at the market and they can go buy any fresh food item (fruit, veggie, meat, cheese) at the market. They just can't buy from the food trucks. And if they want something that's more than $2, they can save up! So we decided on 2 roma tomatoes and ended up spending just one of his tokens, so we are keeping his 2nd one for next week. Nico drew his two tomatoes onto his plate. We also ran into his teacher at the market, whose daughter was also participating in the Sprouts Club. We often see her there, so much so that Nico mentions her every time we go to the market, even if we don't see her.

On Sunday, all of us went over to some friends' house for a potluck and game night. We ate hamburgers and played Munchkin while the kids entertained themselves with the Wii. It was a lot of fun.

Monday we went to visit G.G. I was talking about maybe taking Nico for a go-cart ride for his birthday, but that he had to be 40 inches tall in order to be a passenger. So G.G. pulled out the yard stick and we measured him. He looked to be right at 40 or maybe even taller (a yardstick ends at 36 inches so we weren't 100% sure). When I got home I verified it. Looks like we'll be doing the go-carts! He was about 40.5 inches. I plan to take him for a Mommy-Son birthday date where we'll also play miniature golf and then go out for lunch afterward. This summer will be a hoot!

On Tuesday I taught another class and the boys hung out at home. Wednesday I woke up with a bad runny and stuffy nose which I am still fighting.

Today, oh today! We went on an adventure. It happened like this:
After lunch was over and the dishes were done, I came into the living room and said "Hey Nico! Do you want to go on an ADVENTURE?!? I hear there is a Strider Bike Park near by, do you want to go try to find it??" He was excitedly up for it, so we packed ourselves into the car and took off.

I had heard about this park from someone who was in one of the classes I taught. He told me it was downtown, turning on a specific street and going up close to the foothills. I knew the street he was talking about so we went down there and turned onto the road, followed it up and up and up. We couldn't find the park. We took several detours on connecting roads, but just had no luck. So I told Nico that we would go home and I would do some quick internet research and if I found anything that then we could head back out. He was all for that, so we did. After about 5 minutes of internet searching, I found it!

Off we went! It was on the one street that we didn't venture down! We found it easily now that we had directions.

This trail was apparently just built last November. It is for kids age 12 and under, for Strider bikes and any other kind of bike. It makes a .6 mile circuit, with ups and downs and curves. There was no shade and starting to get hot, so we only went a short distance before turning around. We will come back some early morning after summer vacation starts so we can beat the heat and make the full circuit.

Right next to it was a playground with a spongy floor and lots of neat new toys. It has a small climbing wall and twisty turny poles and bars and climby parts. It was a lot of fun. It had no shade, either, so we will need to come back soon to play longer.

Nico's last day of school is June 4th. They invited all the parents on May 30th to watch the kids as they have their music class. Cookies afterward and certificates. I am looking forward to seeing what they've been doing in music class.

That's all the news this week!

Botanical Garden Again!

Last Friday was National Public Gardens Day, so we got into the Botanical Garden for free! It was a mixture of sun and rain, but it was fun. We took shelter in a cave.

Having fun in the Children's Garden

Oh no the rain!

Saturday we took a trip to Trader Joe's. They have Nico-sized carts, which he loves to push around, so we go there often. We buy their gluten free oatmeal and sometimes some veggies or hot dogs. I use the oatmeal to make Oatmeal Spice Muffins. They are a favorite in this house! We had them for breakfast this morning and there will be none left by the end of tonight.

Sunday we were able to FaceTime with the Grandparents Russell. Nico has been asking about them lately, wanting them to come to "Nico's house". We tell him that they will be here for his birthday in a few months.

Monday we saw Allicia and crew. Tuesday I taught another class. Guy and Nico went to Municipal Park and met Allicia, Evie, and Avery there. And also two of Guy's other friends. They had a lot of fun and stopped by Pizza Hut afterwards.

I have a scratchy throat today and am fighting off sickness! Very tired and wasn't able to do much today except run to the store twice because I forgot something the first time. But everyone is fed and happy, thanks to hot dogs, muffins, and monster teeth :) We sent Guy off to work with a heave-ho and a basket full of noodles.

And speaking of muffins, that is what I am going to eat right now while watching Psych episodes on Netflix. More next week!

Scratches, Old Friends, New Friends

On Friday I got a call from Nico's teacher telling me that he had been in a little fight at school. I would prefer to call it a "skirmish". Nico wouldn't let one of the other boys have his puzzle piece, so the boy climbed on top of him and started clawing at Nico's eyes. He came home with 4 deep scratches on his cheeks. We snuggled STAT after he got home, and fell asleep on the couch even before eating lunch.

When I asked him what happened he said "NO no no no no" and pushed me away. I asked him about it again yesterday and he still said "No no no no no". So I'm glad I was able to talk to his teacher. She said that this boy has had aggression issues for a little while that they are addressing.

Saturday Nico and I went to the Botanical Garden to meet my old college roommate, Tawny, and her husband and 4 year old son, Aiden. They came over afterward and Nico showed Aiden all of his toys and they played so well together, better than I've seen Nico play with anyone! We were worn out when the day was done. Lots of sun, lots of playing.

Sunday afternoon, Guy's boss came over with his family so that we could do a Zyto scan on his son who has been having some serious health issues. A Zyto scan is to help you determine which essential oils your body will respond well to. All 4 of them ended up getting scanned. They were impressed with how accurate it was. Their two children, and Nico and Guy spent most of the time in Nico's bedroom playing, and the daughter (9 years old maybe?) plays Minecraft so her and Guy were having so much fun talking about it. We sent them away with some essential oils, and are hoping they help.

We saw Papa briefly that evening as he dropped off eggs and a whole GALLON of milk! Thank you Papa!

On Monday, Nico came with me to meet a friend at a coffee shop. She is a violist in the Boise Philharmonic and teaches lessons. Even to 3 year olds! If Nico ever wants to learn the violin or the viola, we know where to go.

Monday afternoon, Guy had an interview for an engineering position at his work. We are crossing our fingers and praying. The interview went well, we will find out soon when the 2nd interview will take place. He is being interviewed along with a few other people.

Tuesday Nico stayed home from school, he threw up once in the morning but was fine a few hours later. This is the 2nd incident with a short-lived upset tummy. I'm glad he felt better so quickly. Tuesday night I taught another community ed class about making over your medicine cabinet with essential oils. One of the women in the class ended up being the intake coordinator for the Infant/Toddler program and remembered me and Nico when we had our appointment a year ago.

Bought some new foods to try out this past week, as we are continuing to expand our diet to eventually include everything that a supermarket could sell :) Deli ham slices and a new brand of gluten free bread.  Nico requested a peanut butter banana sandwich for lunch yesterday: DONE! He requested toast for dinner tonight: DONE! I even made him little cream cheese rollups with the ham slices, one of my favorite things to eat when I was younger. He is doing so well with new foods, and his rash has not come back since it went away a few months ago. SO SO SO very happy about that!

This week is Teacher Appreciation week. I forgot to take a picture of the cute tea tumblers I put together for his teachers, but I followed the instructions here, so you can click to see a picture of what they are: Iced Tea Cup.

I made one for each of his 3 teachers, then also included a chocolate bar for the teacher assistant. Nico helped me stuff the tumblers with the wrinkled paper, and I used African Honeybush tea. I have never had it before but I picked something that sounded tasty from the Co-op.

A few other snippets from this week:

• Nico told me that if I played with his spinning top that I would need to go to time out
• He told me exactly how to make his peanut butter banana sandwich. Bread, with peanut butter, then slice the bananas and put them on top.
• Fish park, Old park, strider rides, tricycle rides, co-op runs (where Nico gets to pick out a fruit leather), eating watermelon

Watch-a a [th]is!

Nico has started asking us to watch him when he does stuff. He doesn't say the "th" in "this" so it sounds like "Hey Mommy Hey Mommy, watch-a a is Mommy!" You'll see an example of this in the video. He has also picked up on the prayer before eating. I asked him to pray twice and he did, saying exactly what I do before every meal.

Saturday Market on Saturday, got some cinnamon bread but Nico wasn't too fond of it this time. We went for a lot of strider rides this week, too. Once he even rode his scooter around the block for the first time ever! He prefers the Strider, though.

Tuesday was my first ever Community Ed class, teaching about cleaning your home with essential oils. It was a lot of fun. Jeff and Evie came over that evening while I was gone and then all of them went back to Jeff & Allicia's house via walking/strider/biking/roller blades. Then I picked my boys up over there after my class.

That's really all that happened this week, so, enjoy the video!
p.s. one of the titles on the video didn't go through, you'll see it. Whoops!