Friday after school Nico and I went on an hour long bike ride on the greenbelt. Nico brought home an activity calendar from school and you can color in a star every time you spend 30 minutes exercising. If you fill in all the stars you get a free pass to Wahooz.
For dinner that night we made "Crabby Patties", Spongebob style. Nico even put onion and tomato on his burger because that's how you actually make one on the Spongebob show! Eating Crabby Patties while watching Spongebob, we thought it was appropriate :)
While we were over at Grandma and Papa's house last Tuesday, while Nico was home from school sick, he discovered a drawing book in their living room that Rory must have left there. He practiced drawing from it, and when we got home that afternoon he gave me cash so that I could purchase him a similar drawing book from Amazon. It arrived on Friday! Here he is drawing.
Saturday was Guy's birthday! We went to Touch-A-Truck in the morning. Nico got to sit in a lot of different kinds of trucks.
After that we went for a little walk on the greenbelt, we hit the post office and the library.
Nico wanted to catch a leaf that was falling from a tree. We found some trees that were dropping lots of leaves, and he caught one!
That evening we made pizza and watched Matilda downstairs in the basement because Jeff and Allicia and the kiddos were out of town. Then we cut Guy's birthday cake and ate a few pieces of that! If you remember, we were trying to get to the bottom of Nico's tummy aches. We went a few days without one, we pulled all sugar out of his diet. On Saturday night we let him have a piece of Guy's cake, and the tummy ache came back! So we know sugar is involved somehow!
On Tuesday we went to visit GG and Aunt Pat. Melody was there and Nico brought out the US map that he had brought with him and they looked at that together for a while.
After leaving GG's house, we stopped at the Farmstead. We met Guy there, and Jeff and Allicia and the kiddos. First stop was the huge inflatable monster maze.
Then tonight was the Boo Bash at Nico's school. He is going to be a ninja again this year for Halloween. Yes this is the THIRD year Nico is wearing his ninja costume! That was quite a good investment! Not that it cost much.. he he. Here he is walking with Ivy.
Nico won the cake walk on his first time. Apparently Evelyn won the cake walk on her first time, too. It was a strange coincidence. Nico picked out these purple spider web gluten free cupcakes. Evelyn picked out a spider cake! Evelyn was standing on #1, Nico was standing on #2. Not at the same time, they had to be in different rooms because the 3rd - 6th graders were separate.
It's tradition... eat some of the cake you won at the cake walk this very night!
Last Friday, Jeff and Allicia and their whole crew left for the weekend. We took advantage of the extra space and watched movies and shows downstairs throughout the weekend.
Friday night we finished up a craft project after dinner - we made a bookmark for Grandma Russell's birthday. We made two and chose the best one to send to her, with a book.
Saturday morning we went for a bike ride! We suited up and rode to the library along the greenbelt. We had put several books on hold to checkout so Nico could pick one for his Book Project he'll be doing at school. We sought help from our favorite librarian, Grandma Russell!! She gave us a few ideas to get us started. He hasn't chosen one yet, and has been spending most of his reading time reading a HUGE Spongebob Squarepants comic book that he also checked out while we were there.
After the library we went on further to the post office, which is also along the greenbelt. I dropped off some stuff I was mailing, and then we rode home, stopping once to take a break.
Backpack full of books
Saturday it was Nico's turn to choose the movie and we watched episodes of Captain Underpants while we ate our pizza downstairs. Monday afternoon we watched Ponyo downstairs. It was a GREAT 3 day weekend and we got a LOT of relaxing in!
Tuesday was Nico's first baseball game. They are the Royals (unofficially the Dodgers). They got their uniforms on Tuesday, Nico chose #12 this time.
Playing 3rd base
Suiting up to be the catcher.
Snuggled up. It was warm but the breeze was cool!
Playing games after dinner on Wednesday.
That's it for this week! Enjoy the slow-motion Baseball Hit!
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!!
