Birthday Parties, and Grandma Camp!

Last Friday was a busy day for us. Nico's friend from church, Reese, had a birthday party at Circustrix in Nampa. Lots of trampolines and foam pits to play in. Check out the video for a slow-motion jump! Nico did lots of flips.

After Circustrix we went to Reese's house for cake and presents. Reese's mom had made a gluten free pie for Nico's sake! She let us bring the rest of it home so Guy could have some too.

Friday evening was my brother Jonny's birthday party. His wife Alanna put it on and she did a wonderful job. It was Star Wars themed and I got a kick out of all the Star Wars names for the food, like "7 Leia Dip". Hah! They also had Star Wars episodes 4, 5, and 6 playing in various places around the house.

There were friends there that I hadn't seen in a while, and it was great catching up. Nico played with the kids that were there, including Lexie. He had a good time too and I barely saw him. The kids spent some time in the garage fighting with light sabers made from huge floppy foam cylinders, kind of like pool noodles but much thicker.

Saturday we had another birthday, Evelyn's! She had her party at her Aunt Julie's house. They live about a 2 minute drive from our house, in the same East End neighborhood. And they have a geothermal pool in their backyard! Check out the steam on the pool!

Whenever anyone would leave the pool and come back inside, you could see the steam rolling off of their skin.

After pool time was over, all the kiddos gathered inside and made their way to the huge windows in the living room that look into the back yard. Every year, as you might remember, we do fireworks on Evelyn's birthday. This year was no exception.

Then we had pizza, and opened presents and ate cake.

On Sunday, we made pizza! It was my turn to choose the movie, and I picked Big Hero 6. It was well-liked by all of us.

Monday we made sure to match our shirts. We wore the shirts that Grandma and Papa got us for Christmas. Nico and I headed over to my parents' house and Guy joined us later that evening for dinner. We ate good food and answered questions around the table. Nico was asked: "If you could choose any pet to get tomorrow, what would you get and what would you name it?" He said he would get a cat and name if Fluff McGuff. We also had interesting conversations about ants and tornadoes.

Tuesday, I left the boys at home and had a shopping day with my Mom at the mall. Yay! I got a text from Guy while we were there, telling me that Nico was very sad that Grandma Camp would be starting tomorrow instead of that day, and Nico wanted to know if he could stay over at Grandma's house a night early. Grandma said YES, so after we were done at the mall, Grandma Salisbury came and picked Nico up from our house and took him back with her.

Grandma Camp officially started the next day, Wednesday, when all the other kids arrived. And he's been having fun from what I hear! They went roller skating again, and though he didn't seem to like it last time they went, Lexie spent some time helping him skate and he has started to enjoy it. I also know they went to a new jump place called Altitude.

Various Grandma Camp pictures:

Now you can check out the video! Mostly from Circustrix, but also a shot of him skating.

Library, Readathon, GG

On Saturday Nico and I met some friends at the library. Nico checked out a bunch of books to read for Readathon which started last Friday! Then we played some board games, and took a walk on the greenbelt which was right next to the library.

For several days Nico was all about the Readathon and he accrued 11 hours in 4 days! He has since stopped the effort. I tried to encourage him not to give up, about how when you're older, being able to stick to something is an important skill to have, you know, I said the most parenty thing I could think of! But I think he's done! He wanted to read the most minutes of the whole school and win the Chromebook. But on Monday he found out that someone already had 20 hours because they stayed up all night to read. I think that deflated his drive a bit. I reminded him that anything could happen and to not get discouraged, but I think he wants to be done with it. 

Here he is in bed at night with his timer and his book.

Sunday we had Bible Study in the evening and one women brought her son with her (10 or 11 years old maybe?). Nico brought the State game and wow they had a LOT of fun playing it! 

Monday was a baseball game and Tuesday we went to visit GG and Aunt Pat. We heard all about their trip up the Mississippi and saw some pictures! Afterward we went to Red Robin and picked up some food to bring home and eat. Nico has been asking to get Red Robin for a while. He says, that because he's been reading SpongeBob and about the "Crabby Patty" (a cheeseburger in the comic), that he's been hungry for a cheeseburger. 1 patty, 1 bun, 2 cheese, ketchup, 4 pickles. So that's what we ordered!

Last night Guy taught Nico some algebra using his Numberbots and Alphabots.

That's pretty much it for this week!!