Whiffle Ball, Day of Learning, Zoo

On Saturday we went to a garage sale down the street from us. Nico found a whiffle bat and ball for 50 cents that he bought. Then we went to both of the Saturday markets in downtown Boise to scope out spots for me to do henna. Oh, and to enjoy ourselves. Nico got a balloon animal and we watched a magician do magic tricks. Guy bought coffee from a local roaster and Nico got a free bunch of radishes just for being a kid. We came home and ate radishes.

Then I dropped the boys off at Memorial Park with the whiffle bat and I ran to the Co-op, then came and picked them up.  

Then we visited Brianna for the last time. While we were there, Nico asked her if she wanted to join us for pizza and she said no she had a lot of packing and dishes to do. So Nico said: "How about Daddy and I can help pack and you and Mommy can wash dishes?" And that's what we did! She still wasn't able to join us for pizza because her parents came into town that night.

We said goodbye to Brianna, then went to the Library. After that we came home and ate lunch. We had pizza that night and I then I left the boys at home to go see Allicia at her roller derby game. My voice was hoarse afterward from all the cheering. She is really good.

On Tuesday Nico brought his Day of Learning project to school. He carried it in front of him, the trifold Open so that everyone who walked by would see it. And it worked. Someone said as she was passing, "Cool project!"

That night there was an open house at the school so everyone could view the projects. There was only one other 1st grader that had participated, but lots from other grades. Guy and Nico went.

When Nico started out to work on his project, this is how it went down:

"I'm not going to fill up all the space"

As he's writing info about the Purple Martin in his lab notebook: "I think I'm just going to do 5 birds."

As he's writing info about the Purple Martin on the project board: "Actually, I think I'm just going to do one bird."

I was very proud of him! He got to present his project to his class, too.

Today was the Father's Day zoo trip. Guy met Nico's class at the zoo.

 Kookaburras! How did we miss these last time? Guy told me that Nico sat and stared at them for 5 minutes.

Nico has been coming home with all sorts of things from school, folders, notebooks, books that his teacher was giving away, summer reading packets... it's getting to be about that time. One more week and it's done!

Grandma Camp, Water Slide

Saturday was the Sensory Friendly Movie, they played Zootopia. What a great movie! Nico had already seen it at the last Grandma Camp but was really excited to see it again. And then again on Wednesday he watched it downstairs with Evie while Avery and Ivy were napping upstairs. We went to the theater for the sensory friendly movie with Tiffanie, Aadam, and Sam.

Monday was a holiday and our crew spent 2 hours at Quarry View Park and it was magical. All the kids got along really well, including Avery. They played and then we fed them a snack and then they played some more.

Tuesday was another magical day, we went to the Natatorium behind Nico's school for the very first time. It has a swimming pool, diving boards, and a smaller wading pool for the little ones. It also has a water slide, which you can pay extra to experience. I bought a pack of 10 rides on the slide, and split them up between the kids, whoever wanted to go. Before we went down the slide, I took Nico and Sam and Aadam to where the slide ends and it dumps you in a pool 4 ft deep so they could see what happens at the end of the slide. They still wanted to try it so I took Nico first. He sat on my lap. I was more nervous than he was I think. Splash! Sammy, Adam, and then Avery all wanted to go. I took Avery on my lap and it took some coaxing once we got to the top of the slide, but we finally got in the water and pushed off. When we got to the end of the slide, I lifted him up while I went almost under, so that he wouldn't get too wet. It was so fun to be able to walk to the pool. We ate snacks on the way home.

The wading pool

Nico has had a loose tooth for the past few weeks, but it hasn't been going anywhere. On Sunday Guy told me that the permanent tooth was starting to come in, in the wrong spot! Inside Nico's mouth, poking in toward his tongue. So we really tried hard to get his tooth to come out over the weekend (see video). But, it didn't work, so I called the dentist on Tuesday and made an appointment on Wednesday. But then, when we came back from swimming on Tuesday I looked in Nico's mouth again and his loose tooth was GONE! Mystery! Nico searched for it everywhere and told us he probably accidentally ate it while he was eating his sandwich at lunch. The dentist said that since the baby tooth is gone there's really nothing they can do now for the crooked tooth, so there was no need to come in.

The tooth before it fell out (see the new one coming in behind it)

On Wednesday started the 2nd Grandma Camp of the summer!!! We packed everything up and I dropped him off at the cabin at 5 PM. This is Grandma Camp - Treasure Hunter! My mom has the best treasure hunts. When we were little she would do a treasure hunt for all of us and neighbor kids on the last day of summer vacation. I am inspired this year to do the same for Nico and his neighbor friends. He has built himself quite a little community of friends here and I know they would all enjoy doing an epic treasure hunt. I decided this last night and have already commissioned the invitations to be made by my friend Brianna. Thanks for the inspiration Mom ;)

Here are some pictures Mom sent me today.

Nico told us Wednesday morning that he wanted to either be a cop or a construction site worker when he grows up. Guy then told him that Grandpa Russell used to be a construction site worker and Nico looked at me and said "Tell Daddy what I'm going to be when I grow up. I already know." he whispered it into my ear that he wanted to be a construction site worker for sure.

Driving in the car later that day he told me he was singing loud so that Grandma and Grandpa [Russell] could hear him! (see video)

Wednesday we also hit up the Library where we picked up another free book and several other prizes because Nico has been reading for 20+ minutes every day.

VIDEO TIME!
Check out Aleesh the Beast in her first ever Roller Derby game!

May and June 2016 Snippets

Snippet - Nico singing in the car

Grammy, G.G., Roller Derby

Saturday was my very first henna booth at the Nampa Public Market. On Friday Nico and I practiced setting up my canopy so I could see if I could do it all by myself. I could!

Saturday I woke up to a card on the desk that Nico had made for me for my birthday. It was very sweet. Guy had given me his card the night before. Saturday at the Market went smoothly except I forgot to bring chairs with me, so Nico and Guy had to rush over to bring them to me.

Saturday afternoon, Grandma Salisbury came over and she brought with her a very special guest, Great Grandma French (aka Grammy). Grandma had brought Grammy back from Moscow for a visit. The last time Grammy had seen Nico, it was up in Moscow and Nico wasn't even a year old. Grammy brought Nico a toy car and then they sat on the couch and chatted for a while about all manner of things. I got a few exchanges on video, but alas this week has gotten away from me and I was not able to put a video together.

We got to see her again on Sunday at church and then afterward we all went to the mall to eat. Sunday evening I also went over to the hotel where they were staying so I could hang out with them for a few more hours before they were going to head back to Moscow the next day. I'm so glad we got to see her and spend time with her! 

Saturday evening was another special event, Allicia (aka Aleesh the Beast) had her very first Roller Derby game that night!! Guy wasn't feeling well, so he didn't end up going, so Nico and I went. Nico was very excited to see Allicia skate, and also very excited to park in a parking garage and walk downtown to the Centurylink Arena. The derby game started and Nico said he wanted some roller skates so that he could do that. I explained how the game worked to him and we were following along as the "Jammers" would break through and get ahead.

Allicia is in the white helmet in the center-right.

Nico's bedtime is usually 6:30, and the game didn't start until 7 PM, so around 7:20 he was asking when we would be going home. We left after the first half, at 7:30 PM. Once we got outside and started walking downtown to get to the parking garage, Nico said "I'm not tired over here, so can we walk around some more?" I said no, that we had to get home to bed. 

Tuesday was our visit to GG. Nico brought more books with him to read to her. Grandma Russell had sent Nico a little comic book called Moo Bird that Nico wanted to read to GG. He also brought over another of his comic books called Stinky. 

As always it was really great to see her and catch up. We'll have to find a different time to come see her once 1st grade starts in the Fall! Mornings won't work anymore. 

Tuesday we also went to the library and Nico picked out some comic books from the "Hazardous Tales" series, which are stories from America's history. One of the books is called "Donner Dinner Party". I wasn't exactly clear on why this creeped me out because I couldn't remember the story exactly, but I read the book (comic books that tell true stories have been super interesting to me lately), and now I know. While we were in the car on the way home, Nico says "This would be too scary for you. But I'm not scared of anything." Very interesting picks! I chose some "We Both Read" books where the parents read one side of the page and the child reads the other. I'm really digging those!

Tuesday afternoon/evening Nico and I went for a hike. Guy was working late and it was nice and cool out, so we went and started hiking up Table Rock, stopping just short of the most arduous climb and turning around. Nico was gung-ho climbing the trail, but as soon as we turned around, I mean like the second we turned around to come back, I hear a long whine and "is there a shoooooorter way home?" He really struggled with the return trip. 

Tuesday night after Guy arrived home and all the kids were in bed, we had a game night with Jeff & Allicia. Allicia said I could pick the game because it was my birthday and I chose Ticket to Ride. Mostly because Nico and I have been playing it and the rules are fresh in my mind, so it meant I wouldn't have to spend brain power to learn a new game! Guy won the whole world that time, and lapped almost everyone in points. He said that he should just never play Ticket to Ride again because there's no way he would ever beat that score.

Today (Thursday) was "Surprise Day". I surprised Nico with a trip to Pojo's. We rode the bumper cars and Nico got 177 tickets from the games. The next surprise was a trip to the toy store in the mall, where we got him a Dominoes Rally game. We came home and played that right away, setting up dominoes and watching them fall.

Nico inspecting his henna tattoo

 Posing for a selfie to send to Grandma and Grammy and my Aunt Mary in Lewiston

Sitting outside reading "Stinky" out loud

It has been a great week, more fun ahead!