Isaac. And So Can You!

We were thrilled to have Isaac here this week, even though the weather was uncooperative for most of the trip. At least we are all relatively healthy!

Jesse got his foam dart gun last Saturday after Avey and I went hunting for it, but he was really excited about it. He spent the rest of the day finding targets to shoot from different distances.

That afternoon, Isaac and Hannah played a video game online with our brother, Aaron. We then had cake with dinner, and then started a movie once the boys were in bed.

Sunday was Hannah's official birthday, but it was a very busy day, so we didn't have much time to notice. It was the primary program, and of course, Kira is the new Primary President, so she was very busy. We all went to enjoy what they put on, and even had a few teachers, friends, and family members join remotely to watch it. It was a lot of fun to watch - Merritt got bored pretty quickly, so he would yawn and slump down in his seat, and just generally seemed like he didn't want to be there. Jesse did great, and Carver sang a great solo. The kids got to perform their song played on the bells that they practiced (there's a video posted a few weeks ago), although one of the girls in the primary missed her cue while she was daydreaming.

In any case, we had a fun time, and then I came home to prepare Hannah's requested birthday meal - enchiladas. They were ready about the time everyone was home, so we enjoyed those, and then ate too much of the cake. We had a low-key afternoon to digest. We played a few games before Hannah left to begin dog-sitting her regular German shepherd client. Isaac played a game with some friends online, and so once the boys were all in bed, Kira, Avey, and I watched some old family videos of when Avey was 2. Those tickled us to no end, but we tore ourselves away for bed.

Monday, Kira and I were both up for the school rush. I took Avey so that Kira could start getting ready for a long day of clients. It was a miserably cold and windy day, so Isaac and I were confined to the indoors. We both had our jobs to occupy us, but we did manage to catch up pretty well in between tasks and various meetings.

When the bus arrived, Merritt told me about how his friend wrote about their playdate at the park to share about his weekend - that seemed to mean a lot to Merritt, so that was really nice. Later in the week, Merritt asked me if I was friends with Kira in high school, and I told him that we were friends. I asked him if he thought he might marry one of his friends someday, and he didn't really have to think about it before saying he might, and that he would probably marry Arwin, who has become his best friend this year. They hit it off the first day on the bus.

Avey had somehow missed the bus, so I left the boys with Isaac to keep them from getting abducted by aliens or whatever, and then picked her up. The afternoon was full of homework and managing the household. Kira was home around the boys' bedtime, and then we had a fairly normal evening of TV with my siblings.

I was awoken earlier than normal on Tuesday because Merritt was crying and throwing a fit, obviously still tired. He wanted to use the TV, but it was Carver's turn (we have a TV schedule for them in the mornings). I got him calmed down and then went ahead and fed them breakfast to save Kira some time. She needed to be up earlier to get ready to help with Merritt's class field trip that day. I left for the city, and then Kira found out that the field trip was postponed until the next day - the weather was simply too cold and windy for the trip to the farm. She was relieved, and went home to nap. I had a productive day in Chicago, and then came home to a salmon burger meal that Kira prepared for everyone. We finished our movie from Monday that night.

Wednesday I got up to get the kids to school and Kira got ready to go on the field trip again. I dropped off Avey and then came home to change and pick up Isaac for an epic game of sibling cutthroat (a 3-player racquetball game). We played 3 games and had some really good rallies. I don't know about the other two, but I got a good workout.

Hannah went to do her job, and Isaac and I came back to my place. He showered and I dealt with work and cut the grass before showering. I think that may be the last mow of the season, but we'll see...

Kira and Merritt had a pretty good time on the field trip, although we'd visited that farm just over the summer.

Merritt was glad to have Kira there, and was glad to not be in his classroom, but he said it was kind of boring. Of course, when we have a dog and rats at home, and we had gone to the zoo for Avey's birthday, a few goats and sheep don't seem all that special, I suppose.

Kira brought Merritt home right after the field trip, so he missed just a little bit of the last part of school. The bus brought Jesse home. It was the last school day of the week because Thursday and Friday were "Fall Break." Jesse had some "optional" homework, but he decided to do it anyway to earn the prize his teacher offered.

I had a very dumb meeting that night that I had to run, so I was unavailable at the crucial dinnertime. Isaac treated us all to our favorite pizza place, so he picked it up and everything, and it was still hot when my meeting was over. Kira ate quickly and then took Merritt to gymnastics, which he always enjoys. We got two of the boys showered before bed, and then had a standard night - I still had to get to bed early for my long day in the city...

Kira got to sleep in on Thursday with the kids off of school. I had a good, but busy day. Hannah and Isaac took Apollo to the dog park and made some new canine friends. They report that Apollo got a really good workout.

Apollo Begs for a Brownie

Carver was invited that evening to a sleepover at his friend's house, so Kira took him to that before I got home from the city. While she was dropping him off, I did some household chores and fed Merritt his dinner. Once we got all the boys in bed, Avey, my siblings, and I started watching the final season of my favorite show ever, Better Call Saul, finally giving in and purchasing the whole season. We watched 3 episodes that night, and it is worth every penny.

We older people slept in on Friday with the kids still off of school. We were rudely awoken when the boys came up to tell us that a neighbor dog, Ivy, from two houses down the street was in our house! She comes over a few times a week to play with Apollo, but we always invite her. Well, now that she's getting bigger, she has become an expert at jumping fences, so we figure she must have jumped both of the fences to get to Apollo's doggy door. We hope that does not happen too often! We got her back home, but then had her over with an invitation a little later in the morning. Ivy played with Apollo, and Jesse and Merritt played with Ivy's kid owners. It was finally a glorious day weather-wise - in the lower 70s and with a nice breeze. We all debated endlessly whether to go to a pumpkin patch at all, and whether to go that day or Saturday, and then finally decided that we would go. We tried a new place we'd never been, and had a good time.

Isaac had never been to a pumpkin patch, so it was nice to check that off of his bucket list. We got lots of pumpkins, and even went apple picking. At home, we sampled each of the apples to decide which we liked the best. We had a pretty relaxed evening otherwise before getting the boys to bed and then my siblings and I made it through another 3.5 episodes of BCS, barely managing to turn it off to get to bed. It doesn't look like we'll finish the season before Isaac has to leave this afternoon, so maybe that can be an incentive to get him back out here... or maybe we'll just enjoy it without him.

We slept in again this morning, and it's a very nice day out again. We're likely to take things easy. Isaac has to leave for the airport around 3, and so Hannah will come by sometime this morning to hang out. We hope to get that guy back out here soon.

This upcoming week is looking about average, although we never really know what's in store...