Catching Up, Part 2

So here's a quick rundown of our week with Grandma and Grandpa here!

Sunday--Went to church in the morning. Mom & Dad picked up KFC for a quick dinner, and Charis and I headed back to church for her official audition for a Christmas musical that will debut at our church in December. She had already done an acting read-through, so all she needed to do was the singing and dancing part of the audition. I was very proud of her--she wasn't sure what to expect, but she did her best. I was so glad that she has had several months of taekwondo experience plus over a month of ballet/dance lessons--that gave her much confidence.

Monday--"Normal" day of homeschooling. The kids spent most of the afternoon playing games with Grandma and Grandpa while I napped.

Tuesday--We ditched school and took Mom & Dad to Red Rock Canyon, where I had taken the kids a couple of weeks before. We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed tromping around. The weather was still quite hot, unfortunately, but we did find a shady spot for our picnic.

Wednesday--I left the kids with Mom & Dad and drove downtown for what was supposed to be a stamping demonstration for senior citizens at the same recreation center where I do the workshops for my group of deaf friends. Unfortunately, not a single person showed up...so I made the 40-mile round trip for nothing!! Sigh. I was able to hit Trader Joe's on the way home and stock up on some favorite items from there though, so there's something to be said for that.

Thursday--PE in the morning for the older kids. Then I drove the rest of us to Sonic to pick up lunch and take to the park for afterwards, so we had another Sonic-picnic lunch at the park where we had eaten the day Mom and Dad came into town. I don't know when we've ever had so much fast food in so little time without it being a road trip!! Charis had her dance class in the afternoon, and Tobin went to taekwondo class.

Oh, yes...I almost forgot! Ted and I got a DATE NIGHT on Thursday!! We went to see Fireproof, the new movie with Kirk Cameron. It was quite good. There were obviously some amateur actors, but I thought the writing was smart and the characters were realistic. The humor was great, too! Afterward we went to the Cheesecake Factory for some cheesecake and caramel apple cider. Yum! It was a fun evening for us both.

Friday--We played hooky from homeschool again and drove to Mt. Charleston for another picnic lunch and some exploring. The weather was so beautiful--quite cool, actually. We were the only ones in the picnic area for quite awhile, and the kids had a blast hiking around. They came up with "Indian names" for themselves...Tobin was "Blackfoot" (quite appropriate given the state of his feet at any given moment), Charis was "Morning Star" (which is ironic, because that was the maiden name of my grandmother!), and Arden was "Red Feather." It was very cute to hear them calling out each other's new names as they played in their own imaginary world. Unfortunately, I realized that the diaper bag was NOT, in fact, in the van, so our visit was cut a bit shorter than we may have liked. Kenna rode home wearing a swim diaper and her swim suit, the only wearable things we could find in the van, after she soaked through her original diaper and outfit!

Saturday--Mom & Dad left that morning to go visit some friends in Arizona and then continue their way home. The week really did fly by--no wonder we didn't get much schooling done! Not that I had planned to, so it wasn't a problem! We very much enjoyed our time together as a family.