A Two-fer
Mike left for a work convention last Sunday after church, so we didn't do our blog post. So this post will cover two weeks.
Last week, Alison and the kids started doing Forest Kindergarten again. After mushroom hunting, the kids really wanted to go to Dimple Dell, so we went there all week. The kids loved it. Alison was not huge fan of the switchbacks, but the creek and trees at the bottom are nice. The kids had a fabulous time, and Alison and Gideon sat and read and cuddled.
Friday we had Brown Family Dinner, because Daniel had graduated and his parents were in town. We met at Amy's house and had pizza. It was fun. Mike showed off the Brave Lala illustrations Sheila made; they are awesome! The kids loved playing in the playhouse and on the trampoline. The adults talked about investments.
Saturday morning Alison had to attend a Stake Baptism for a girl in our ward. Rea was invited along to sing, and all the kids ended up coming. They were decently well-behaved, and Rea sang very well.
Mike used that time to finally find Vivian (Qing Liu) a working car. He all but bought it by himself, since she was busy in the morning, but it turned out that she had to sign the title, so we had to wait for her and go back that evening. It was a pain. Then Mike had to drive it home for her. Plus, the dealer refused to get her a temporary license number, so we were trying to figure out how to do that. First she had to buy insurance, then we had to get her and the car to the DMV to get temporary plates, then we had to do safety and emissions in order to go back and get permanent plates. But when she tried to buy insurance, she needed an American bank account, so she put that off for the next week.
The kids put together a pageant at Forest Kindergarten (a choreographed sequence of dances with themes like "unicorns" and "swans" that they made up) and really wanted Mike to see it, so we went to Dimple Dell. The creek they'd practiced in all week was unexpectedly dry, but they danced anyway and finished up with their Maypole (this was all inspired by Rea reading Party Shoes and seeing a stick that would make a good maypole).
While we were there, we went on another mushroom hunt. We found a single morel. We also passed another group who had been hunting but hadn't found any.
Sunday Mike left for a technical convention centered around GPUs. Mike went there because he wants to learn more about neural networks and AI. It was fun. He felt like he could justify it with his bosses afterwards. Mike paled around with Trevyn (one of his coworkers) and ate lots of fancy food (because his company was paying for it). He saved his company $75 by buying yogurt and granola at a grocery store instead of eating the ridiculously overpriced hotel breakfast. Timmy was sad every day when we talked, because he was sure Daddy was spending all day playing games at a convention and Timmy wanted to play games too.
While Daddy was gone, Grandma Julie came to visit. Alison and the kids absolutely loved it. Alison got to talk to her mom in long, meandering conversations about everything, which she's missed since the Poulsons moved to California, and the kids, of course, couldn't get enough of spending time with Grandma. She read the entirety of Charlotte's Web to them as well as playing all their favorite things, in between all of the fun things we had planned.
The first fun thing was a Rainbow Magic Fairies party at the library. This is a series of books that Rea absolutely adores, and she was so excited to see it on the schedule. Alison was a little hesitant, seeing that it was billed "for elementary school ages," and she didn't want to take Timmy and Gideon into such an environment. Having Grandma made it perfect; she took the girls to the party and helped them make glittery wands and rainbow necklaces and pick up stacks of old books the library was giving away free, and Alison took the boys out to play with the puzzles and activities in the children's books section.
Tuesday morning the kids went to play group. Alison was going grocery shopping, but Vivian volunteered to cook dumplings for Grandma Julie if she could get a ride to Ocean Mart. So they went there and stopped at Local Flavors on the way home for some fruit for the kids. Grandma walked to get the kids and take them to the park while Alison took Gideon to the doctor's for a checkup. He's doing great; on the slim side and tall for his age. Then we all went to Wheeler Farm for the afternoon. The kids spent most of the time climbing trees, exploring, and playing in the playhouses; the animals were an afterthought, although they really liked the baby Scottish Highland Cow.
Wednesday we went to the zoo for the day. It was awesome. We always love the zoo. The kids had all achieved goals, so we rode the carousel and the train. Then we managed to meet Laurie for dinner afterwards.
Thursday the kids wanted to take Grandma to Dimple Dell and perform their pageant for her. They had fun. I think we did something else Thursday, but I can't remember what. That night Alison picked up Mike at the airport (yay!), and Friday Patty picked up Grandma Julie at the park and we said goodbye (boo!).
All week, Vivian kept explaining more problems with getting an American bank account, so we made no progress on getting her car legal to drive or on actually teaching her to drive. (Remember, she bought a car but was afraid to drive it.) Then, when Mike got home, she wanted to talk to him. She announced that she had found an apartment closer to her school and work and wanted Mike to drive her car over there for her on Saturday after she loaded up all her stuff. It's still illegal to drive this car, but we decided not to deal with that and just crossed our fingers that we wouldn't get pulled over. We made it safely, and it's a relief not to have to figure out how to drive her car around for her anymore, or get her to drive it herself. We have no idea how she's going to get it licensed at this point, but that is no longer our problem. It was an interesting experience to have a foreign exchange student, but we're not sure we'll repeat it.
In the afternoon, we got new layers of manure and planted seeds. We got free (composted) manure from a guy a couple of miles away last year, and he had some again this year. Mike went to find a truck to rent, but they were all busy, so the guy offered to drop it off for $20. Maybe he'll do that again next year; it was very convenient. This year, all we planted were beans, squash, and broccoli. We don't get enough sun, but at least they'll cover the beds with greenery.
Sunday was Mother's Day. Alison had a wonderful day. She got breakfast in bed, and a quiche and pie for dinner, and cards and flowers and not having to wash dishes or deal with fussy children. It was very, very nice. She normally manages to be Complaint Free at least one day a year, on Mother's Day. Mike had almost achieved his goal of 21 days without getting angry at the kids, but he got upset today. We're noticing a correlation here. (Just kidding. The kids have been exceptionally challenging since Grandma left. We put some plans into place at Family Meeting that might help: special time with Mike before bed [we haven't figured out the logistics of this yet; everyone (except Rea) screamed when their turn was up], and better enforcement of bedtime and naptime. If we remember, we report on how it worked next week.)
Last week, Alison and the kids started doing Forest Kindergarten again. After mushroom hunting, the kids really wanted to go to Dimple Dell, so we went there all week. The kids loved it. Alison was not huge fan of the switchbacks, but the creek and trees at the bottom are nice. The kids had a fabulous time, and Alison and Gideon sat and read and cuddled.
Friday we had Brown Family Dinner, because Daniel had graduated and his parents were in town. We met at Amy's house and had pizza. It was fun. Mike showed off the Brave Lala illustrations Sheila made; they are awesome! The kids loved playing in the playhouse and on the trampoline. The adults talked about investments.
Saturday morning Alison had to attend a Stake Baptism for a girl in our ward. Rea was invited along to sing, and all the kids ended up coming. They were decently well-behaved, and Rea sang very well.
Mike used that time to finally find Vivian (Qing Liu) a working car. He all but bought it by himself, since she was busy in the morning, but it turned out that she had to sign the title, so we had to wait for her and go back that evening. It was a pain. Then Mike had to drive it home for her. Plus, the dealer refused to get her a temporary license number, so we were trying to figure out how to do that. First she had to buy insurance, then we had to get her and the car to the DMV to get temporary plates, then we had to do safety and emissions in order to go back and get permanent plates. But when she tried to buy insurance, she needed an American bank account, so she put that off for the next week.
The kids put together a pageant at Forest Kindergarten (a choreographed sequence of dances with themes like "unicorns" and "swans" that they made up) and really wanted Mike to see it, so we went to Dimple Dell. The creek they'd practiced in all week was unexpectedly dry, but they danced anyway and finished up with their Maypole (this was all inspired by Rea reading Party Shoes and seeing a stick that would make a good maypole).
While we were there, we went on another mushroom hunt. We found a single morel. We also passed another group who had been hunting but hadn't found any.
Sunday Mike left for a technical convention centered around GPUs. Mike went there because he wants to learn more about neural networks and AI. It was fun. He felt like he could justify it with his bosses afterwards. Mike paled around with Trevyn (one of his coworkers) and ate lots of fancy food (because his company was paying for it). He saved his company $75 by buying yogurt and granola at a grocery store instead of eating the ridiculously overpriced hotel breakfast. Timmy was sad every day when we talked, because he was sure Daddy was spending all day playing games at a convention and Timmy wanted to play games too.
While Daddy was gone, Grandma Julie came to visit. Alison and the kids absolutely loved it. Alison got to talk to her mom in long, meandering conversations about everything, which she's missed since the Poulsons moved to California, and the kids, of course, couldn't get enough of spending time with Grandma. She read the entirety of Charlotte's Web to them as well as playing all their favorite things, in between all of the fun things we had planned.
The first fun thing was a Rainbow Magic Fairies party at the library. This is a series of books that Rea absolutely adores, and she was so excited to see it on the schedule. Alison was a little hesitant, seeing that it was billed "for elementary school ages," and she didn't want to take Timmy and Gideon into such an environment. Having Grandma made it perfect; she took the girls to the party and helped them make glittery wands and rainbow necklaces and pick up stacks of old books the library was giving away free, and Alison took the boys out to play with the puzzles and activities in the children's books section.
Tuesday morning the kids went to play group. Alison was going grocery shopping, but Vivian volunteered to cook dumplings for Grandma Julie if she could get a ride to Ocean Mart. So they went there and stopped at Local Flavors on the way home for some fruit for the kids. Grandma walked to get the kids and take them to the park while Alison took Gideon to the doctor's for a checkup. He's doing great; on the slim side and tall for his age. Then we all went to Wheeler Farm for the afternoon. The kids spent most of the time climbing trees, exploring, and playing in the playhouses; the animals were an afterthought, although they really liked the baby Scottish Highland Cow.
Wednesday we went to the zoo for the day. It was awesome. We always love the zoo. The kids had all achieved goals, so we rode the carousel and the train. Then we managed to meet Laurie for dinner afterwards.
Thursday the kids wanted to take Grandma to Dimple Dell and perform their pageant for her. They had fun. I think we did something else Thursday, but I can't remember what. That night Alison picked up Mike at the airport (yay!), and Friday Patty picked up Grandma Julie at the park and we said goodbye (boo!).
All week, Vivian kept explaining more problems with getting an American bank account, so we made no progress on getting her car legal to drive or on actually teaching her to drive. (Remember, she bought a car but was afraid to drive it.) Then, when Mike got home, she wanted to talk to him. She announced that she had found an apartment closer to her school and work and wanted Mike to drive her car over there for her on Saturday after she loaded up all her stuff. It's still illegal to drive this car, but we decided not to deal with that and just crossed our fingers that we wouldn't get pulled over. We made it safely, and it's a relief not to have to figure out how to drive her car around for her anymore, or get her to drive it herself. We have no idea how she's going to get it licensed at this point, but that is no longer our problem. It was an interesting experience to have a foreign exchange student, but we're not sure we'll repeat it.
In the afternoon, we got new layers of manure and planted seeds. We got free (composted) manure from a guy a couple of miles away last year, and he had some again this year. Mike went to find a truck to rent, but they were all busy, so the guy offered to drop it off for $20. Maybe he'll do that again next year; it was very convenient. This year, all we planted were beans, squash, and broccoli. We don't get enough sun, but at least they'll cover the beds with greenery.
Sunday was Mother's Day. Alison had a wonderful day. She got breakfast in bed, and a quiche and pie for dinner, and cards and flowers and not having to wash dishes or deal with fussy children. It was very, very nice. She normally manages to be Complaint Free at least one day a year, on Mother's Day. Mike had almost achieved his goal of 21 days without getting angry at the kids, but he got upset today. We're noticing a correlation here. (Just kidding. The kids have been exceptionally challenging since Grandma left. We put some plans into place at Family Meeting that might help: special time with Mike before bed [we haven't figured out the logistics of this yet; everyone (except Rea) screamed when their turn was up], and better enforcement of bedtime and naptime. If we remember, we report on how it worked next week.)
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