Week In The Life: Wednesday

Wednesday – today we’re focusing on a few big stories:

Zoo Trip – I really wanted to sneak in one more Zoo trip before school resumes in a few weeks and decided to take advantage of the early opening hours to do it.  The Hoppers joined us as well as Nate’s school begins next week!  It was a bit cooler, but a few things were also not open.  The kids are fairly used to our joint Zoo trips now as we’ve probably done this at least four times in the last few months.  We have a few places we frequent and then usually toss in one or two different things.  Today, for example, we visited the Galapagos Tortoises, which I have rarely stopped to see. We also rode the Merry Go Round which is a rare treat (and cheap today as it was “Way Back Wednesday” at the Zoo).  It is neat to watch the kids run and play together, although there are, admittedly a few “bumps” in their play.

The great thing about having a Zoo pass is that we don’t feel compelled to see the whole Zoo or stay all day so we usually wrap it up in two hours or less with a little free time on the play ground followed by a visit to Sonic to hydrate – and that is what worked today too.  Lucky for us, there was a bit of a breeze today so even though it was in the mid-90s by 10 it wasn’t completely unbearable (We were all sweating and doused in sun screen, but no heatstroke). 

Visit from Grandma – this was a quick surprise in our day, but we got a little visit from Grandma B on her way to the airport and on to Nova Scotia.  She hung out with B for awhile and checked out his new pages.  It was short and sweet, but a lovely surprise.

Pizza Night – Pizza night is a part of our weekly routine.  Unlike some, it isn’t necessarily the same night each week, but we do generally have homemade pizza at least one night a week.  I usually make a double batch of dough and freeze the second half for busy weeks and today used some of that frozen dough.  I’ve discovered that 104 degree temperatures are quite good at thawing dough and reactivating the yeast.  I just set it outside in a lightly oiled bowl, tightly covered and it is ready when I am!  Tonight B helped with the toppings (sausage, tomatoes, mozzarella, parm, and basil) and rolling out the dough.  Not our very tastiest creation, but quite good.

Family Library Visit – I’m not sure we’ve ever all gone to the library together, at least since M has joined us.  We tend to go while Brent is working so he misses out on the fun.  Today, however, he got home early after going to an annual Doctor’s appointment and we had plenty of time for the library.  I was so glad he came as last we it was abundantly clear that I can only just barely handle two kids at the library at once.  This is partially as they have quite different interests and M has a very short attention span for any one thing.  Today we chose six books, spent some time on the computers and time coloring before heading home.  It was a relatively quick visit, but a good one.

M's bath time - As part of this week, I wanted to capture little rituals that happen everyday.  Today, as you'll see in the slideshow, I focused on M's bath time ritual with Daddy.  He is the guru of bath time most days while I play with the non-bathing child.  This time, I came along to take pictures and join in the fun.  I also took some pictures around M's room and toys to capture her space right now. 

Reading with B – We are working with B on his learning to read. Some things he does fine with and other days Brent and I feel a bit clueless at how to help him through the next steps.  We have been getting a few learn to read level one books on subjects he is interested in as part of our fun and to stretch our own collection.  Today, Brent picked out a few and we worked through Super Friends, Flying High (somewhat challenging) and an easier BOB book.  It was growing late by the end and he got a little frustrated, but I do see progress and love to watch him as he begins to “get” more of it.  I know there is no rush so we try to just work with his level of interest and make whatever help and resources available to him that we can.  Finding these books that are more closely targeted to his interest (think Cars 2 and superheroes) seems to be really encouraging him to dive right in.  So much adventure awaits him and we feel lucky to get to help him open that door.