Year 2, Days 241 & 242: Finally caught up!

Actually, the only thing I might be caught up on is the laundry, dishes, and this blog, but hey, it's something right?

Abishai was super sleepy after naptime, so he laid down on the floor.  And of course Socks came over for a snuggle.

Always lots of doggie lovin's!.  Abishai is now saying, "Doggie, Socks!"

Sundset 8/31

Sunset 9/1

Staring at our screens, joy! Actually, this is a super cool track that Jared has been working n with signs to his "mountain" house or "other launching pad."  I think he's had this map for a year now.

Abishai's bed in the Minecraft house has a railing around it like he was in the crib.

Our room complete with a bookcase and awesome view and place to sit and read.

There's even a desk for me!

One morning Jared checked the mailbox which hadn't been checked the night before and he brought in the one piece of mail.  Well, I was still in bed and Abishai had gone to the door to see what was going on.  Abishai thought that Jared needed this "money" and was crying and crying not realizing it was just mail and that Daddy didn't need it.  Funny thing is, it's a newsletter for a Christian scholarship fund!

Marshmellow on nose!

That evening was spirit night at Chick-Fil-A for Southside Christian School!  So of course we had to go support Benaiah's school!  We all got some great treats, like cookies and cream shakes for them.  I got a lemonade with icedream ice cream in it.  Um, I didn't realize that it contained ice cream, but I still drank half f it.  And of course I had a slight stomachache.  Next time, I will just pass it off.

Abishai always has a "friend" nearby (note the yellow car).  He ate the whole meal by himself that night, too, despite snacking at home, too.

Slide time!  Chick Fil A had been closed for a long while for renovations, so it was the first time I saw the new insides.  They did take out the toddler climbing thing in the middle of the playground, which was disappointing.  I'm glad we have pictures of Abishai on it from last year.

Sometimes Abishai made it up the climbing tube, and sometimes not.  The platforms are not perfectly spaced apart, but even so, sometimes he could wiggle up one, but couldn't do it again on the same platform the next time.  Hm,... and then one time, he missed and slipped down a level, which scared him.

Sister was a great helper in the climbing tube!

Wow, how cool!  Chick fil a added a trash can with an automatic lid!  And at a height perfect for those with disabilities and for kids, too.  That way, when your hands are full carrying the tray, your drink, your child's drink, the diaper bag, and holding onto the child's hand, you can still get the trash in the can!

Oh yeah, that evening, we had a major problem with our water.  Apparently, a big chunk of dirt got into the well or the well pump and it took awhile for the water to run clear again.  But before a friend diagnosed it, we were sure it was going to be some big expensive repair.  Anyway, we bought water on the way home from Chick Fil A because this had just happened before we left.  The water at home was a deep tan coming out of the faucet!  It freaked me out!  See, I've always been on city water, so I don't know all the ins and outs of well water like this.  Our friend had to change the little end things at the end of the faucet because there was so much dirt, it slowed down the flow of water.  I'm glad it was just something we could wait out, but still, it makes me want to get a water softener and a whole house filter NOW not later.

Just a little playtime with sissy as she works on some mechanical Legos.

Line them up!

So we pulled down some VHS tapes that Abishai wanted to watch and ended up putting in this one.  It brought back memories because I remember Thomas from the old old TV show and the Americanized version with the live action sequences at Shining Time station.  So, while we watched, I had to look up the whole history of the show, from it's origination from a father telling a story to a very sick 2 yr old, to the British and then American versions, to the movies in between, to the current computer generated ones.   It's been on for 30 plus years!  Plus, Alec Baldwin plays the part of the Conductor and is the narrator for the animated series as well.  Pretty neat!  I ended up watching the whole thing with Abishai that morning, just because I could.

Breakfast surrounded with his Thomas (and car friends) watching the Thomas movie. 

More dog loving.  And this dog never moves. He tolerates it all.  He makes a great companion to his little guy who needs an extra set of eyes on him.

The dog is not a jungle gym, kid!

First colored leaves of fall on the first day of September!  And it was pretty cool outside as well, which was nice.

The fall colors are beginning!

A friend of Justin's invited our kids and others to join them at SkyZone for her birthday.  We had to pay, so this was our "gift" to the birthday girl.  I had Grandma babysit Abishai since it was in the afternoon during naptime.  It was Keturah's first time at this SkyZone location.  Right before we went, I went on Groupon, which is a couponing site for things like this or car washes or oil changes or escape rooms or paintball, etc., and saved $11 off their admission fee.  Plus, we already have the right socks, so I didn't have to pay $2 for each of those either.  I had a blast watching these two tackle all the cool elements!  And I think it's funny that they both wore shirts that say Indian Creek on them!

First things first, the warrior's course! There's 3 courses, each with increased difficulty based on elements from "America's Ninja Warrior." I would like to try the first one next time I have the chance because it's mostly leg powered and not arm powered like the hanging bar stuff.  It's definitely a hit with everyone!  The last element of the TV show is the warped wall, so that's a fan favorite here as well.

It was a quiet Friday afternoon, right before the after school rush, so Keturah had plenty of chances to try the warped wall.  Justin was way too busy hanging out with Kylie and her friends playing dodgeball and just plain jumping, so he didn't try the warped wall that afternoon.  I was surprised that Keturah got up the 8 ft wall on the first try!

You run up, jump as high as you can to grab the edge, and then pull yourself up.  It's a slightly different angle than the side of a halfpipe for skateboarders.  The TV show's version starts at 14 feet.  I could have gone down on the walkways between elements, but I had bought a drink and you can't have it down there.  Plus, the view from up here was pretty cool.  They also have regular mini trampolines and places to flip and twist and joust and climb.  It's pretty cool for $15 for 1 kid for 1 hr (that's normal price). Most kids are pretty satisfied after that 1 hr, but some could go on for another hr! And there are Skyfit classes, discounted times (with less elements) for toddlers, special "glow" times with glowing neon lights, etc.  And then the kids went over to their friend's house for a little bit so I could go get little man from Grandma's house.

I'm getting very close to my upper goal weight.  I stopped the stringent whole 30 diet but kept a few of the elements.  I'm getting there.

One more sunset photo from my phone for one of those two nights! I can never seem to capture the image and colors the way I want to, though, ugh!

Best funny story about Friday: As we were leaving the friend's house and loading up the van, Justin said he forgot his water bottle!  We had parked a couple of doors down on a cul-de-sac.  So, without thinking, Justin just ran up to a house and in the front door.  Well, it was the wrong house and he was almost knocked off his feet by some large dogs!  Oh my word!  First, KNOCK before you enter and second, PAY ATTENTION to your surroundings!  Maybe they had been talking in the car when the friend's mom had driven him back to their place, so he didn't have the chance to really focus on anything outside the car window.  Or maybe, his head is in he clouds at all times because he's 12? Yup, that's it! Clueless Justin, who gets embarrassed easily, really did it this time.  Thankfully he remembered his manners, and did say he apologized to his friends' neighbors.  Oh clueless boy Justin! We all can't wait to those wires in his head get reattached! Sheesh!