I had to work on their birthday, but was allowed an extra long lunch, where I met them at Chuck-e-Cheese's for a couple hours of wide eyed token entertainment and pizza. We opened presents that night and they were in absolute heaven. This year they definitely got less of the cheap toy gifts and more of the educational kind. A couple new Wii games have been added to the mix, one where you can make science experiments (which is awesome!) and Super Mario Galaxy, which is a little too hard for them to play, so I get to frustrate myself through every agonizing level while they become deranged back seat drivers directing me around every gravity-defying corner. And they are high on being kids, which is all that I want for them these days.
We've been home schooling them a bit this year - nothing terribly structured, but they are doing wonderful with it. They delight in getting their school backpacks and digging through the notebooks to find what they need, or using their new markers for an art project. I pack their lunchboxes each day and leave little notes or pictures in them. So sometimes they will go outside and eat if it's nice, or take little field trips. We are less 'classroom based' and more hands on. Finding a cicada shell provides an impromptu lesson, or finding newly colored leaves as we talk about the different seasons. For the fall equinox, we made smores around a campfire and talked about the changes up ahead.
Yesterday we had big plans. The Dog Mart was that day, which I had helped a lot with at work. And the state fair is ending tomorrow, so we had wanted to go to that. It was such a perfect fall day that we wanted to take them somewhere. And then after lunch we started watching Mystery Science Theater 3k. The boys were cracking up, even though they couldn't have gotten most of the jokes referencing news and culture. We ended up laughing for two hours non-stop. I asked them if they wanted to go out still, or if they just wanted to spend the afternoon outside. They raced for their shoes and out we went. We played soccer and walked through the woods, exploring and finding feathers. We laid in the grass and told stories and had a wonderful day.
For dinner I made biscuits and fixed little sandwiches or just put jelly on them and made a biscuit buffet for them to pick at through the evening. Root beer floats capped off the day...a great day. And we didn't have to drive anywhere or fight crowds. It turned out just perfect - despite our big plans.
Happy Birthday, my big boys...
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