Travelers from afar, earning angel wings & lacrosse tournaments.
Thursday
This week we picked up Gracie’s solar system project from the school. She spent a lot of time & effort on it – and it really showed in the results! She was very creative, knew from the get-go what she wanted to do, and then she executed her plan very well. All of her creativity & effort and was reflected in her grade – with her receiving 101%! Great job Gracie – we are proud of you
When I got home on Thursday Melani informed me that my Uncle David arrived from Washington (State). They had been over to visit with him at my Grandmother’s house right before I got home from work – so I grabbed Gracie and went over to say hi to him. He bought the RV you see pictured here and fixed it up to drive it across country. It was good to see him – and has probably been about 2 years since he has last been in town. My understanding is that he plans on being here through at least the end of the month – so I’m sure we will get to see more of him!
Friday
On Friday afternoon I had a very important lunch… with Sophie & Melani! We had a coupon for Little Venice since Melani’s birthday was last month. It’s only good for 30 days – so it forced us to make the lunch date happen – which is one of the benefits of having deadlines! Sophie was much better behaved than when we tried this last year. Just a little soup & salad and some nice conversation with my girls!
The above sign is what I saw when I went upstairs on Friday and looked at Gracie & Dominick’s door. I tweeted a picture of the sign with the caption: “Future nerds unite – online, of course….” The nerd force runs strong in those two….
After I got changed we made a delivery to the kids’ Aunt Annette – who is recovering from some surgery this past week. Gracie & Dominick went with me to make a delivery to my brother’s house after Melani finished lovingly preparing the meal. I was proud of the kids for helping – because I can remember the days when I would have to twist arms or offer bribes to get such cooperation!
Later in the evening we tried to fly Gracie’s drone again – but we continue to have some difficulties. When we use the auto-takeoff feature we are having trouble getting it to respond after it hovers (at either 4 feet high or 19 feet high). I think there must be some setting we are missing… We will track it down sooner or later!
We spent a lot of time in the back yard just playing soccer and Ogosport – which is kind of like yard tennis. It was a beautiful evening and good to get everyone some vigorous exercise. It was a simple – but very enjoyable evening. I’m glad we have a decent sized backyard where we can run around and play.
Saturday
Gracie & Dominick had soccer @ 10:15 am. It is my least favorite day of the season – the infamous “Picture Day”! It is usually the third week of the season, and also the week that they finally get their team shirts. I dislike the day because they REQUEST that you be there 45 minutes early – and NOBODY shows up then. It ends up being a mess with a lot of waiting around – and a lot less soccer playing than usual.
Dominick & Gracie’s team won 5 – 0 with Gracie getting another goal (and almost a second) – YEAH! – and Dominick tallying up another three. There were a few assists in there too. Great game by both of them – and I am glad to see them continue to work together like a team!
It was also another week of me not getting to see Annie play- since I had to rush off with Gracie for a lacrosse tournament. Melani tells me that she continues to play very well and be aggressive. She didn’t score a goal this past week – but I’m sure that if she keeps playing like she has been – future shots will find their way to the back of the net for her!
Gracie & I got to the lacrosse tournament just as the team was finishing up their second game. They were literally walking off the field. So we got to wait around for another 2 1/2 hours before the next game! Gracie got to play in two games and they ended up coming in second place for the entire tournament. Great effort by the whole team and a wonderful experience for Gracie!
Gracie then had a birthday party to get to – so after a quick pit-stop I rushed her off to that. Boy, I can’t wait until all four of the kids have multiple activities to go to on one day! (sarcasm….) It certainly will be a challenge. The evening brought more Ogosport in the front yard this time!
Sunday
After mass Dominick & I rode our bikes over to the park for a scouting meeting. It was the first time Dominick has really ridden anywhere, other than around the block, on his bike. I made sure he stopped at every stop sign and obeyed the rules of the road. I even showed him the hand signals for stopping, and turning left and right. It was just the right distance and a beautiful day for a bike ride. We only had to cross one relatively busy street – and did so by walking across it.
At the scouting meeting Dominick got some instruction on knife safety and got to see & help make some rope out of string. His scout leader always does a good job of making sure the kids get something out of the meeting!
On the way home we stopped by my Grandmother’s house again and had a short visit with her and my mother. Under her deck some birds have a nest with the baby birds still in there.
In the evening, Melani made a trip to the grocery store with Sophie. I cleaned up from my ditch project while the kids had all kinds of fun having water fights, making pinatas and teaching Annie how to ride on the back lawn without training wheels.
Later that evening I cooked out on the grill with a little girl (Sophie) cooking next to me on her little kitchen set.
Here is some recent artwork from the kiddos!
It was great to spend so much time outside over the weekend! I hope we are blessed with as much nice weather on the weekends in the up coming weeks!
Sincerely,
P.S. = I did notice that I had no pictures of Annie in here this week…. Oh well – it’s just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes! However – she is just as beautiful as always – especially when she is smiling. When the kids were playing outside I had commented to Melani that when Annie is playing and having fun – she is just absolutely joyous – and you can hear it in her laugh and voice!
