We had a gathering at the Gopals this afternoon along with the Merons.  The kids went off to play as soon as we arrived so we could enjoy hor d’oeuvres with drinks.  The kids later moved on to the video games before they took a break to have some food and desserts.  Afterward they went outside to the yard to play tag.  The five kids played tags together for a little bit until the girls Bar and Raz had enough.  So Rohan, Logan and Connor recruited Stuart to play the new “Chaos Tag” they learned from the summer camp.  It was nice hanging out in the yard watching the boys running around.  Before dark, we packed up and thanked the host for a relaxing afternoon.

    During lunch today, Logan was complaining the wiggly upper tooth bothering him.  He could not focus on eating and ended up wigging the tooth a lot.  Then it finally came out and Logan now has lost 5 teeth.

    A few days ago I realized that there were Saturday swim lessons at the club, so we decided to try Logan with a private lesson while Connor will be at piano in the morning.  We told the boys the plan, and Logan seemed fine with it.  When Connor and I arrived to the Rec Center this morning, we found out that the piano instructor had to cancel the class for emergency.  As we were free, we decided that we would tag along with Logan and Stuart to the swim lesson, and better yet, we decided to change the lesson to a group for both Logan and Connor.  Connor was excited.  The weather was cooler today, but fortunately it did not take too long for the boys to agree to go into the water with the instructor.  The instructor worked with the boys and they did fine doing what she suggested even though Logan’s request for ro-sham-bo underwater was declined.  At the end of thirty minutes, I felt that the boys learned some tips and so did I so we can continue to work with them.  The instructor thought that the boys did fine motivating each other in a group setting, so I signed them up for the next available Sat class in July.

     The first week of camp is over.  This week was about music, and on the last day Logan brought home many handmade instruments.  Logan seemed to enjoy the camp so far, but he did not share too much details as usual.  The last few days when I picked Logan up, he was all dusty as he was playing soccer with the other kids, and he said he had fun. The daily notes we received from the team leader all mentioned how Logan did well working with Rohan, and he was determined to work on the projects and being creative.  The final note also said that Logan changed from asking for help often initially to working independently toward the end, so the team leader was proud of his change.  After we read the note, we asked Logan which one he preferred now, asking for help or working independently, and Logan replied “working independently”.  But his reason surprised us as he said he prefers it so he does not have to walk all the way to get help from the team leader.

     Connor’s summer school and Logan’s summer camp started today, and they will be continue for the next seven weeks.  This morning, Logan and I dropped Connor off first.  Now that Connor is in the Kindergarten Prep program, his drop off place is at the auditorium.  We met his new teacher and we learned that he would not be having naptime anymore.  Connor enjoyed feeling like a bigger boy; he even asked me to take a picture of him on stage.  He then happily hugged and waved us goodbye.  Afterward, I drove Logan up to Saratoga to drop him off at this new location for summer camp.  Logan was excited as he knew that Rohan would be there too.  We signed in, then Logan along with other campers had to go through a fun machine and off they went for the day.

     I went to pick Logan up at the end of the camp day but before the extended care (at 3pm) so that I could meet the team leader and see if Rohan was there.  I walked into the big auditorium, and it took me awhile to spot Logan among the tons of kids.  He was sitting next to Rohan and their team listening to a camp leader telling stories.  I met Logan’s team leader and she told me Logan had a good day.  He initially asked his buddy Rohan for help a lot until she encouraged him to figure out challenges on his own and he did.  Logan was happy to go home with me and told me a couple of things they did.  And he shared that his favorite part was having Rohan there with him.

    When I went to pick up Connor, they were playing at the playground.  Connor and I walked back to his classroom to pick up his stuff.  He showed me the spot he sat in most of the day and told me what he learned.  He confirmed to me that he was not tired despite no nap.  He enjoyed his day too.

      Stuart had to share his Father’s Day with Logan as he turned 7 today.  We can’t believe how time flies and Logan is truly a big and tall boy now.  Logan was very excited for this day; we had been talking about what he liked to do and have.  Besides Logan, Connor was looking forward to the celebration too.  Connor woke me up this morning to remind me that it was Logan’s birthday and he wanted me to find the old birthday banner from last year to put up.  I had no idea where it was, but Connor knew and he was more than happy to help me put it up.  Logan started the day with his breakfast of choice, pancakes, and then the morning game time.  Afterward, we headed out to Golfland to play miniature golf.  Logan asked to be the first to hit as it was his birthday, and Connor wanted to be the second.  We reminded the kids how to play, keep track of their hits and some of the etiquettes.  We had a good time going through all the holes.  The volcano ones were tough but we had a couple great holes where we called them “the family hole” as we all got Hole in One or needed just one putt after the tee off.  Connor listened well and followed advice, and Logan had some good hits.  We actually kept up with the score card, and the boys were only a few behind us (after we maxed them out to 7 on those tough holes).  After playing 18 holes, the boys went inside the arcade to play some games.  Logan preferred the shooting ones, but they had fun with driving ones too.  This was such a fun outing that Connor already requested to come again on his birthday too.

    We then went to a new local pizza place for lunch, and we all had a good appetite.  When we went home, Logan was curious to see the cake I made for him.  Connor had helped me make part of the cake a couple of days ago; even though he knew it was supposed to be a surprise, he couldn’t help but share the cake flavor to Logan.  I tried to cover up and trick Logan, so I insisted that I thought he liked Little Pony with strawberry cake.  He started to get nervous.  Stuart and I decided to do the cake and presents earlier (after quiet time) instead.  When we brought Logan down to the kitchen, he was happy and relieved to see the Minecraft cake.  We sang to him and he blew the candies.  Then he was excited to look through a few drawings Connor made for him (which we didn’t know existed), open his presents from us and grandparents, and the cards with cash from Poi Poi and Aunt Julie.  Connor was happy to assist Logan in opening up the wrappers.  Right afterward, Logan ran off to start building Minecraft Lego.

    Stuart did receive a little attention today.  The boys presented him with the Father’s Day art work from school and the ones they did at Home Depot.  And after swimming today, Stuart picked a dinner of his choice, so we enjoyed a tri-tip dinner while we watched the US Open.  Today was a big day for all of us!