Today Logan started another week of camp at a brand new location, YMCA, and the subject being Chess.  Since this was a new camp and I was not certain if I had all the paperwork filled out, it was a bit nervous for all of us in the morning.  Logan, Connor and I arrived at the location and it turned out that we were indeed all set after we signed in.  We picked up a schedule and a camp T-shirt for Logan to wear.  We then headed inside the courtyard where lots of kids were hanging out.  We found the pole for the age 5-8 Chess group, and Logan put down his backpack and just stood by it.  A boy walked near and asked if Logan had been to Galileo, and he even said Logan’s name.  He apparently was at a different team but knows Logan.  The boy was chatty and told me that he likes YMCA camps even more than Galileo.  I was happy to hear that piece of information, and I reassured Logan, then Connor and I left.  The kids were to be transported to an elementary school by a school bus for their daily activities.

     At the end of the day when I came for pick up, I found Logan along with the chess group in a smaller courtyard.  He was sitting among a few kids who were playing with cards.  He came straight to me and I could not wait to find out about his day.  He claimed that he had a good day, and he was happy to share that he beat two kids in two games of chess he played.  I did not want to bombard Logan with too many questions, therefore I only received a limited information.  Later at dinner, Stuart got out a little bit more; the bus ride had some music, and there were like 5 leaders for the group.  The kids learned some tips for playing chess, and Logan now knows the points assigned to each of the pieces.

   This was Logan sleeping while I was driving him home.

    After dropping off Logan at the camp, Connor and I headed over to the hospital for his appointment.  Connor was cooperative for the vital checks and for the exam by the doctor.  Based on his percentile, he is growing taller and leveling off on the heavy weight.  Another good news was that Connor passed the eye exam as well as the hearing test.  So for now, he is free of needing eyeglasses.  Connor was happy receiving a book from the doctor and another one at the registration desk, and later a sticker too.  After the appointment, Connor wanted to see my office space again, so we headed up to the clinical pharmacy.  Connor and I chatted with auntie Michelle and auntie Kathy before we took off.  As I was driving Connor back to school, we were talking about what his friends might be doing, and Connor ended up giving me the step by step schedule for the day.  He did not mind repeating it when we got to school so I could capture it in a video.  Connor is full of information.

Wt Readings from Last 3 Encounters:
07/27/15 21.591 kg (47 lb 9.6 oz) (87.27 %*)
03/05/15 20.457 kg (45 lb 1.6 oz) (87.30 %*)
07/07/14 19.686 kg (43 lb 6.4 oz) (93.72 %*)
Ht Readings from Last 3 Encounters:
07/27/15 1.149 m (3′ 9.25") (90.23 %*)
03/05/15 1.099 m (3′ 7.25") (78.73 %*)
07/07/14 1.064 m (3′ 5.87") (85.74 %*)

    On Sunday I took the boys to Raz’s birthday party at Pump It Up while Stuart stayed home for some house chores.  When we were led into the first play room, the two boys immediately ran into a stadium-looking jumpy house; they had fun battling each other.  Other kids came and went, but the two stayed and continued to play there.  When we were moved to the second room, both Logan and Connor climbed inside the one with a basketball hoop; they played for awhile before they discovered the huge building blocks.  They built a house together until some kids came and joined them, and another boy came to destroy.  I saw Logan talking calmly to tell him not to destroy, but the young boy did not really take the advice.  So Logan and Connor moved to the side and built again.  Then everyone was moved to the third and last play room, and the boys played inside a combo stairs/slide/hoop jump house.  Apparently Logan was keeping an eye on the one with a shooting apparatus but it never became available for them to move over to it.  It was interesting that the boys just played with each other only the entire time.  When Rohan finally arrived toward the end of play time (after his swim class), he immediately spotted the boys and entered the jumpy house to join them.  Then we were moved onto the party room for pizza and cake.  After we sang the birthday song to Raz, I heard Logan assigning seats for Connor, Rohan and himself all in a roll at the table.  They had a good appetite to eat while they played with each other.  Since the boys did not have long enough time to play, we were invited to go to Rohan’s house to continue.  All three of them disappeared upstairs as soon as we arrived.  At some point, Connor wanted to play in the yard, but it was too hot for the other to join him.  He ended up sitting in the shade outside for awhile by himself before he returned and joined the boys again.  After over an hour, we said our goodbyes even though Rohan did not want the playtime to end.  I took the boys for a quick haircut before we returned home.  After a break for video games, all four of us hit the swimming pool.  The boys had long endurance again and we were in the water for more than an hour and a half.  We were all exhausted by the end of the day.

    Connor turned 5!!!   He was very excited for today.  A week ago I started asking Connor what he liked to do today and he gave it some serious thought.  I gave him some ideas and Logan chimed in too.  Connor did not want to play miniature golf or bowling.  He was quite excited to go to a movie or to a beach initially, and Logan seconded that for the beach.  But a day later, he told me that he loves swimming and he just wanted to go to the pool for his birthday.  Later he added his choices of meals for the day, pancake for breakfast, pizza for lunch and tacos for dinner  He did check with Logan to make sure he was happy with his meal choices.  It was cute that he wanted a simple low key day, and he was thrilled to count down to it.

    Connor slept in every morning, but this morning he came to our room at 6:10am and woke us up with a huge smile.  The day went as he wished.  After the pancake breakfast and some game time, we headed for Connor’s piano class.  The instructor played a birthday tune to him after he found out about Connor’s big date.   Afterward, we went for a pizza lunch, the boys could not wait for the food to cool to start eating.  Before we went swimming, we decided to do cake and presents.  Connor was surprised and happy to see the cake.  He was funny as he seriously thought about what he should wish for while we sang the song to him.  Then he opened the cards he received from grandparents and Auntie Julie/Uncle Andrew, and proceeded with the presents.  Connor was happy with all the gifts he received especially the Minecraft Torch as now they both have one.  Then it was swimming time.  Connor is getting very comfortable in water, and he wanted to stay in the pool longer than anyone of us did.  We also played some volleyball before we headed home.  We wrapped up the day with his special request taco dinner.  The boys ate so fast and ended up eating as much as Stuart did.  Connor told us that this was the best day and he wishes that it is his birthday everyday.

     Logan’s camp went on a field trip today and the destination was the Shark Ice.  I was excited about this one as it is relatively close by so the kids would not have to spend hours in the school bus and it was great for Logan to try skating again.  Logan initially said he would just sit and watch, but later when he found out there was an arcade, he was quite excited.  We also gave Logan $10 to spend, and he could not wait.

    At the end of the day when I went for pick up, all the kids were playing dodge ball at the gym.  One of the camp leaders told me that the field trip was great, and everything went smoothly.  Logan later shared that he did indeed skate and he had fun.  He was using the buckets to help him move around and he fell down only one time.  He said most of the kids stay in the bucket area, but some kids skated in the free zone.  He said he did not take much breaks and stayed on his skates.  Other than skating, he also changed his dollars into quarters to play with the arcade games.  Later he used the coins to buy a snack at the vendor machine but the machine ate his money.  Tonight, he returned the rest of money to me; we counted and he used two dollars and 50 cents.  Finally I asked if he liked skating enough that we should all go back together, he actually said yes.

     Soon after we said goodnight to Logan, he came back out to tell us that the tooth had turned to its side.  That tooth had been hanging by the thread for a few days and he had been having a difficult time eating.  So Stuart decided to grab a napkin, wrap it around the tooth and pull it right off.  Then Logan was happy returning to bed and hoping for a fairy visit tonight.  He has now lost 6 teeth.