It was busy today as we had the boys’ soccer picture day along with the Kaiser family wellness festival.  Fortunately the picture schedule for the teams worked out just perfectly so we did not have to miss anything.  Early this morning, Connor put on his jersey and we met with his team at a school field.  The coach took the boys to the station and they were gone for a long time.  They waited until each family had their order forms filled out, then spent a long time with individual pictures and finally the group one.  Afterward, we said bye to his team and we were off to the Tech museum.  By the time we checked in, there were lots of people there.  First off I noticed the photo booth and the line was not too long.  So I waited while Stuart watched the boys played with some light thing.  Both boys chose to carry a sword for the photo; instead of his usual smile, Connor had a serious look the whole time.  After that, we tried the catered food which Stuart and I liked but the boys just mainly ate strawberries.  We then checked out some exhibits and Logan enjoyed the one he liked from our last visit.  He spent quite a bit of time using his shadow to move the water into the bucket.  Later we went upstairs to check out the rooftop.  There was a nice view and a photographer standing by with a very short line.  The boys did not care to take pictures again but they were willing to do it for me.  Then we took another break sitting under the umbrella and letting the boys enjoy some snacks provided there.  It was a nice day.  Logan has been interested in robots, so when we headed back down the exhibits, we waited in line to try building a robot.  We were given some instruction, but then we were left alone.  It was a bit frustrating until we discovered that we had a dead robot base, but eventually we just gave up as we could not get too far in building it.  We checked out a few more things before we headed out to watch the IMAX.  We found some good seats in the theater and the boys were excited to watch.  The film was the Human Body, and quickly after it started, Connor (sitting next to Stuart) told daddy that he was scared, and for the rest of the showing, he covered his eyes periodically and sometimes his ears too.  Overall I really liked the film and Logan enjoyed it too while Stuart would rather watch a different topic at IMAX.  Poor Connor really did not like it and fell asleep briefly at the end. 

    It was then time for Logan’s picture.  We changed Logan in the car and headed back to the local school.  Stuart and Connor dropped us off, and we met up with Logan’s team.  Logan was happy to be in his jersey and he hung out with the boys to wait for their turn.  Afterward, we said bye to his team and walked home.  It was quite a long day today.

   The boys had their first soccer games today.  We got ready with their team jerseys this morning, and we were off to Connor/s game first.  Connor was excited about the game, but he was slightly clingy when we arrived.  He wanted to hang out with us at our chairs, but with just a little encouragement, he stayed with his team under the sportbrella instead.  Their game was played 4 on 4.  Connor was a little timid initially but he ran back and forth with the team on the field.  He was the friendliest player out there as he waved and smiled to us whenever he had an opportunity.  He made contact with the ball a few times and he had a couple kicks.  Their team scored one goal while the opponent did a few.  All the kids did well.  At the end they enjoyed some snacks for the team, and Connor, as always, remembered to get something for Logan too.

    After lunch and a short break at home, we went out for Logan’s game next.  The team had a short practice before the game started.  With this age league, they have a bigger field and they play 6 plus a goalie on each side.  Logan played mid field the first half, and he is a little bit more assertive this year.  He ran up to the ball a few times and had a few good kicks.  I captured one of them on a video.  The second half, Logan played defense.  He seemed more tired by then and did not try as hard.  Overall the game was quite exciting to watch.  All the kids played well, therefore, there were many close calls but no goals.  Finally toward the end of the game, two star players from Logan’s team made two beautiful goals.  The families on the sideline had fun cheering on.  Fortunately it was cooler today, otherwise the hour on the field would had been miserable.  After the game, the players enjoyed the team snack and Connor was pleased to receive a share too.  Having these two games was enough to tire us out for the day, but it was fun.

    We are finally back to routine this week.  The boys have started going to CDC three days a week as of last week, and Connor had ended the first two weeks of three-hour days.  All of us really enjoy walking to school everyday, and the boys often talk with each other all the way there.  They both like their new teachers.  Connor definitely shares a lot more about school with us.  He is liking everything, but the only thing he disliked was having lunch at CDC last week.  His explanation was that he had to wait for everyone to finish eating before he could leave the table.  Logan has fewer words, but has not shared anything he disliked yet.  Connor’s class ends 25 minutes before Logan’s does.  On Monday after I picked Connor up, he and I hung out at the adjacent park with some kindergarteners to play with until time to pick up Logan.  This will be a new little routine for Connor every Monday and Friday.  Something very sweet was when we asked both kids what their favorite part of the day was, they both independently told us that they enjoy playing with each other at CDC.

   I forgot to plan for babysitting for the Back to School night on Tuesday; fortunately Kathy was willing to help out.  The boys were thrilled to find out the plan for the evening.  Not only would they be spending time with Ian and Kira, they were going out for pizza dinner.  After Kathy picked up the boys, Stuart and I were off to school and we had to split up to attend the two classes.  Connor’s teacher was very thorough and reviewed lots of information.  As soon as the 30 minutes was up, I rushed over to the auditorium to meet up with Stuart for the Home and School Club meeting.  According to Stuart, Logan’s teacher shared good information and reviewed the kids’ recent computerized reading assessment.  Logan’s reading/comprehension level had dropped but the teacher advised that this is not uncommon after the long summer.  After the meeting, we headed home, and shortly after, Kathy drove the boys home.  Both Logan and Connor had so much fun that they were not ready to say bye.  They tried to convince them to come in to the house and later tried to sneak back into the car.  It was a fun evening for the boys and informative one for us.

    Connor attended Haarika’s, one of his ex-classmate, birthday party over the weekend.  Connor initially was excited but changed his mind when he realized that Logan was not attending.  Finally when I shared that the party theme was Frozen and that Elsa and Anna would be there, his interest was up again.  Connor and I arrived on time; after he played with his ex-classmates for a little bit, all the kids were directed to sit down.  Then Anna and Elsa arrived and started singing and chatting with the kids.  It was quite entertaining.  At the end, the two characters also made balloon characters for the kids.  Connor really enjoyed the whole show and he waited politely for his turn to get a balloon.  Then it was time for pizza and cake.  It was a fun party.

      Last Saturday was the final piano lesson for Connor as he will miss the last class next week.  He was a bit disappointed to miss out on the party day.  But so far Connor is not interested to take lessons again, so this might be the last one.  However tonight, while Stuart and Logan were playing a game, Connor sat at the piano and practiced two of the pages without being asked. 

This is a video of the teacher coaching Connor during the last lesson.