Connor finished the course of antibiotic on Friday (only 9 days instead of 10 days as the supply went out).  On Friday, I also talked with a covering doctor during a phone appointment to discuss what to do next in case the pain persisted.  The doctor suggested bringing Connor in for another swab.  Finally by Saturday, Connor reported that the throat seemed to be improving.  He had asked us what we would do if the pain really went away and if we would jump up and down with joy.  Since he was improving, we held off coming in for the throat test.  At last today Connor shared the best news that his throat does not hurt anymore.  This had to be the longest sore throat ever, at least 2 weeks. 

    The funny and sad thing was that in exchange to the sore throat, Connor scratched the top of his mouth with a tortilla chip on Sunday.  He went from complaining about the throat to the top of mouth since then.  Tonight he had a little cracked lip that bothered him too.  Even Connor asked me jokingly tonight why all these things are happening to his mouth lately.

     We were invited to a five year boy’s birthday on Sunday.  This is a Graystone family who we know, so all four of us attended it together.  As soon as we arrived, the boys ran upstairs to play even though they did not know any of the kids.  The party was a Minion-themed, so later a Minion came to entertain the kids.  The show was slightly aiming toward younger kids, so both boys were not interested to join in while the other kids seemed to have fun.  We did not want to be rude, so we had the boys hang around the yard to watch the action.  After the show, there was the pinata with strings for the kids to pull.  The event was quite tame and went by quickly.  The boys participated, but when the pinata was opened up, they were gentle and did not fight with the other kids to pick up toys and candies.  So they ended up having a small handful.  We then sang to Ryan and enjoyed the cake.  Since we did not really know the other guests, we did not stay at the party that much longer.

    Connor had an early soccer game on Saturday morning.  That morning I was up too early for some reason; after the boys got up and went downstairs at their usual time, Stuart and I drifted back to sleep.  At 8:30am, Stuart suddenly woke up remembering that we had the game.  So we frantically changed Connor into his gear and I drove him to the field while he ate breakfast in the car.  We made it two minutes before game time at 9am.  This was definitely not a good way to start the game, Connor was not really in the mood.  He quietly told me a few times that he did not like soccer anymore and he chose to sit down with me instead of warming up with his team.  Fortunately when the game started, Connor was willing to join in.  There were five kids in our team who showed up, but only one kid from the opposing team, therefore they ended up playing a 3 on 3 game.  Five minutes into the game when Connor came out for water, he told me that he like soccer again.  For the entire game, Connor was not too aggressive but he participated well.  The coach was great trying to get every players involved, and Connor had a few good kicks.

     By the time we finished the game, Logan and Stuart had taken off for Logan’s two-hour tennis lesson.  This was an extended lesson to include a prior rain out.  Since Logan was away, I decided to take Connor to check out an egg hunt at the cabana club.  We arrived prepare with his basket and Connor was excited.  One of his classmates came over to say hi and wanted a picture with him.  When the gate was open, I encouraged Connor to run for the hunt like the other kids.  But Connor wanted to take his time walking with me.  The kids there were fast and quickly found all the eggs.  Connor found only two!  He was being hopeful and we made two rounds around the club to keep searching.  He also told me “two is better than one, right?!”.  After the egg hunt, Connor quickly decorated a cookie and took a few bites, then he made an Easter egg crown.  Afterward, we decided to take off to check out Logan at his lesson instead.  There were seven kids there and the teacher was teaching them how to play at the net.  Logan listened and followed the instruction quite well.  Later, Stuart, Connor and I moved on to the side court to play a little tennis on our own.  We all worked up a good appetite for lunch.

   Connor chose to play soccer this spring, and Logan decided against it, so we registered him in basketball.  Both of their seasons started this week.  Connor’s first practice was on Tuesday.  Stuart drove the kids to the field while I met them there, coming straight from work.  The coach was friendly to the kids and seemed quite energized.  He did not waste any time, and started the kids with drills.  None of the kids knew each other, but with the coach’s energy, all the kids just jumped in and followed the lead.  It was a good packed hour of practice and the kids did well.  Stuart and Logan did a little soccer kicking and basketball playing on their own while we waited.

   Logan’s basketball practice was on Wednesday.  I came home just in time to stay with Connor so Stuart and Logan took off to the gym at an elementary school.  When we were given the rooster for the team two weeks ago, there was no coach assigned.  So Stuart dressed in shorts just in case he had to help out if no coach showed up.  According to Stuart, there was a coach there and he was quite seasoned.  He did some cool drills, and he was able to capture the kids’ attention.  Logan was a bit tentative but he did well making baskets.

   It seems like this season will be great with good coaches.  Connor’s first game is this Saturday already.

   I was looking forward to have a free day today, but it turned out to be quite a busy one.  First I dropped the kids off to school; then when I returned, Stuart and I dropped his car off for maintenance.  Next was a break for me; I went shopping at the mall and I made the most out of every minute.  At end of school day, I returned to pick Connor up and we went to browse around the book fair at the cafeteria.  Before we made any purchase, we picked up Logan to join us to select our books.  The boys were so excited going through many books finding ones that they liked and I approved and we purchased our final selections.

    Since Connor was still having the same pain level with the throat, we had emailed his doctor in the morning, and it was suggested to bring Connor in for an evaluation after school.  So we went from school to the hospital where the boys immediately sat down in the waiting room to look through their books while I checked Connor in.

   Once the doctor came to the exam room, she talked with Connor and I to see how he was doing while Logan sat on the side chair to read.  After the examination, she told me that Connor’s throat was not red or swollen, and his ears, nose and chest were all clear.  She suggested us to just finish up the course of his current antibiotic and see if things improve.  Next, we trekked upstairs to pick up Logan’s eyeglasses.  It took quite a long time to wait for adjustment, and finally we were on our way home.  Because of how late it was, I ended up stopping by the car dealership first with the boys to pick up the keys and move the car to the customer parking.  Then we went home to do homework quickly before all four of us drove out again to pick up the car.  We made it home finally for dinner.  it was busy today, but I am glad that Connor’s check up was ok and we got a lot done.  I also earned 15k steps too.

    For some reasons, both boys woke up very early this morning, like 5 something.  They stayed in the rooms and hung out with each other, so we let them be.  With the rain, we just wanted to be lazy at home for the day.  The only thing we needed to do was to pick up basketball shoes for Logan as the practice will start next week.  While we were at the sport store, the boys were excited to pick up a couple of Warriors’ clothing too.  Maxim’s mom had invited the boys to go play at their house in the afternoon.  Since Connor is still recovering from the strep throat, we decided that Logan would go on his own and Connor did not object.  After lunch and dropping off Logan, Connor played a video game with Stuart while I took a quick nap.  When it was time for a break for Connor, I suggested him to join me for a nap as he was up so early. but he declined.  Instead he brought a book to join me in bed.  Within two minutes, he was out and he ended up sleeping for an hour and a half.  I really enjoyed this rare snuggle with the sleeping Connor, so I stayed in bed to read and sent Stuart to pick Logan up.  In the late afternoon, we stepped outside the house to get some fresh air.  The boys had fun trying to clean the walkway for a long time by pushing around the rainwater.  That was their exercise for the day.