The grandparents drove up to visit us last weekend.  They arrived on Friday, and the boys were pleasantly surprised by having Grandma picking them up at CDC.  Both boys hung out with them in the evening by showing grandpa and grandma their school computer sites, and playing with the toys given to them.  Connor also did his homework, writing about his class’s Cat in the Hat, with the help from grandma.  On Saturday, the boys wanted to teach Grandma how to play Plants vs Zombies video game too.  Afterward, we all went to play a round of miniature golf.  After some getting used to it, the boys did well with their putting swings.  Connor was good with those “volcano” shots and helped me put some away when I was having a hard time.  We also checked out the Almaden Art and Wine Festival at the lake park on Sunday.  It was a beautiful day to stroll around looking at all the booths and watching some stage performance.  We also grabbed lunch and had some dipping dots for snack too.  It had been a long time since we were at that park, the boys had a good time playing at the playground as well.  While at home, the grandparents also entertained the boys with a game of Monopoly whenever there were free time.  It was a nice visit by the grandparents.

    As an extra bonus, the boys had fun sitting in the 3rd row seats by themselves while we were driving over the weekend.

     Due to camping, Stuart’s work trip and the start of school, we were feeling busy the past weeks and were behind with lots of chores.  So it felt great to have this long weekend free and to do some of our favorite things too.  Today the boys voted to play tennis again in the morning.  We discovered that Logan does better when he is on his own behind the baseline, and today Logan preferred for me to play at the net while he stayed back.  He did a great job trying for most of the hits.  Later when I took a break, Logan did well holding down the fort all by himself.  We are happy that both of the boys are getting into tennis and improving too.

     In the afternoon we had planned to go swimming as it was warmer today.  We also wanted to try our new action camera while we swam.  The cabana club was unusually quiet; there were only a few families on site, and the pool was quite empty.  The boys brought their noodles, and so they spent half of the time floating and other time swimming.  Stuart and I was able to take turns swimming around too.   Since the whole place was so empty, Stuart suggested that I try the diving pool that I had been wanting to try for a couple of years.  I finally built up the courage to walk on the diving board.  I had to say that once I was at the end of the diving board, it was quite scary looking into the deep water.  I had considered backing out, but I decided that I just needed to jump in and I did it.  I emerged deep in the chilly water with some impact, but I floated back up quickly.  To my surprise, I felt comfortable swimming to the side which made me very happy.  Logan and Connor complained that they did not see my first jump and I ended up doing two more jumps by their request.  I was very proud that I conquered my fear and did a dive even though I did not have the prettiest jump which gave the boys a good laugh.

     Since returning to school, the boys are back to playing two- or four-square during recess.  They are excited to play two-square whenever they have free time outdoor.   Even with Maxim coming over on Sunday morning, the three boys immediately went to the backyard to play the game.  They were playing nicely for half an hour before returning inside the house to play video games.  In the afternoon when Stuart and I decided to have the boys get on their bikes to school, they wanted to bring the ball too.  They recruited the two of us to play with them at the playground, and that when we realized how good the boys are.  It truly took me some effort to win a few games.  It was a good exercise for all of us too.

     At bedtime Connor told me that he and Logan are the only brothers who play this game at recess together and are good at it.  He said they are the “Two-Square Brothers”. 

    Connor had mentioned one of his favorite sports was golf a few months ago, so the grandparents gave a set of golf clubs to Connor for his birthday.  Since then, Connor had practiced with them twice in the backyard.  Connor listened to the instruction Stuart gave him carefully and he would take his time with his swings.  Yesterday we decided to take the boys out to driving range to try hitting real balls.  They both enjoyed it.  Logan was less patient following instructions and keeping his pose, but he improved his swings overtime.  Connor took his time; his swings were quite full and had some great hits.  I took some clips of their swings.  They did a great job in my opinion.  We also learned yesterday that there are some kid lessons at the driving range over the weekends, so we might check those out one day.

    After driving range, we went to play tennis too.   The boys did well, especially Connor.  He was like an energized bunny, running around all over the court getting the hits.  He did not even care to take a break, and we played over an hour. 

     On Wednesday, Connor and I were talking about his second wiggly tooth on the way to school.  He was showing me how wiggly it was and telling how he wished it would come out at school since he could go to the office for that.  Lo and behold, when Stuart picked the boys up from school, he learned the news.  Connor told us that the tooth came out when he was eating grapes at lunch, and one of his classmates Amber volunteered to walk Connor to the office.  He brought home the tooth in a little keychain tooth holder that he loved.

   I picked these up a couple of weeks ago but forgot to post them.  Connor’s cards unfortunately have a misspelling on them, and we are waiting for replacement.  Connor also decided not to smile.