My sisters and I used to love this TV series, and Stuart bought me this classic book recently.  I had been trying to read two chapters to the boys every now and then during our bedtime reading, and we finally finished the book a couple of weeks ago.  The boys were definitely not crazy about the story, it is a bit girly, but they were content when we read.  Since we finished with the book, I thought it would be fun to watch the TV show too.  We started part of it last weekend and today we finished it all.  The boys became hooked into the story.  They became so nervous for Anne at some moments and they were too embarrassed to watch when it came to scenes with Anne and Gilbert.  They were also very worried for the ending, and when Matthew did die, all of us shed some tears. 

   This afternoon Connor was talking so much and so fast, so I stopped him and asked him what was going on.  He said to me “I thought you like Anne and so you should like me talking a lot”. 

    The weather this weekend was finally nice.  Logan’s tennis lessons had to be cancelled three times due to the rain, so this Saturday was a two-hour long as part of the makeup.  We had an early lunch, then Stuart took Logan to the lesson.  Connor and I took our time in the house, and we slowly walked over to the tennis courts.  For some reasons, “The doggie in the window” was in our heads, so the two of us learned the lyrics and sang the song all the way there.  Stuart was taking a walk around the school and met up with us to play tennis on our own.  Connor has been improving and his swing was getting strong.  He was so energized that he played the entire hour with us.  I, on the other hand, needed to take breaks periodically, and I took the opportunity to spy on Logan’s lesson.

    Today, Sunday, the weather was still very nice and we would like to do something outdoor.  Stuart and I were debating playing tennis again or walking to the lake.  With the two hour lesson yesterday, we did not think Logan would want to play again, but both boys asked for tennis with no hesitation.  We had a really good time playing together in the gorgeous weather and the boys did quite well. 

    After working three days, I finally had Friday off to spend with the kids.  We had made plans to watch the Lego Batman movie and to meet up with Michelle, Mckayla and Marcus afterward at Color Me Mine.  All three of us enjoyed the Lego Batman; both of the boys looked sad when they were about to lose Batman toward the end of the movie and Connor was wiping his face off the tears too.  When we came out of the theater, Logan finally allowed me to take a picture of him in front of the movie’s, Logan, poster.  On our drive over to Saratoga, I had the boys eaten a small lunch despite all the popcorn we had earlier. 

     We arrived at the ceramic place and started choosing a piece when Michelle, Mckayla and Marcus joined us.  It was tough for all of us to make a final decision on a piece, and both Logan and Connor both ended up getting a pencil holder of some sort.  Once we returned to the table, all four kids did not seem to have any trouble finding the colors or deciding how they wanted to paint; on the other end, Michelle and I had more difficult time choosing what we wanted to do.  The kids jumped right in and started painting, and all of them were quite content.  Mckayla had more experience at the studio, so she was giving Connor advice and getting him a turn table to help.  I reminded the boys to do second coat to ensure more even painting; Logan basically did that on his own while I helped Connor with the edges to make sure he did not mess up his previous colors.  At the end, I helped Logan painting in the small parts, Snoopy’s goggle and his initials, under Logan’s supervision, and I also helped fixing an area for Connor’s and adding in the eyes.  Then the kids were all finished and were having a snack so Michelle and I could finish our pieces.  I think we must have been at the studio for close to 2 hours.  Once we were outside, the kids were happy to run around at the sidewalk.  Michelle and I were watching them playing this game where they had to straddle when they lost to Rock Paper Scissor.  It was funny as I had never seen Logan and Connor straddle down that low.  After some time, we said goodbye to our friends and went home to see daddy.  It was a fun day and we definitely can’t wait to pick up our pieces in one week.

    The boys are off this week.  Since my vacation request was denied, Stuart took Tue, Wed and Thu off to spend with them.  On Tuesday, Stuart took them to run some errands and to the grocery store to replace some items that we had to toss out after the power outage.  The boys were helpful while they were shopping.  They played ping pong on Wednesday.  When I came home that night, we played again.  The boys are getting quite good lately; they have some crazy killer hits.  On Thursday, Stuart did not tell me where he was taking the boys until I found out later from a picture.  They went to Frys where Stuart claimed that I never want to go; they seemed to enjoy shopping there together, and bought a few things home.  The boys got into a mood of cleaning up, so Stuart directed them to tidy up the house.  Connor told me that cleaning was the best part of the day.  At dinner, we all met up for a quick meal at Blaze with Kathy and Ian.  The boys just loved talking with their Big Ian.

     For a good part of each day that the three of them spent together, they played a new board game we recently purchased, Small World.  Logan and Connor both reported that it is currently their favorite board game, and even Stuart had a good time battling them.  Logan seems more interested in using the special powers while Connor focuses on the big picture and has won the most times our of all of us.

    On Monday we were happy to make it home after the trip, but once we got to the neighborhood, we realized the power was out.  We quickly unloaded our belongings in the house and gathered flashlights and candles.  Despite the power outage, it was relaxing watching the rain from inside the house.  The boys also enjoyed playing on their Tablets in the dark.  Since we did not feel like going out again, I managed to gather some non-perishable items and make a decent dinner, and we enjoyed eating with candlelight.  Connor had fun holding lights walking in the dark while Logan was more like a scaredy cat.  Luckily, the boys did not have to go to school, so we could skip a cold shower in the dark.  We all bundled up and settled down for the night.  We were happy that the power returned over night. we all could enjoy a warm shower in the morning.

    I had agreed to join the gang to go to the aquarium at Monterey on President’s Day, so I was going to take the boys rain or shine.  Initially Stuart had said he might not go in case of work, but in view of the storm, Stuart decided to come so he could drive us.  I was totally thankful and happy with the decision.  It was raining quite hard on the drive down but we made it there in good time.  We and the Merons arrived at the same time while the other 3 families took a lot longer.  So for awhile, it was just Logan, Connor, Bar and Raz hanging together; they looked at fish, sharks and otters.  They enjoyed the tide pools; they touched a few little creatures, but none of them dared to touch the stingrays.  They also really liked the pretended sushi restaurant; they were ordering different fish on the screen.  By the time all of our friends arrived, the aquarium was getting more crowded and it was definitely time for lunch.  Shortly, we left to a restaurant at a nearby hotel and we finally all got situated at a big table.  The sun actually came out after we had a nice lunch, so the kids migrated out to the deck to play.  Opi was nice enough to play tags with the kids which allowed the rest of the adults hung out in the warm indoor and chat.  When we left the restaurant, most of us did not feel like returning to the aquarium.  The four of us wanted to walk around the strip a bit and to see the beach, so we said goodbye to everyone. 

   We did not stay long as we would like to head home before the storm returned.  Unfortunately there was an accident on 156, so we took a detour suggested by Google map.  The route was quite scenic, but we hit a couple of flooded areas.  Logan was asking about “hydroplane” earlier in the day; during the drive, the boys definitely experienced a real life hydroplane.  Later the road we were driving on got closed down, and we had to take yet another detour.  When we finally got to 101, Stuart and I felt more relieved.  After another hour of driving, we finally made it home.  This was definitely an interesting day; it was fun, crazy and a bit stressful all packed in one.