It was our active morning again on Saturday being on the tennis courts for two hours.  Logan played with us for a bit, then he just wanted to sit and watch Connor’s class.  Then the boys switched out, and Connor continued playing tennis with us next.  He was happy to show off his serve to us, and we were pleased how well he made the serves over the net.  We played altogether for awhile and Connor finally took a break for snack.  Afterward, he decided to walk on the football track as well.  We kept an eye on him as he walked 2-3 rounds.  Just like last week, Stuart and i were the only ones who were exhausted after their lessons.  While the boys played video games, we had to take a nap. 

    In the afternoon, we went over to the Kaos to spend time with them.  It had been awhile since we saw them, so Michelle, Ted, Start and I chatted in the kitchen.  We did not see the kids for a long time; they were playing Lego quietly in the living room.  Later they did migrate out to the backyard to play until we called them back for dinner.  We had a nice meal and enjoyed ice cream for dessert.  Then the three boys moved onto playing on Marcus’ Switch together, but we finally had to break up their happy game playing to call it a night.

    I took a half day off last Tuesday to chaperone Logan’s class to a field trip.  The Intel Museum could only have a small group at a time, so this field trip was more intimate, one class a day.  That morning, I was also happy that I could walk the boys to school; after saying bye to Connor, I returned to Logan’s class to wait.  Shortly after the class was ready, we all boarded the bus; Logan chose to sit right behind me with his classmate.  The traffic was heavy and we finally arrived at the museum an hour later.  The class was split into two groups and each led by a tour guide.  Our lady tour guide led our 16 students into an activity room and she talked with us what Intel does and about circuits.  The kids had a chance to build some snap circuits.  Next hour she led us out to the display room to talk more about the history of Intel and shared many interesting facts.  I learned quite a bit just following along with them.  This tour guide was animated and engaging, but she was a talker.  She kept telling the kids to stay on track in order to cover all the materials to earn more free time at the end; as it turned out, they got only one minute free time to walk around the museum before we had to head back to the bus.  As soon as we returned to school, the class said goodbye to the chaperone parents before rushing in to have lunch.  This wrapped up the first fun field trip of the year.

   There were two picnics last Sunday for us to choose from to attend, a school one at a winery like last year or my work medicine department one at a park.  We decided to go to my work one.  I followed Kathy’s inspiration and made “watermelon” rice krispy treats to bring with us.  We tried to be fashionably late to the gathering, yet we beat most doctors or MAs there.  The park fortunately had many things to offer; the boys played at the climb structure, and we played basketball for awhile.  Then we moved on to lunch; we were served some delicious Hawaiian food, Kona ice and the potluck items for desserts.  There was face painting for kids, but the boys never care for it.  Stuart led them to the field to play some catch, and they had fun.  We did not intend to stay too long; after I felt like I socialized enough, we wrapped up to go home.

     The boys had their tennis lessons on Saturday morning.  While Connor was in his class, we found a court and the 3 of us played on our own.  Logan was actually doing quite well and had some great hits.  We did not want him to be too tired for his lesson later, so he took breaks periodically.  We peeked at Connor every now and then; he paid attention well and he learned how to serve for the first time.  Next it was Logan’s turn, and there was only two kids in the class that day.  They worked on serving and volley.  Logan did quite well serving over the net.  Connor joined Stuart and I to play for a bit, but he ended up sitting down and watching Logan instead.  Stuart and I continued to play on our own until Connor wanted to run a lap around the football field with Stuart.  By then I was exhausted and was happy to sit and watch Logan’s lesson the remaining few minutes.

   Saturday night was the movie night at the martial art studio.  Logan and Connor were very excited about the event and to watch The Captain Underpants movie.  We had dinner together first, then we dropped the boys off.  Stuart and I decided to go clothes shopping.  It had been so long since we shopped in the mall in the evening, and we had a productive night.  Toward the end, our legs were so sore that we could barely make it back to the parking lot.  When we picked the boys up, they told us that they had a good time.  The group took breaks during the movie to play some games and they enjoyed the movie too.  The boys knew that they had missed Kick the Can at our neighborhood on Saturday, but they both said the event was worth it.

    It was the annual Almaden Lake Park Festival on Sunday.  I love festivals and so we went in the morning.  We looked around the booths briefly and the boys requested food as they said they were starving.  We got pizza for the boys while Stuart and I got something from a food truck.  We sat down to listen to a band, and later we moved over to watch a gymnastic and a dance performance.  The boys, especially Connor, loved watching the performances.  Next we walked around the art and craft booths again.  I bought a hat for myself and Connor was happy to wear my previous girlie hat.  The boys remembered the dipping dots booth, and were happy when they found it; they enjoyed a bowl while listening to a singer performing.  As always, we picked up a sunflower on our way out of the festival.

    In the afternoon, Connor’s classmate Blake had his birthday party at the Rockin Jump.  The mom was nice to invite Logan too, so I took the boys to attend the party in the afternoon.  During the car ride, Connor was telling Logan all about the different jumping areas in the facility.  When we arrived, Connor showed Logan around as well. Logan surprised me how quickly he jumped in and tried the activities.  Connor on the other hand just watched and still did not care to try the diving one or the dodgeball one.  But over time, while I was chatting with other moms, I noticed that Connor did follow Logan’s lead and started playing.  They both had fun during the hour, then we headed to the party room for some food.  Afterward, they were ready to go home to see daddy again.

   We signed the boys up for tennis classes which intended to start last Saturday.  Connor’s class stayed on schedule while Logan’s one was postponed by a week.  We all headed to the courts in the morning with Connor, and I accompanied Connor to his class.  Stuart and Logan were trying to play tennis, but unfortunately all the courts in both schools were full, so they hung around to play other sports.  For the class, there were five kids and Connor was the youngest.  I sat around and watched them.  Connor was very attentive to the coach, and he was doing his best following the instruction.  I saw Connor holding a good tennis posture, bending his knees and keeping his racket up.  He was a good student.  The coach was great too, and I too learning all the basics just from listening to him.  Connor smiled to me periodically and twice he gestured to me to find out the time remaining from the class.  When the hour was over, Connor and I went to join Stuart and Logan who started playing for just a few minutes.  Connor was excited to tell Stuart all about the names of every part of the racket that he just learned.