Michelle, Ted and us did not come up with something we must do on Sunday, so we decided to hang around the hotel.  Stuart and I both liked kayaking and also wanted to give Logan another chance for exposure, so we all met up in the morning to walk over to the beach.  Stuart and I were more prepared this time, basically avoided bringing anything except the water camera.  We paired up the same way, and the Kaos switched their kid pairing.  Everyone seemed more relaxed and cooperative this time.  The Kaos kayaked farther sometimes; Connor and I had tried to go out to find them.  At some point, Michelle pointed out to us that we had crossed over to Nevada which was fascinating to Connor.  Connor was also being silly holding to a buoy at one point and we were floating there for awhile.  Logan seemed more relaxed and actually talked with us; although he was still holding on to the straps tightly.  He was enjoying being the captain and directing Stuart where they should go.  We were all out there for an hour and it was definitely more fun than the day before. 

    After kayaking, we walked over to the plaza across the street in hope to get some pizza for lunch, but the place was closed unexpectedly.  We decided to just have some KFC instead.  During the entire lunch, the four kids sitting together and laughing constantly while eating.  Connor was being silly and saying something to make the other 3 kids laugh.  We also stopped by the ice cream place to let the kids get a treat.  We headed back to the beach to play with sand afterward; this was the smallest beach I had ever seen.  With many people there, the adults managed to find a spot to sit down while the kids played by the water.  They were digging a hole together and did not seem to mind that there were many people around them.  We finally felt that we had enough sun tanning, we convinced the kids to return to the hotel to play at the pool instead.  We spent quite a long time at the pool area going between the pool and Jacuzzi before we called it done with swimming.

      We took a break at the hotel, gaming or napping, then we headed out for dinner.  Since the British pub was in a walkable distance, we decided to walk instead of driving.  It was still quite hot by then and it felt longer before we got to our destination.  However the kids did not complain, they paired up to talk especially with Logan and Mckayla; they were walking side by side talking on both trips.  I was curious about what they were talking about but did not want to interfere.  The dinner was great and Stuart enjoyed trying different beers.  The kids kept themselves busy drawing, talking and eating while at the restaurant.  Afterward, we played some pingpong and foosball, and hung out in the Kao’s room again in the evening before we ended the night.

    After letting the boys stay up on the first night, Stuart and I ended up sleeping in a bit later on Saturday morning.  Logan and Connor were already up and playing on the Tablets, so Stuart and I quickly got us ready to meet up with the Kaos.  They suggested to drive a short distance to Fallen Leaf Lake for a hike.  It was a small beautiful lake and we walked on a nice trail around the lake.  The four kids were so into finding sticks to build a base that we did not think they appreciated the scenery as we did.  We did not stop long to take breaks as there were mosquitoes around, and later we headed back ending our short morning hike.

    We stopped at a popular cafe for lunch, and the wait was long.  The kids were hungry, but fortunately they were entertained by the games the Kaos brought.  After eating, we walked over to the beach nearby and we decided to kayak there.  We all put on jackets and paired up to get on the kayak.  Once Logan got on board, he told Stuart that he was scared, and was just holding on to the straps.  Stuart tried talking to him about trying different things, but Logan did not loosen up the entire time.  Connor was paddling and following my lead to be synchronized to move faster.  The only thing he would not change was the way he gripped the handle bar; he kept telling me that “I got this”.  He was having fun and we paddled back and forth to meet up with Stuart/Logan, Ted/Marcus and Michelle/Mckayla.  Later he started hitting his hands against the boat, and he suddenly lost interest and wanted to return to shore.  I think we were out there by then possibly like 40 minute already, so I was fine for us to return to shore.  Connor attempted to dip his body in the cold water and play in the water until everyone else slowly returned to shore as well.

    The kids had an icy treat afterward, then we returned to the hotel to clean up.  The kids played at the hotel activity area while the four of us enjoyed a cocktail or a coffee before we headed out for dinner.  We had a reservation at this German bar and the kids immediately drawn to their foosball there.  We tried different food and, Michelle, Stuart and I enjoyed their beers as well.  After stuffing ourselves, we stopped by a grocery store for some breakfast and snack for the next days.  The boys were rushing us to return to the Kao’s living room again so they could have some game time before we had to turn in for the night.

     On Friday, we took our time in the morning to finish packing, and left the house at 10am.  The drive was nice and smooth, and we arrived at the hotel just after 2pm.  All of us were happy when we were able to check in into our room.  While Stuart and I quickly unpacked, Logan was glad to find out that we had good WiFi for his gameplaying (compared to the last hotel we stayed at) and Connor enjoyed playing with the dishes making pretend meals for us. 

     We managed to convince the boys to leave the room to check out the neighborhood.  We played a few games of foosball in the hotel activity room, and walked around the shops in the nearby plazas.  The boys also had an ice cream treat.  Next Connor wanted to return to the hotel to swim in the pool, so we headed back.  We hung around in the pool for quite awhile; they both had fun jumping in the water and hanging out in the Jacuzzi periodically.  We got cleaned up, then headed out for dinner. 

     We found a brewery in a walking distance that made Stuart happy and the boys excited that it had pizza.  After a good meal, we walked back planning to watch the movie at the pool.  There were many kids watching the movie Moana while staying in the water which was cute but also cold.  We sat at the lounge chairs to watch, and Stuart left us shortly due to the mosquitos.  After enjoying the movie for another 20 minutes or so, the three of us decided to head in as well.  At the same time we walked back to the lobby, the Kaos had just arrived.  Michelle was able to arranged to be in a room across from us, so we hung out in their room for an hour before ending a late night.  The four kids had quickly bonded over videogame playing in their living room, and this was where they often requested to hang out over the next couple of days.

    Logan had a plan to attend his classmate’s birthday party at the Golfland on Sunday and I invited Rohan to come over to play with the boys afterward.  That Golfland place was so packed on weekends; Logan and I had to park down the the street while I dropped him off.  This party planned to have the kids go through the entire park, ie water slides, miniature golf and then video games.  I knew Logan would not be interested in the slide, but he did not mind going with his friends to watch them.  I dropped him off and came home.  I hung out with Connor for awhile while Stuart went out to buy something, then Connor and I decided to walk to the tea place for some drinks.  Unfortunately the service was very slow and I realized I was getting too tight to pick Logan back up from party.  So Stuart went for Logan instead while Connor and I walked back home to get ready for our guests.  The Golfland was still crowded  according to Stuart; he had to park very far away and the kids were barely halfway through the golf by the time Stuart picked Logan up.  However Logan did not mind to leave as he wanted to come home to play with Rohan.

    Our guests arrived and the three boys were off to play.  Stuart and I hung out with Vrinda and Nanda in the backyard, and later we barbequed our dinner.  The adults enjoyed the dinner first, then the kids had theirs afterward.  The kids quickly ate and returned to play.  Our neighbor Cole came over to ask the boys to play outside, but instead we asked him to get permission to play in our backyard with the three boys.  Shortly later the Gopals had to go home, and Cole and the boys ended up having desserts together and returning to the street to play some more before the day ended.

     it was a very hot week last week and thanks goodness that we have the neighborhood pool to go to.  We went three days in a roll to cool down.  Stuart picked up the boys from camp earlier and I also rushed to leave on time from work to join them.  Our neighbors were there as well on those days, so our boys and Cole had a blast playing in the water together.  The boys seem more comfortable in the water now.  I even saw Logan jumping into the water and swimming the short side of the pool while playing a Silent Tag game.

   Logan turned 9 years old.  He was excited to “fire 8” as he called it and looked forward to become a big boy.  He did not want a party as he said he gets embarrassed with everyone looking at and singing to him.  He decided that he wanted to see a movie to celebrate and later requested to go with daddy.  Stuart took the day off and chose to take Logan to see a bigger kid movie Wonder Woman.  But unfortunately Logan thought it was too scary and Stuart ended up not enjoying the movie as much either.  For part of the day, the two of them played with one of Logan’s presents, a Chromebook, which they both enjoyed.  By 3pm, Stuart kept the promise and they picked Connor up earlier from camp, so he could hang with the bigger boys.  I came back from work earlier as well.  We let Logan open the rest of the presents; he got a FitBit from us too and a metal detector from grandparents, and a lot of cash from PoiPoi, Dora and Andrew and Julie.  Afterward we went out for pizza as requested by Logan.  It was a beautiful evening, and when we arrived home, the neighbor kids were just coming out to play “kick the can”.  Logan and Connor were happy to see that and thrilled to join in.  This was the kind of day Logan asked for to celebrate his birthday.