This was a hot weekend and we did not want to do much.  The only thing we had planned on Saturday was going to a dinner at our neighbor’s house up the hill.  Andrew and Marilyn invited us along with other neighbors, the Ricchios and the Amiris.  We arrived along with Frank and Linda, and we all were served with wine and appetizers.  The boys were excited walking around their big yard and finding secret passages.  They also showed everyone how to work their fidget spinners.  The Arimis were quite late, so at some point, we let the boys started playing on their tablets.  Finally everyone arrived and we chatted some more over wine, then dinner was served.  It was a nice sit-down dinner and we took our time eating through the few courses of the meal.  The boys chose to sit at their own table instead of with the adults.  I also agreed to let them stay on their tablets as long as they did not forget to eat.  They both ended up eating quite a lot of dinner.  By the time we finished desserts, it had passed 10pm which was so late for the boys but of course the boys did not mind at all.  We thanked the hosts, said goodbye to everyone, then we walked down the hill to go home.

   On Sunday morning, the boys woke up at usual hour despite going to bed very late.  They started the morning having Maxim over for 3 hours.  Since it was so warm, we stayed home the rest of the day.  The boys spent some time in the backyard reading under the umbrella with Stuart, and later we all played some ping pong and 2 squares in the garage.  The boys however were still hoping to go play on the street, but it was just too hot.  We also played some Wii together.  During the day, Stuart also hooked up our new grill and we had a chance to use it to make us a tri tip dinner.  Stuart enjoyed learning how to use the grill and we definitely enjoyed the meal.  Finally after dinner, it was cool enough for the boys to go play outside with the neighbors. 

    My goal was finishing up all the preparation for Art Show and Open House by Friday, so I could bring them to the teachers on my day off.  It took me every evening for almost a week to work on the portfolios for all 57 kids in the 2 classes along with the artwork display for one of the classrooms.  Since the boys have been playing with the neighborhood kids after dinner lately, those were my work times in the garage while keeping an eye on them.  On Friday I was excited to have a day off to myself and I wanted to go shopping, but unfortunately I did not leave myself enough time to finish up the portfolios before the school day ended.  I had to recruit Stuart to help me do the gluing at the end, and I managed to wrap up and deliver everything to the classes.  My volunteering job for the year had ended and now I can just look forward to see the kids’ work at Open House next Tuesday.

   The boys had their spring concert on Wednesday morning, and I took time off to attend.  Stuart unfortunately had many meetings that day, so I recorded some of the songs for him to watch later.  Logan’s class had also been learning how to use the recorder and performed a few songs with that as well.  Both grades did great.

   A few weeks ago, our old refrigerator’s water dispenser periodically stopped working, so we knew it was time for a new refrigerator.  We went to shop for one at Lowes.  Unfortunately the one we wanted was out of stock and discontinued; we ended up getting a newer model and it was not available until few weeks later.  For those 3 weeks, we were worried that the fridge would break down before the new one arrived.  Fortunately it made it and retired when the new one was hooked up on Monday.

    The boys gave me the gifts they had made at school for Mother’s Day.  They both were proud and happy with what they wrote for me.  I love their creations.   After our morning routine, we took the boys out to a short 9-hole course for the first time.  The weather was beautiful and after a small bucket to warm up at the range, we walked up to the course.  It was not too busy; we basically did not have to wait long and no one was behind us.  The boys did well following the rules, and they seemed to pick up the game quickly.  Logan was not as patient, he set up quickly and hit, but he had some great hits, especially on the fairways.  Connor took his time setting up and made some awesome swings.  He later did even better with the driver and he loved using it.  By hole 7, Logan started mentioning being tired, but Connor said he was not tired at all.  They both finished all 9 holes and did an awesome job in our opinion.  Their hits were quite straight and they did not lose a single ball while I lost two.  We all built up a good appetite but unfortunately had to wait quite awhile for our burgers at the clubhouse.  Afterward at home, I, but none of the others, was exhausted, and I fell asleep while watching the Warriors game on the computer with Stuart.  This was a great Mother’s Day for me.

    It felt like a long time since we last played tennis, and it was definitely tiring as well when we played on Saturday morning.  Stuart and I had to take a nap later but the boys never seemed tired at all.  After the nice nap and after I went grocery shopping, we headed over to the Kaos for the afternoon.  It had been awhile since we saw them, so it was great catching up with Michelle and Ted.  The boys brought their 4 square ball to play with Marcus, and later with Mckayla too, the four of them just ran around all over the backyard until it was almost time for dinner.  After we enjoyed the meal, the kids rushed over to play Mario Kart and had a good time.  The evening was fun but we had to leave before bedtime would be too late.