Monday morning, Steven, Sammy and Amaya were excited to have just a little more time with Aunt Ouize and Nancy. Then it was off to school for the kids, off to work for me and off to DC for Aunt Ouize and Nancy.
Sammy and Steven earned new books for staying in bed in the mornings and were excited to read the right away.
Another recent nighttime favorite are horsey rides from Daddy.
Tuesday was warm but rainy which, for Amaya, meant shorts and rain boots. Good call, kid.
On Wednesday morning the kids were on fire and we got to school in record time. When we were going downstairs to drop off our stuff Amaya grabbed the door, “I can hold it. Don’t worry about it.” They sound more and more like miniature adults.
Thursday was a car picnic after school so the crew could go to the airport to pick up Nana! Hooray!!
No nap meant lots of time to play outside when they got back to the house.
One perk of Nana’s visits is that she takes the kids to school for us on Fridays and Mondays. This Friday, we got the usual business of a special Monday braid while Amaya worked on her computer.
Once the kids were ready, they had a special Starbucks breakfast with Nana! My mom even told me that two different people complimented them on their behavior. <3
As always, Nana joined the kids at school fro Shabbat. It’s also Shavuot so they had a Torah party in class. Sammy can tell you all about the Torah and Mt. Sinai.
Friday afternoon was spent at the playground with Nana and Megan, where the kids had the big swing all to themselves. Heaven!!
I love these pictures.
Friday night, at Sammy’s request, we lit the Shabbat candles at home and ate challah. “Nana will be here on Friday!?! Does that mean she’ll come to Shabbat at school!?!? And we can light the candles at home, too!?!?”
Saturday was raining and gross which made for a perfect day to go to the aquarium.
Touch tank! Steven didn’t want to touch the sea stars (we learned they’re not actually called star fish anymore) but was willing to touch the seaweed.
Coloring a digital fish!
Coloring with crayons!
On the way to the aquarium there was a bit of drama because SSA remember that this is the same place as The Rainforest Cafe. Sammy and Amaya really wanted to eat there but Steven was scared of the thunder, which comes every 30 minutes and is, admittedly, quite loud. I offered to leave with Steven in advance of each round of thunder but he wasn’t having it. Amaya wanted to take a vote, which is something they do at school (and then graph the results). In this case a vote wasn’t going to work because I could tell Steven was really distressed at the thought of going to the restaurant. Fortunately, we had two adults and were willing to split up. So Sammy, Amaya and I went to The Rainforest Cafe while Nana and Steven went to Bar Louie. Except for the splitting up part, it worked out perfectly!
Steven was a selfie blocker, cracking himself up!
Amaya wanted a picture alone with me. 🙂
All semi-interested in a photo with their mom.
Happier to be in one that included Nana. 🙂
We had a wonderfully lazy Sunday at home. Lots of active play time inside and outside all day long.
With time for hugs, too.
Steven made a game around an intricately developed obstacle course. Amaya, Sammy, Nana and I all participated. As we finished he’d say, “And the winner is…Mommy!!” “And the winner is…Sammy!” So cute.
Steven could not focus on lunch until he made a new Torah out of toiler paper rolls and rectangle piece of paper. He was also very specific about what to write on it – Steven, Sammy, Amaya, Daddy, Nana, Mac n Cheese, Sausage lol.
 
It rained a bit on and off but we still managed to get outside. Not too hot and a low uv index. Perfect!
Sammy looks so old. And you can’t beat the tank top and rain boots. <3
Little face.
The kids wrapped up an active weekend with some good ol’ fashioned daddy wrestling.
And that’s it for this week! Have a great one!