Medieval Times

We picked up our seating passes and I was quick to note that Colby didn't get a seat or a meal.  Yes, under three was free but that literally meant they got no seat or meal of their own.  "He will have to sit on your lap" I was told.  That wasn't exactly what I was expecting.  Fortunately, we ended up on an end and there was some extra room or that might have not been the most fun thing ever.  Of course, the "no meal of his own" thing isn't a big deal because I knew Brady would probably eat very little of his meal and in fact, I had snuck him in a PB&J.  As we walked into the great hall, there were two knights handing out crowns.  You received one of six colors based on where you were sitting - - this was the knight you would be cheering for.  The options were: green, blue, red, black & white, red & yellow, and yellow.  Immediately the kids started yammering for a green crown and hoped we would get that section.  As luck would have it, we were green!  Things were off to a very good start.

Some of the crowns fit better than others.

When we got into the arena, I guess you could call it, we found that we were almost at the end, about half way up.  There were about six rows on each side.  They weren't the best seats in the house by any means but hey, they were free!  Things soon got under way and while Calaubra was captivated the whole time with the goings on, I seemed to spend most of my time making sure that Colby didn't run off or spill soup on us.  But it was all good.  What was better than good, was the food!  Of course, we got the vegetarian option and I was expecting some subpar cold pasta like we received at Arabian Knights but I was pleased that we got tomato soup, garlic bread, a veggie plate with hummus, a main entree of beans, rice, and potatoes (sounds bland but it was SO good), corn on the cob, baked potato, and dessert.  I loved the entree so much that I brought the kids unfinished portion home with me.

When I wasn't battling Colby to sit still, I spent my time trying to figure out what parts were staged and which weren't.  The knights participated in all kind of drills like throwing their spear at a dart board like thing and trying to hook the end of a stick (with a fancier name) around a loop at the end of another stick.  I couldn't quite figure out if some of them missed on purpose or what.  At the end of the evening, there were sword battles and guys knocking each other off horses, etc. and I had to assure the kids that those parts were all figured out in advance and it was all just an act (I'm pretty sure that Brady thought it was all real which is probably what happens when you're four). Calleigh was funny - - she couldn't even watch any of the sword stuff.  She hid her face behind my back the whole time even though we assured her it was all fake and nobody was really going to get hurt.

Calleigh hiding behind me.

We cheered very loudly for our Green Knight and despite all of our best efforts, he eventually lost to the Red and Yellow Knight who was the ultimate winner (he was also the same knight who had been at the expo a few weeks ago and had won there too). At one point, our Green Knight did win a particular event and received some flowers from the princess.  He came over to the stands to toss the flowers up to the crowd.  He saw Calleigh waving her flag and tossed one up to her which I caught.  She was pretty happy girl about that.

Green Knight

All the excitement wasn't contained just to the battlefield.  About halfway through the program, I looked over at Duncan who was sitting on the other side of the kids and I saw him move quickly out of the way as a glass of wine spilled.  I thought that the lady sitting next to him had spilled it but luckily it was one of the waiters who had bumped into it.  It ended up getting Duncan on his shirt and shorts which wasn't the most pleasant thing ever but a guy in charge came over a few minutes later and offered Duncan a free t-shirt which he was glad to get one for Brady (who was on cloud nine). That made Brady's night.

Brady wearing his new shirt.

We may have had our fun Sunday evening, but the even more fun for me was the next day.  A Corey day! Since Duncan was off work for Labor Day, I decided to change it up and take my day on a Monday instead of a Sunday.  Actually, I was hoping that Goodwill would be open longer since it's only open from 10:00 - 6:00 on Sunday's and 9:00-8:00 the rest of the days.  But no, for the holiday it was open 9:00 - 5:00. Different times but same amount of hours.  Those stinkers.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed my time profusely with stops at three different Goodwills, Target, Jo-Anns, Michaels, and unfortunately, Walmart.  I was trying to get some art supplies and they were out of a sketch pad I needed at Jo-Anns and Michaels.  Meanwhile, Duncan took the kids to the Science Center.  The girls are doing a homeschool program there on the first Monday of each month (one reason I'm glad that gymnastics changed from Monday's to Thursday's).  They do have to be chaperoned and thankfully Grandma was up to the task.  Duncan did a few errands with the boys (which included purchasing a new garbage can for the kitchen at Bed, Bath, and Beyond WITHOUT a coupon.  I just about died.  I mean, I have a million of those 20% off coupons!!) and then came back to the Center.  Afterwards, they had some other various stops they had to make but right after they left the Science Center, Brady said he had to go pee.  Duncan tried to get him out of his car seat in time (they were at a light in traffic) but didn't make it and Brady pee'd his pants, in his car seat.  Duncan was undeterred so he removed the garments, put them on the heater and dried them off.  When they got to their next stop, back on they went and that was that!  But yes, for awhile he was driving around with Brady buckled in, buck naked from the waist down.  Sorry to have missed it.

You never know what you'll find at Goodwill!  Cape Breton is where we go in Nova Scotia.

Science Center

A stop at Jeremiah's.

Tuesday afternoon we had our first art class.  Aubree is very much my artsy girls alway drawing or coloring or cutting stuff out and gluing it on, you name it. Our friend Rosa from church who also homeschools her two girls, teaches some art classes at FLEC and I mentioned to Jennifer that I would love for Aubree to take an art class from Rosa. Well, Jennifer is one to make things happen and the next thing I know, we are now having Rosa teach an art class at Jennifer's house on Tuesday afternoons.  They are starting with acrylic paints and the girls loved it and didn't want to stop.  It's really quite perfect because the boys get to play in the play room with other people's toys, the girls are doing art, and I get to chitchat with Jennifer.

Thursday we had our "back to school" party at the Hilliard's house hosted by Heather and Jennifer.  It was very nicely done, as always, and I enjoyed the good food we did potluck style.  Calleigh was off most of the time with her friends while I hung out around the pool with Aubree, Brady, and Colby pretty much the entire time.  The pool has a nice shallow "shelf" under the water that they could stand on and play so that was very helpful.  But obviously I had to stay right there to keep my eye on Colby.  If anyone wanted to talk to me, they had to come to me.  That was my spot for the duration.  A good time was had by all.

Calleigh spent a bunch of time on the big blow up water slide.  Aubree went down once but said it was too fast.

Thursday night was the start of football season.  Finally time to put all the Deflategate stuff behind us and actually play football.  It's always fun when your team wins the Superbowl and you get to kick off the year.  The Patriots were hosting the Steelers who have always been a team I don't like.  Maybe Brady heard me say it or something because he tells me a couple of times "I really, really don't like the Steelers." You know, as if he follows football really closely or something.  Actually he must not listen to me much at all because a little later he says "I like the Broncos." Any who, we were all excited and we got our popcorn out and the kids were begging for hot chocolate.  The game starts and we're cheering and all that and after about ten minutes, the channel goes completely blank.  At first I thought it was just us but after a little sleuthing it turns out it was a DirecTV problem with the local channels.  I took it as a sign for the kids to go to bed.  They were pretty disappointed but no more than I was because it was out for almost the whole first half.  Way to go DirecTV!!  But nothing could rain on my parade of seeing that fourth Super Bowl banner being raised and then the resounding victory to start the year.

Watching the game before we got this message...

Just go online to NBC.com both my brothers said.  Fail!

A few more pictures before closing.

Colby and London last week in Sabbath School.

He wanted to lick her?!

Yesterday after Sabbath School.

The boys get a little rowdy.  I think London is probably used to that kind of thing.

We had Adventurers last Sabbath afternoon and a lady came from a birds of prey rescue center.

Brady was captivated by the different owls, hawks, and falcons.

Coloring pictures afterwards.  It took him about 80 seconds and he colored every single picture black very haphazardly.

My girl that hates to write has, for some odd reason, really to taken to writing in cursive.  Go figure. (Yes, she is wearing some sort of colonial costume I had gotten at Goodwill)

Making a "world" cake to go along with our "exploring countries and cultures" theme.

Probably better you look at it sideways so you don't see how poorly our Eastern Hemisphere turned out.

Have a great week!