Weekly Wrap- Up: The Week We Went on Our First Bike Ride of the Year

We had a fun week with lots of great spring- ish weather and lots of time spent outside.  We went on a hike, two bike rides, and just plain old played outside.  We had lots of fun family time too with dinner out and a movie night.  The boys are just about finished up with all their schoolwork for the year so we have lots of free time each day.  We're planning field trips, art projects, science experiments and games to fill all our free time.

The boys did a bit of schoolwork on Friday and cleaned a room in the house each.  Alec un-molded his Koi pond and began adding rocks and a waterfalls around it. I honestly can not remember what anyone else did for the rest of the day.  After dinner we did all sit together and watch Jumanji; it was hilarious and I loved the mini references to the first movie.  My husband and I ended the night trying to book a place to stay for our family vacation; too bad we can never agree on what would make the perfect family vacation.  Luckily, we did get something booked by bedtime but just barely.

Saturday morning Ian headed off to work with his grandfather and the younger two boys went to work with their father.  I headed out shopping and even took the time to try on some clothes; something I rarely do!  Unfortunately, I didn't come with anything new for myself but I finally gota around to Easter shopping.  Evan came home with a new video game and stuffed animal (he just can not seem to save his money!).

Ian headed off to work with his grandfather again on Sunday and, once groceries were done, Alec headed off to work with my husband to learn how to sharpen drill bits for the giant machines at his work.  Everyone was home by 4 and we headed out to the mall.  We walked the length of the mall and went to have dinner at The Cheesecake Factory but with an hour to an hour and a half wait time we decided to head to The Outback instead.  We had a very pleasant meal out together.

Ian and I went shopping for new clothes on Monday.  He has outgrown most of his shirts and pants and he really needed something for Easter dinner.  As soon the boys and finished up schoolwork, our cotton candy science experiment (watch the blog for more on that later), and our chores we headed out.  It took 3 hours and several stores before we finally had everything we needed.  By the time we headed home it was well past lunchtime to I offered to pick up Subway grinders.  He cleaned out his drawers in the afternoon and it inspired me to go through my drawers and clean out all the outgrown or threadbare clothes too.  Evan, Ian, and I went for a walk in the afternoon to get some fresh air and exercise because it ALMOST felt like spring!

Of course all the boys had to try some cotton candy! 

The boys all finished up their work early on Tuesday and Alec and I headed out to karate.  After karate and lunch, the boys and I met up with from some friends and family members to go hiking.  We spent a good two hours in the woods.  The kids all tried to build a dam of their own and we saw many signs of beavers. After hiking we relaxed by the water for an hour chatting and playing.  There was still quite a lot of snow on the ground and a chill coming off the lake but we were happy to be outside.

We could not get over the size of this tree and root base that had just tipped over from all the rain and snow

beaver signs! 

The big kids tried to build a dam in the river (by adding to all the trees that were already there)

We finished up two more schoolbooks on Wednesday and the boys and I are just thrilled to see the pile of work dwindling each day.  We've been talking a lot about working through the summer on a couple of subjects but we'll see.  We all like the idea of keeping skills active and not experiencing that summer slide but we're hesitant to just give up our summer break.  It was a beautiful sunny day and the boys spent most of the day outside.   After lunch Alec asked to play American Trivia (he won).  We went for a bike ride in the late afternoon and I think we were all pretty tired afterwards.  We had to adjust the height of every single bike seat for the boys before heading out! They're all growing like weeds!

We stopped in the park to rest and Alec warmed himself on the rocks

Quite a view! 

Thursday the boys all had just one subject to work on so school was done in the blink of an eye!   We had plans to meet up with friends at the park but the younger two boys needed some new sneakers so we headed out early to shop before playing at the park.  Well, we never made it to the park!  It took forever to find shoes for what ended up being all three boys.  Their feet had grown so much from the last time we bought sneakers that they each ended up trying on a good 4 or 5 shoes before we found ones that fit really well.  By that time we were late for the park and we still hadn't eaten lunch.  We stopped at Subway (again!) and it was raining when we finished eating so we decided to just head home.  Once the rain stopped Ian played out in the sand and dirt while the younger two boys went on a bike ride.  They convinced me to join them and we went on an even longer bike ride than the day before.

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