Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 8/9 - 8/15)

Friday (8/9) Once again, today started earlier than I wanted it to start because our toilet overflowed and Adrian woke me up while he was cleaning it.  I got up and had coffee while he got ready and headed out to work.  I was actually very productive this morning since I got up so early and got a bunch done before we headed out to go bowling for a bit.  AJ and Zak wanted to bowl so they did their 2 free games today while Daniel and I watched and cheered them on.  It was a fun little outing for us this morning, although traffic was horrible coming home!

When we got home, the boys played and helped me get a few things done around the house.  Then we finished up a few things we needed to get done before school starts next week.  Zak and I went to Meijer to get new sneakers and a few other things we needed.  Daniel and I went thru his closet and cleaned out a bunch of stuff that he doesn't want anymore.  It was a super productive afternoon!  Then the boys played and took care of Nick while I cooked dinner for everyone.  After dinner, I headed out to our Scout committee meeting and Adrian got called into work so he worked from home for a few house.  When I got home from my meeting, I got the boys down to bed, watched the Jets preseason game and then headed to bed too.

Saturday (8/10) I got up and moving pretty early this morning since I had to teach Zumba at the church this morning.  After a fun, sweaty class, I came home and grabbed a quick shower before we all got ready to head to the zoo for a family fun day.  Unfortunately, all of Columbus had the same idea as us and the zoo was ridiculously crowded.  We made the best of it by spending most of our time riding the rides in Jungle Jack's Landing.  Then we did head into the zoo to see the new 4D movie, Small Foot, and play in the splash pads near the aquarium.  After spending about 4 hours there, we decided to call it quits since it was too crowded to do the other things we wanted to do there.  We'll come back another day to finish the few things we still want to do.

We picked up Jets pizza on the way home and after eating dinner we played a few games as a family.  We played "Star Trek" and won as a family and then played "Good Cop, Bad Cop" and AJ and I won that too.  Then the boys had some video game time while Adrian and I cleaned up a bit.  After we got the boys thru their night routine and down to bed, we played another game of Viticulture and I won!!  Then we decided to play our August game of Pandemic Legacy and we finally lost a month, probably due to the bottle and a half of wine that we drank before playing.  Thankfully we have another chance to beat August!  After all of the games, we watched an episode of "Younger" and then headed to bed for the night.  It was an amazing family day!!

Sunday (8/11) We all slept in this morning and it was fantastic!  We had a slow morning of breakfast and coffee and then got ready for the second service at church.  After church, we came home and had leftover Jets for a quick lunch and then Adrian and I got to work on a few things around the house while the boys helped with their chores and then played video games.  We worked for a few hours, then stopped to get ready to head out to a double date with Carl & Sarah.  We went to Easton and started with a wine tasting and dinner at Cooper's Hawk.  Adrian and I used our thank you bottles so we got two free bottles of wine for our table at dinner.  After a delicious dinner, we walked over to Jeni's and had ice cream for dessert.  It was a beautiful night and we had a great time eating, chatting and laughing.  So glad we decided to do this tonight!!

After we got home from the very relaxing dinner, we took care of the boys for the night.  They did great staying home alone while we were gone.  We fed everyone dinner and then got them thru their night routine and down to bed.  They thought it was great that they got to stay up a little late since we were home so late.  After they were in bed, Adrian and I finished up a few things around the house and then watched last week's episode of "Card Sharks" before heading to bed for the night.

Monday (8/12) Adrian got up and left for work early while the rest of us slept in, probably for the last time for a while since school starts later this week.  We were going to go out and do a few things today but the boys asked to stay home and relax and play video games so that's what we did instead.  I got a ton of work done around the house while they played video games and watched YouTube.  We also sorted thru all of our school supplies and made sure everyone is ready to go to start the school year.  The day passed quickly and before long it was time for us to have dinner and get ready for our night activities.

I headed to the church to teach my Zumba class and had an amazing time with the students!  Adrian took everyone to AJ's Scout meeting where Daniel was supposed to be checking it out to see if he wanted to join, but decided he didn't want to before even learning about it.  AJ had a great time working on his cooking merit badge and eating all kinds of different trail mixes and desserts.  When we all got home, we got the boys thru their night routine and tried to get them down a little early so we're ready for early bedtimes later this week.  Then Adrian and I cleaned up a little, watched an episode of "The Good Doctor" and headed to bed.

Tuesday (8/13) Last day of summer break!!  Unfortunately we were all up earlier than we wanted to get up, although that may help us get to bed early tonight.  Adrian headed out to work for the day and I got the boys ready for the day then headed out to the Harcum Center to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes.  I announced today that I will not be teaching after the end of August and while my students are upset, they also all understand and support me.  We did our best to have fun classes, but there was definitely some sadness in the group.

After class, I came home and had a quick lunch with everyone before heading out with Daniel and Zak to meet their teachers for this year.  We started at North and met Daniel's two teachers and heard some general info from the principal.  When Daniel was comfortable, we headed over to West to meet Zak's teacher and bus driver for the year.  They both have great teachers and I'm excited for them to have a great year!!  When we were done, we grabbed some Kona Ice on the way out and headed home to pick up AJ.

We picked AJ up and headed out to run a few errands to get ready for tomorrow.  We picked up some books from the library and some donuts from Krispy Kreme for breakfast for the week.  Then we came home for the night.  The boys got some last minute video games in before they go on school limits while I got a few things done around the house.  Adrian got home and we all had tacos for dinner together.  The night passed quickly and before long it was time for our earlier bedtimes.  We got the boys thru their night routine and then put them to bed.  Adrian and I finished up a few things downstairs, watched another episode of "The Good Doctor" and headed to bed.  That 5:00am alarm is going to be a killer!!

Wednesday (8/14) Happy First Day of School!!  The alarm at 5am is not fun, but boy does it make the day feel long and give me time to get a lot accomplished.  Everyone but Zak got up and moving by 5:30am since Daniel is on the early schedule now too.  Adrian and I got AJ and Daniel on their bus and then he left for work for the day.  I came back in and Zak was awake so I got him ready for his first day.  He is taking the bus this year too so we waited at the corner for him to be picked up too.  Everyone got off safely, if a little later than we thought.  I'm praying everyone has a great year!!

After I got everyone on the bus, I came back in and worked on a bunch of stuff around the house that I needed to do, starting with getting all set up to sub in the schools this year.  I crossed a ton of things off my to do list and felt super accomplished after only a few hours.  Nick missed the boys a ton, but he did great hanging with me for the day.  Before long, it was time to get everyone off of their buses.  They all reported having excellent first days & are super excited for the year ahead!  AJ is most excited about STEM and Social Studies classes, Daniel is most excited about Math, Science & 5th Grade camp & Zak is excited about riding the bus, seeing friends at recess and still having gym.  I had a ton of paperwork to do and supplies to gather for everyone - I had more homework than any of the boys tonight!

Adrian came home a little earlier than usual to have dinner with us and hear about the boys' days.  We had a delicious crab leg dinner and enjoyed hearing even more about the kids' days at school during dinner.  Then they watched some TV while we got everything cleaned up and ready to go for tomorrow.  We got the boys thru their night routine together, way earlier than we have the past few months!  They were all exhausted after their day for sure!  Then we got our snacks together and watched another episode of "The Good Doctor" before we headed to bed as well.

Thursday (8/15) We did a good job of getting everyone up and out early again today.  Adrian helped me get AJ and Daniel up and started and then he headed to work.  I got AJ and Daniel on the bus and came back in to wake up Zak.  Zak and I got ready and I took him out to wait for the bus.  When he got on, I took Nick on a quick walk then headed into the Harcum Center to teach my 2 Silver Sneakers classes.  We had two great classes and I met the woman who will take over the class when I leave.  She observed the classes today so hopefully she'll be ready to go in a few weeks.  After both classes, one of my students invited me out to lunch so we had a great time chatting and eating at First Watch.

After lunch, I started restocking our pantry and freezers after the summer.  I went to a few grocery stores and got most of what we needed.  Then I came home and got everyone off the bus in the afternoon.  Thankfully no one had any homework tonight, neither me nor the boys!  I got dinner ready for myself and then got ready to head to the church to teach my Zumba class.  We had a great class, even though it was a little warm in our room tonight.  While I was at Zumba, Adrian got dinner for the boys and hung out with them at home.  When I got home, we got the boys thru their night routine and down for the night.  We are loving the earlier bedtimes!!  Then Adrian and I finished up a few things in the kitchen, watched this week's "90210" reboot and headed to bed too.