Having a great week

Little Brother is on spring break this week, and I've been reminded how nice it is to just go out and have fun with the kids.

Monday we went to the zoo (with half of western Washington, it seemed). Surprisingly, even with a half million people piled into the Woodland Park Zoo, we somehow managed to run into a group of friends when we got there. We were about to join them when I realized that what the kids and I really wanted was to hang out just the three of us. Sometimes it's nice to do stuff like that with a big group, but doing our own thing was just what we needed. No regrets - we had a terrific day.

Tuesday I took the kids with me to our friends' house - Moms were lifting weights, kids were (supposed to be) playing outside and enjoying the sunny morning. We moms had a nice workout, and the kids mostly kept themselves occupied (Little Brother being the exception - he liked hanging out and exercising with the ladies). Afterwards we ran a couple errands, then came back to work in the yard. Big Sister is such a huge help in the garden this year! I can't believe what a difference a year makes. I can delegate tasks to her, and she can complete them with little to no interference/hovering from me. She planted a section of the front walkway with impatiens, while I dug up and transplanted six blueberry bushes to new locations (hopefully they'll produce better than in years past, unless they suffered too much shock). I also cheated and bought some broccoli starts. Slugs got to them before we did last year, so I'm on guard this time - they better watch out.

Today (Wednesday) we've had plans to participate in a tree planting event that's taking place for Arbor Day. We'll be meeting some other girls from Big Sister's girl scout troop there, along with moms and siblings. I'd figured I'd bust out some homeschooling this morning, since the tree planting won't be happening until late afternoon, but then I had another ingenious plan - swimming. I've been wanting to get the kids signed-up for swim lessons so they're ready to jump in the water this summer, but hadn't gotten around to making the necessary calls. This morning I called the community pool and found out they could assess the kids at the family swim if we wanted to come on down. We hopped in the car, went swimsuit shopping, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and headed to the pool. Little Brother had to take care of getting his suit on and showering by himself in the men's locker room, which was a little nerve-racking for me. He took forever in there, and eventually I went and stood outside the entrance to the pool and called for him. Same story when we finished up to head home. Turns out he was enjoying a relaxing shower. Anyway - I did get them signed up. Sister starts tomorrow evening, twice/week, and Brother will start in a few weeks.

Tomorrow's forecast calls for rain, so we're planning to go see the movie "Monsters vs. Aliens". The kids are really looking forward to it. We don't see many movies, so this is a real treat.

Friday we have LEGO club with our homeschool group. It's loud and crazy, but we don't like to miss this monthly gathering to free-build with thousands of LEGOs of all kinds, while hanging with friends. Blocks and buddies - how can you go wrong?

Next week it's back to the usual routine - not bad, just different. Prior to this year, when we didn't have an established routine, our weeks often looked like this one. While it was nice to drop everything and head to the zoo at the drop of a hat, I don't think we appreciated it as much as we have this week, nor did the outings stand out the way they have these past few days. There may be something to saving everything up for a crazy, fun-filled week here and there.