Week 3 of Summer

After a tough Monday, I decided to let Tuesday be a day for Dakota and his summer camp friend to unwind and be free.  Dakota has been off for a few weeks now and he was ready for the routine, but the other little boy had just finished school on Friday and wanted a little time to do his own thing.  Tuesday was for video games, kindles and fun.  There were storms in the evening so they postponed our All Star game.

Wednesday was a new day and we started off the day in the right way. There was structure along with the fun and the boys went with the flow with minimal fussing.  We did our packets in the morning and then went to Homeschool Homeroom in Brooklyn Park where the boys got to do several Minute To Win It Challenges and play with other kids and I got to visit with old friends and sit and talk with Jeanette and some other homeschool moms.  After lunch the boys and I spread a blanket under the big tree on the side of the house and read our books, then I read them a book called Becoming Babe Ruth to go along with our baseball theme.  I was surprised at how well they listened and they asked great questions.  I am going to take them to the Babe Ruth Museum downtown coming up soon.  I think they will enjoy it.

Wednesday evening was Dakota's 7-8 All Star game.  It was everything I had hoped it would be.  There were a couple of kids from our past teams, as well as Dakota and Aiden from the Pirates.  Brian coached and I was an assistant.  The teams were pretty even, but our NL team was on top from the first inning and won by a score of 17-12.  It was so much fun and there were lots of fans to cheer everyone on.  There was good sportsmanship and good baseball. My son played very well and I think he had a great experience.  Afterward we had dinner and ice cream at Friendly's to celebrate. Congratulations, Kodaman.  I am SO proud of your baseball accomplishments this year!

Thursday brought a busier day than I had anticipated.  No daycare was the plan and Koda and I got our hair cut and visited with Ms. Dawn in the morning.  I dropped him here at home and then went into work, where I ended up staying for over an hour helping out.  I had errands to run on the way home and by the time I got here Brian had to go out to get ready for the men's weekend camping trip in the morning and I had to get things ready here at home for Dakota and I to go to Kings Dominion.  The night went quickly and I fell into bed later than I wanted.  

Friday morning dawned beautiful and clear.  I was out of the house with Dakota by 8am and heading down 295 at a good clip.  The GPS took us through Washington, but thankfully we didn't hit too much traffic.  We got to the park around 10:45 and went right in with no lines.  Koda was impressed by the fountain on the main drag and we headed right in to Planet Snoopy, looking for characters.  We had a great day, seeing Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Sally, Peppermint Patty and yes, the most important one of all, Snoopy.  I didn't realize how much Koda was still in love with all of them and it warmed my heart to see my tough little guy turn to mush seeing the Peanuts Gang.  He became a fan at the tender age of 10 months old when we visited the Mall of America and he saw a show there.  Now, eight years later, he's still in love.  It is great that some things never change!

I am not much of a thrill ride person anymore and Dakota never has been.  He had never ridden on a regular sized roller coaster and I was determined to get him on one.  I chose the Rebel Yell because it is really as harmless as it gets.  He was very nervous, but we were laughing our way through it and thankfully there was no line.  When we started up that hill though he was holding me for dear life and then when we crested and started our first drop he started screaming and he didn't stop until we pulled into the station.  He was terrified, but it was so funny and I couldn't stop laughing.  When he stopped screaming he actually started laughing too and he even admitted that, while he didn't want to get back on, it had been kind of fun.  

We rode a few rides, took in a show, visited the water park for awhile and then got some pizza and took in another show. I won him a Despicable Me stuffed animal at a game and then we went back to the water park where I enjoyed sitting in a chair and taking pictures while he played under the huge bucket of water, ran around the play area and slid down the water slides.  They closed it at 8pm and we went back into the park where he rode the bumper cars a few more times and then we walked around seeing the lights at night and headed out at 9pm.  Dakota was a bit of a bear at times in the car, but the 2 1/2 hour drive home wasn't half as bad as I had imagined.  My bed never felt so good, however, when I crawled into it at almost midnight. 

Saturday was for sleeping late and being lazy until I headed out to the grocery store and to visit Kris around 5.  I find I really miss my little Natty Bug when I don't have her every day!  I thought I would fall into bed early tonight, but I enjoyed some time in a quiet house watching It's Complicated, my very favorite movie, and playing on my computer.

I hope my Brians are having fun in St. Mary's City.  I had hoped my husband would call me tonight to say Good Night and he loved me, but he didn't.  I miss him when he's away.  I hope he misses me too.