Fall Break: Days 8, 9 and 10

Remember in my last post when I said that days 8 and 9 of fall break were fun and action packed?  Well.  I was lying.  I forgot that I worked on Monday, because I don't normally work on Mondays, so day 8 was rather lame.  The only thing worth noting is that I got home from work and upon checking the mail was invited to join AARP.   I posted this on facebook, which set off a long stream of hilarious comments by my friends and family.

Tuesday was actually fun filled and action packed.  I didn't lie about that.

After having been members of the IDEA museum for the last year we were sick of it.  More specifically, I was sick of it.  We haven't even been since July but the idea of going over break was still unpleasant at best.  I checked into the memberships at the Museum of Natural History, which is 1 block from the IDEA museum, and they were surprisingly affordable, so we bought one.

We haven't been to this museum in about two and a half years.  The last time we went my friend Cathy was visiting from New Hampshire in April, 2013.

Elliott was 16 months old and looked like this:

Spencer was 5 and looked like this: 

Cathy was 2.5 years younger (I won't be the one to reveal her age!) and looked like this: 

Anyway, back to present times.  We stopped at Lauren's place of employment first to let her borrow our waffle maker and staple gun.  She works close to the museum and was in need of those items for very different purposes. 

This is new since the last time we went.  Either new or I just didn't notice him last time.

Spencer was 8 years 1 month old on Tuesday, so we decided to get a monthly picture of him at the museum. Anytime you see a picture of just him it was a potential finalist.  I've narrowed it down to two  choices.

This is a good shot of most of Dinosaur Mountain.  It's four levels tall.

They did most of this on their own, with just a little help from me.

Finalist choice #1

Finalist choice #2

They had too much fun in the jail cells.  Like I'm alarmed at how much they enjoyed it and how much they are still talking about it.

Oh look.  I was there too.

Side by side flashback comparisons:

Sorry about the poor quality in the one on the left.  It was the only one I had that was a true comparison.  Look at how much taller he is!

We went out to lunch after the museum and then went to visit our now former sitter Dorothy.  She lives fairly close to the museum.

Wednesday always means OT at the hospital.  Elliott and Chad did some scooter board ramping in the hallway.  And yes, I just turned "ramp" into a present progressive verb.

I forgot to take a standing picture of him, but can you see Elliott's pants?  They are tiger print and they are awesome.  I wish I had my own pair.

So, oh my gosh.  I am completely caught up on this here blog.  Which is good because Friday and Sunday are going to be very photographed and quite bloggable days.  And the kids don't go back to school until Wednesday.  I am so ready for this break to be done, if only so I can get back to fun and sassy blog post titles. 

Fall Break: Days 3 and 6

After two big, fun-filled days of fall break, the next five days were much slower.  Elliott had OT on Wednesday morning.  This is last Wednesday, September 30th.  I'm (as always) a little behind.  Chad worked on dressing and balance and fine motor skills.  They are cutting with scissors here.

That afternoon Spencer had soccer camp.  After we dropped him off, Elliott and I went to Target to buy three things.  We ended up with a whole lot more.  It was one of those Target trips where you leave and once you're in the parking lot you just shake yourself out of the trance you were in and think, "what the hell just happened?"

Elliott was a cool guy chilling in the cart.

When we got home I decided to put out the Halloween pillows, only because they were the only Halloween or fall decorations not in the attic. 

That night we put the new sheets I bought at Target during the whirlwind shopping trip on Spencer's bed.  He's really rough on his sheets with all of his eczema goop.  I hope these last a while because they are awesome.

His room has evolved from an outer space room to a Star Wars room.

I worked on Thursday and Friday.  There are no pictures from either day.  Not just not any good pictures, there are actually NO pictures.  That is very rare.  It also explains why the post title is just days three and six.  I have nothing to show for four and five.

On Saturday I took before pictures before decorating for Halloween.  I normally don't put all of the "every day" stuff in the garage until we decorate for Christmas, but I decided to do it early this year.  The only problem is that I don't have enough Thanksgiving stuff  so things will look very barren in November.

I'm going to do a whole post about this year's Halloween decorations, so you'll have to wait for the "after". 

My parents came up on Saturday afternoon because I had bought tickets to the Phoenix Symphony for them as very early birthday presents.  My mom's birthday is in November and my dad's is in December, but I thought they would love this show and it was one weekend only so I decided to just do it.

This is what they went to see:

The Phoenix Symphony kicks off its 2015/16 APS Pops series with a dynamic multi-media experience in tribute to all who have fought for the freedoms we enjoy and those who revere our country’s great history as we mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the 100th anniversary of World War I and the 75th anniversary of World War II. Westwater Arts returns to Phoenix from its acclaimed 2012 Centennial performance of the Grand Canyon Suite with powerful symphonic photochoreography using hundreds of archival photographs projected on screens above the orchestra. The first photographic essay, The Eternal Struggle, is a poignant glimpse into what it was like to live and govern during the Civil War set to the words of Abraham Lincoln through the incomparable music of Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, narrated by a well known personality. Next, The Symphony performs No Man’s Land, commemorating World War I and the collision between centuries-old traditions and the emergence of modern warfare with the music of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5. Then, through Citizen Soldier, The Phoenix Symphony reflects on the more than 100 million men and women who participated in history’s most widespread conflict, World War II, set to Barber’s Second Essay for Orchestra. Finishing out the program are inspirational and patriotic tributes in support of our men and women in uniform.

Before they left I had a Mexican fiesta for dinner.  We were celebrating their birthdays after all.

Ginger was just adorable during dinner.

Don't let my smile fool you, I was squatting for this picture, but I was halfway down, not all the way down, so that our heads would be level and my quads, glutes and hamstrings were all shaking.  Apparently all my deadlifts and squats and lunges and calf raises have been in vain.

After my parents left Elliott actually wore pajamas to bed for the first time since about April.

And that is it.  Fall break day seven was also pretty lame, so prepare yourself for days eight and nine, which were much more fun and also occurred yesterday and today, so were much more current.