August

August really ran away from me.  The house was quiet for a moment because Bohdin had finished his schoolwork finally and was playing in his room.  Nyla is at Ch-'s house and Cora unexpectedly fell asleep on the bed.  It took me a while to find her.  I was enjoying the quiet house and two minutes later the door bell rang and M- arrived. 

Two weeks ago was PAIR day here where area businesses come and introduce themselves to all the new people.  They have a smaller one in the winter that I didn't attend.  We went this time and collected free food, coupons, and countless advertisements.  Afterward we planned to go to the butterfly thing at the botanical garden.  The kids became hungry halfway there so we stopped.  By the time we got back in the car we didn't want to drive any further.  The botanical gardens are quite far away.  Instead we went to the children's museum which was in the direction of home instead of away.  The museum was on the list of places to visit this summer since it is part of the Blue Star program. 

The museum was fine.  It's in an old elementary school and they had rooms set up in different themes.  There was a farm room, baby/vet room, water room, art room, and building room among others.  We happened to be there the day they had a special performance by some Ugandan dancers.  It was interesting and Nyla went up with some other kids and tried it. 






The art room had a face painting area.  Buddy did Nyla's face and Cora did her own. 





The kids are used to seeing a lot of moving trucks so when they pulled out the Playmobil one day into the living room, they had moving trucks arriving with furniture.  They've been playing with Playmobil a lot more now that other kids are back in school.  Our next house needs to have a big playroom so they have room to spread out.  That's a space we're lacking here.



There was an ice cream social one night near the skate park.  The mini golf was open and the kids played in both places.  Bohdin and Nyla brought the plasma cars over and the kids had a lot of fun going down the ramps.  The next day we took the plasma car to the playground since the skate park was being used by skaters.  The girls went down the ramp and into the parking lot. 







The weather has been quite pleasant for most of the summer.  Nyla loves picnics so one day I took the girls to the pond for a picnic lunch.  I read books and then they played around a bit.  I don't know why we don't go more often.  It's pretty there. 




They are tearing down some older houses on post and we thought we might catch the backhoe actually tearing them down but when we walked past they weren't doing anything.  One was already down but there was no telling when they would do another.  We went to the library on the way back.  The library is being overrun by roly polies so the girls collected them and took them outside.  We stayed for story time as well. 



Bohdin likes collecting leaves and various botanical things.  Last week on his way to the garden he probably picked up some poison ivy.  The rash started around his mouth and spread all over his face and penis.  Eventually it spread to his hands, ankles, and chest.  He looked pretty horrible for a while. 



Bohdin has also had trouble with snoring while sleeping for a couple of months.  He had an appointment last week with a PA and he's working on ruling out various things including seasonal allergies.  I didn't think it was allergies but the allergy medicine does seem to be making a difference.  I don't know if it is indoor or outdoor but either way we'll be moving soon and hopefully the issue won't follow us. 

We had tickets to Schlitterbahn for homeschool week but a cold front came through and there were a few days that we barely made it to 70 degrees.  The kids thought it was warm enough but we didn't so we went on Sunday instead.  The cold front was followed by a heat wave and we're now experiencing some of the hottest temperatures of the season.  It may hit 100 degrees this week.  It was hot enough on Sunday but a lot of other people thought it would be a great day for a water park so it was a bit crowded.  I still thought it was fun and the kids had a good time.  Buddy didn't care for it because it wasn't big enough yet. 

The kids started horse riding lessons last week.  It's one of the things they are able to do because of homeschooling.  We wouldn't have the time to do it otherwise.  Last week was just learning about horses and equipment.  This week they'll start riding. 

I thought Bohdin would be busy with swim team this fall but he didn't make the team when he tried out last night.  They recommended additional lessons to correct his leg position.  We'll most likely do private lessons next month.  He's already done private lessons twice and each time he had a teacher that works with the swim team.  He needs some one on one time.  His previous teacher thought he would be okay to make the team so maybe he also just had a bad day.  I don't know but more practice on his technique would be a good thing.

Nyla has been talking about a popstar show for weeks.  She says she's been practicing with Ch-.  There were invitations but the show never happened.  One day we were surprised to be invited to the backyard to watch the popstar show.  Cora chickened out and decided to just watch instead of participate.  There really was a popstar show.  They sang three original songs.  It was fun to watch. 

Everything else

Nyla has spent a good poriton of the summer collecting bugs.  She became interested in beetles when we planted the garden but her interest has extended to other creatures as well.  She has had a significant roly poly collection which she accidentally killed in the sun, several beetles, butterflies, and lightning bugs.  Her interest doesn't really extend into learning more about them through books or vidoes although we do have one really cool beetle book she did enjoy. 

A lot of our outdoor time this summer has been spent in the backyard.  The kids didn't spend very much time at the playground.  Bored one day we went to the playground in the afternoon.  I met a lady there from Prague with three kids.  Two of them were almost the same age as Nyla and Cora.  Nyla and the almost six year old boy hit it off.  They played for almost two hours together and could have played longer.  When it was time to go he asked his mom if he could marry Nyla when he was older.  Then he decided he couldn't wait that long and they decided to get married right then.  He led her in a dance and declared that they were married.  Nyla didn't catch the name of her new husband but I did.  I took the mom' s number and I want to get together again with her.

With C- gone Ch- has become the sole playmate.  One day when she was occupied I took Nyla and Cora for a walk through the neighborhood in search of a new playmate.  She did meet a little girl and seconds after making introductions a fire truck pulled up and extended its ladder.  They hooked up the hose and started spraying from on top of the ladder.  There were a lot of bigger kids there since it was an event set up for them at the end of VBS.  A lot of little kids joined in the fun as well.   That hose puts out a tremendous amount of water and anybody walking through the spray would become instantly drenched.  I ran back to the house for the camera and Nyla's goggles.  Bohdin was playing in M-'s house at the time but word spread through the neighborhood quickly and he was soon outside. 








The kids had the last of their summer camps at the beginning of August.  Bohdin had hip hop and Nyla had another dance camp.   Hopefully I'll download the video off my phone eventually.  The kids are doing two weeks of swim right now so we go four days per week for two weeks.  I had signed the kids up for lessons at the same time but Nyla's class was cancelled and she was moved into a later time.  That eats up almost an additional hour of my day. 


Our homeschool year started on Aug 5th since public school started here on Aug 8th.  I've already planned some changes to Bohdin's schedule for next week.  We started out rocky after such a long break but by Thursday things were starting to pick up.  I need to get better organized with Nyla because right now we are just covering the basics but that will come once I get Bohdin settled.  I need to find a solution to Cora as well.  I tried an educational dvd for her but she didn't like that.  She just wants to play with Nyla.  Eventually we'll find something that works.  Yesterday we walked to the commissary as our PE and science.  The kids enjoyed exploring the holes in the trunks of the old trees in the area and collecting seeds and leaves. 

Friday is our field trip day so we can explore more of the area before we leave.  Originally we were going to do the butterfly exhibit at the botanical gardens but Buddy was tired from a late night of school work so I took the kids to the Toy and Miniature Museum instead.  It was pretty interesting.  The miniature portion has some really amazing craftsmanship.  It's incredible how much detail and work goes into something so tiny.  One of the miniature hand knotted rugs had over 17,000 knots.  





 






Nyla likes to see the bus off in the morning and greet it in the afternoon.  She gave Ch- a big hug today.   They played for quite some time in the backyard tonight with the Latvian girls and Cora.  Cora is growing up and plays outside a lot with the other kids now.  That's not something she was doing when we moved here.  They do all sorts of things.  The funnest thing I saw was them spinning around with their arms outstretched.  They looked like dancing princesses.  They also play pop star, tag, tea party, dogs with Cora being the dog, house, and a million other things.  I thought Nyla might be sad about not going to school but she's fine with it.  She liked the social aspect of it with recess as her favorite time but it wasn't enough social time for her.  When she came home from school she wanted to be with her friends.  With homeschooling at least she spends some time with her family.  I don't know how long we will do this for her but right now it is working well. 

Birthdays

I've fallen really far behind.  On Cora's birthday we went to a friend's house so Buddy could help him make beer.  We came home and had C-'s family over for dinner one last time before they left the next morning.  We just recylced the previous cake and put new chocolate frosting on it.  Not too many days go by without somebody mentioning how much Charlie is missed.  I miss the whole family.  The dynamic of our building has changed and it's not as fun as before. 



Nana and Papa arrived for Nyla's birthday.  It was a small affair with pink rabbits on brownies instead of a cake.  The weekend was pretty relaxed.  We ate barbecue, saw trains, went to Crown Center, and explored Ft. Leavenworth.  I spent the remaining time taking advantage of the lull before our homeschooling year started to plan everything out.  Between the upcoming move and losing a semester while he was in public school I wanted to make sure we accomplished as much as I wanted before our long winter break.