April 19, 2007

We have very sad news. Snowflake, the preschool guinea pig, passed away this week. This is Alex's first death and he's very upset. They talked about Snowflake and death at preschool yesterday, and then Alex was very sad in the evening.

I did get the preschool director to give Alex a picture of Snowflake to remember her by. RIP, Snowflake :(



7:10 Drop off.

7:30 Breakfast - Ariel ate mushed apricots but didn't do too well with the waffles.

7:40 Took the boys swimming. Everything went MUCH better this morning. Alex didn't fight getting dressed and going to the pool.

8:00 Swimming. Adam did alright. He thought I was getting in the water too, and when I didn't he was a bit sad. He's swimming well between people, but not so well to walls, so that's what he'll work on next week. Alex was a rock star. He floated on his back and on his belly and almost didn't grab the instructor at all. He even did some gliding where he wasn't touching ANYTHING but water.

8:30 Jeremy met us at the pool with Ariel.

8:45 I got home and realized I didn't know where my purse was. I called Jeremy to see if I left it in his car, but I didn't. I started looking around, then I remembered that when I pulled up to the house I saw a note taped to the door. I checked the note and it turns out I left my purse on the sidewalk and a neighbor found it and put in in my backyard. Yeesh.

Ariel went down for a nap.

10:10 Woke up Ariel, we left to meet Ellen for coffee.

10:20 Starbucks. I got coffee and all the kids but Ariel had a donut.

10:50 Left Starbucks with an extra kid, Ted. I figured I needed to pay Ellen back for Tuesday.

I love eavesdropping on the boys. Ted never calls Ariel by her name, he always says, "Your baby" as in "Look Alex, your baby is eating goldfish off the floor." Here's a conversation I overheard in the car:

Ted: How old is your baby?
Alex: She's one.
Ted: Did your baby come out of your mommy's belly?
Alex: No, she came out of someone else's belly.
Ted: Mae came from China.
Alex: Ariel came from Broomfield.

Ah, a somewhat less exotic birthplace, lol.

11:00 Got home, the kids played while I got ready for our Fabulous Adventure - The Aquarium! I packed us all a lunch and then we left.

11:30 Left for The Aquarium.

12:00 Aquarium.

The boys did really well staying together and staying with me:



Ted checks out the fish up high:



Ariel was exciting too. I swore I heard her say, "Fish!"



And here are 3 pirates:



And the shark tank:



At the end we even hand fed the manta rays. Alex went first and then Adam was just going to toss his fish into the water, so Ted did the last two fish.

1:00 Sack lunch on the patio. Ted had an apple and PB&J. Ariel had string cheese and yogurt. She wouldn't touch the bread or oat square cereal.

After lunch, the boys wanted to get giant suckers from the snack shop. That looked like a bad idea all around, so I told them we would get a treat somewhere else.

2:00 Left the Aquarium.

2:30 Stopped by the grocery store. The boys each picked out a $.12 Tootsie Pop and Ariel, who had fallen asleep in the car, stayed asleep all through the store. We also picked out Star Wars (episode 4, the original and the best) to watch for the first time. There are Star Wars legos next to the Bionicles and Alex has been asking lots of questions about them, so I figured he was ready so see the movie.

3:00 Got home. Boys played for a bit, then requested Star Wars.

3:50 Ted left.

4:20 Ariel pick up.