A Few Days In

 The kids have finally stopped asking to go back home.  Bertram was doing it from the first day, Bron joined in soon after.  But I think it's been a couple days since they've asked

Thursday we didn't do much.  We went shopping in the morning and went to the kids' favourite store, 5 Below.  The love that store (so do I), but our closest one is an hour away, so we don't go very often.  Bertram got a big water gun that he played with for a good portion of the afternoon. We also went to the library, and got books for the kids to read.  Bertram was highly disappointed by the lack of  Yokai- Watch books.  My sister came over for dinner, so I got to see her for a bit.

The big water gun

Friday We went to Walmart and Crumbl early in the day.  Walmart is another store I never go to.  We have one close to the house, but it's not in my usual route, so I rarely go.  I let each of the kids chose something.  Bron got a unicorn lantern.  (She often asks for "Something beautiful", which can be had to decipher).  Bertram got an Among Us guy.  He has been very into that game (and YouTube videos about it).  But I got out of the store for under $60, So I felt pretty good about that.  

When we came back from that Jenna (my step-dad's daughter in law) came over with her two boys, and brought us some legos to play with. Her boys are 4 and 5.5 so the kids got on pretty well.  Friday afternoon we went to Rebecca's house to swim.  Both kids love the water.  Bertram is over-confident of his abilities, which is always scary.  But he kept his life vest on most of the time.  Bron stayed int he shallow kiddie part of the pool.  I was a bad mom, and didn't think to bring snacks or water with me.  A nice dad gave Bron a bag of Goldfish.  That evening we had a little party for Bronwyn's birthday.  (Rebecca and her husband Ray came, as did my other sister Jessica). She had really been chomping at the bit since she saw there were presents.

Saturday morning I got my hair done.  Well, I got my roots done and got a trim.  I'm getting tired of my hair, it's time for a change, but I don't have a stylist at the moment.  We went to Target in the afternoon.  It rained a little, so Bronwyn and I walked around in the rain.  Summer rain is still such an anomaly to me.  We get cold rain, in the winter (sometimes.  see: drought).  But it rains through the summer and the heat makes it perfect for playing in. 

Brony in the light rain

Sunday we went to Reid's 4th Birthday.  (He is Jenna's son, so the kids' step-cousin, I guess).  They have a big above-ground pool.  And had a large bouncy house with a slide.  The pool was the perfect depth for Bertram, so he didn't need his vest.  They had a blast.  We spent the afternoon watching YouTube (going between minecraft videos and Ralph and Bella (cat videos).  I thought the kids would be asleep early, from playing so hard, but they went to sleep at normal times.  However, they both went to sleep in my bed.  I slept til 1, and now I'm awake.  Both kiddos are sleeping, diagonally in my bed.

Bertram, lounging

Bounce house

It's been very hot (95-100) everyday, with high humidity.  So we've been inside a lot, which unfortunately means a lot of screen time.  But I guess it's their vacation too.  I've been lining up activities for them to do.  Tomorrow we're going to the trampoline park.  Tuesday we're (hopefully) swimming at my aunt's house, but it's supposed to rain.  So we may just go to visit, which will be far less enjoyable for the kids. Wednesday we're going to the water park.  Thursday and Friday are currently open.  But we'll likely go to the kids museum, and maybe the mall.  The mall is a ways away.  There was a mall very close to my mom's house.  In it's heyday it was really nice.  Then businesses started leaving.  Now it's a Burlington, and a couple small stores.  I'm surprised they haven't closed the whole thing.

The other thing I want to do while we're here is eat at Cracker Barrel (which we don't have).  And maybe Sonic a few times (Sonic is 30+ minutes from our house in San Jose, so we don't go often).