School carnival

On Friday, Abuela drove down to join us for the kids' school carnival. We packed a picnic but ended up letting the kids get a few snacks there and brought our picnic back home to eat later that evening.

When we first got there, the kids were all excited to walk around and see everything that was there. Although we didn't eat at it, we did get a few pictures of the food truck that the kids thought was funny. The Sticky Pig.

The school had samples for the upcoming fundraiser which included cookies and soup. Little Bear tried the chicken noodle but wasn't really a fan. Everyone tried different cookies and loved them. We also saw some of the gift items that are in the fundraiser and saw a few that would be perfect for a few people so I plan to order a few holiday presents once we get the forms. 

Since they have a spirit week coming up and we are new to the school, I bought the kids each a school shirt to wear on the school pride day. 

After that, Little Bear was asked to play soccer with some classmates so I gave him a few dollars for snacks and let him go off and play. 

The middle two kids were happy to see that their music teacher was DJ-ing for the event and went over to talk to him for a little bit.

While there, Pudge caught a grasshopper (he let it go as soon as he showed us and I didn't get another picture)

Then they got popcorn, pizza, and  Kona Ice (and of course mixed every single flavor in their cups... yuck.).

When they were done eating, they wanted to run around and play. Even the child with the broken arm. The school had different games and fun things like hula hoops around for them to play with so Pudge stays and played with those while I took Pequeño to the blowup obstacle course. 

Each kid was allowed to go twice for free and then buy additional turns. It was a huge attraction so he only went once because he didn't want to get back in line but he loved it.

Then Pequeño wanted to check out the firetruck that they had for the kids to climb in. 

Once he was done exploring it, he wanted to check out the school's nature walk so we went to ask the other kids if they wanted to go too. Little Bear was still playing and didn't want to go. When we went back to ask Abuela and Pudge,  we found that some of Pudge's school friends had joined him in the game so we convinced Pequeño to play there for a little while longer. Then we went to check out the nature walk. 

Cuatro thought that it was hilarious that we had to duck under branches and kept laughing each time. 

It was starting to get late/darker by the time that the kids were done in the woods so we went and got Little Bear and decided to go home to have our picnic. 

At home, Papa had just gotten there so we were able to eat together (I had made extra sandwiches in case anyone would have been hungry while we were there). Then we watched Coyote Peterson on YouTube (a guy who makes educational animal videos) which we all really like and Abuela hadn't seen before. 

In the morning, it was Pequeño's turn to have a sleepover at Abuelo and Abuela's house (Little Bear and Pudge each had their own turn during the summer) so they left after breakfast. 

The broken arm

Since the kids had Thursday off from school, we planned a park play date with friends. 

Between our two families, there were 8 kids so the playground went from empty to busy in an instant. 

About 10 minutes after arriving, Pudge fell off the spinning monkey bars.. They're domes that rotate as you climb on them. 

These: (picture from a different day and is Little Bear...)

At first, I thought that he was only slightly hurt and would be fine so we put a cold metal water bottle against it for a minute. Right after he fell, one of the kids friends found a little painted rock on it that said "smile" (It is part of a trend here where people paint and hid rocks around to brighten people's days and then you can keep them or reside somewhere else) and gave it to Pudge to help him feel better. His wrist then started swelling and he was still crying so my friend whose child had recently broken their wrist (twice!) in the same way, took a look at it. When she looked up and gave me the wide eyes, I knew that we needed to hightail it to the dr. So we loudly made our way to the car (one child crying in pain and one crying because they didn't want to leave the playground that they just started playing at.. thankfully the other two were fine and/or helpful.) Our friend had ice in her van (we had planned to have a picnic) and put some in a bag for Pudge to have for his arm which was much better than the cold water bottle. As soon as we got in the van, I started to look up directions to the ER and also call Papa to let him know we were headed there. (While still parked and talking to Papa, Little Bear realized that he had forgotten his sweatshirt and hopped out to grab it and then ran back to the car). Then we were off. 

When we got to the children's ER, both younger kids were asleep. So I put Cuatro on my back, woke Pequeño and convinced him to get out of the car (apparently he was "sooooo tired") and Little Bear helped unbuckle Pudge so we could help him out of the van. (I forgot my phone in the car.) Overall, the kids did a great job during our time there. Between being in the waiting room, seeing the doctor, X-rays, and having a soft cast made, we were there around 4 hours (which spanned over lunch and naptime and there were no complaints). Right before we left, one of the nurses asked if it was okay for the kids to have a snack after Pequeño asked if we could get something to eat on the way home so they each got a snack bag of goldfish and an apple juice cup.

Pudge' wrist and elbow were both broken during the fall and the elbow was also dislocated. 

(After we were back in our driveway, he said "Good thing I had my rock in my pocket!" and showed me that he had kept it with him during the hospital visit.)

The next morning, I had to make him an appointment with the orthopedist to get a hard cast. Unfortunately, they needed to take additional X-rays because the ones that they had for the ER weren't enough to rule out surgery. He had a tough time because it was very painful to turn his arm in the ways that they needed but he got them done and didn't need to have surgery. They are expecting the cast to be on for 4-6 weeks however he has a follow up at 3 weeks and there is a *small* possibility that it would be okay by then. 

(We didn't even attempt to change his shirt with the soft cast on because he had been in so much pain from any jostling)

He got to pick what color he wanted and we requested the kind that he is able to get wet since we still have the pool open and would be going on vacation towards the later end of his projected timeline (if it's not removed before then). 

To celebrate how brace he was, we went to one of his favorite places... the fish hatchery. As we were getting out of the car, we saw a bald eagle flying over the fish and into the woods which was really neat. 

We got one bag of fish food and he sat and fed them in a few different spots. 

(Cuatro was there with us all day too and was ready for a snack and nap at this point)

We stayed for about 45 minutes before we needed to leave to pick up the other boys from school. Pudge fell asleep on the way to get them and spent most of the evening sleeeing as well. 

While you were away

When I started this blog, it was for my own sanity/memory keeping/ and mostly for Papa to be able to see what we were up to while he was away with the Army. Now that he is no longer in the military but working in a position which allows him to travel (much to his delight since he loves to experience new things), it is still a great way for me to jot down the things that we have been doing and share our days. 

Lately, Papa has been on a work trip in Canada (the kids and I are very jealous of the beautiful views that he has been sending us).

While he has been gone, there have been FaceTime calls with each child...

And we have been filling our time with school, play dates, book clubs, gymnastics, soccer, sometimes with practices ending after the sun went down...

 homework

Sometimes homework in the car due to sport practices..

and lots of playing outside,

(The kids found a toad hiding in one of the trees in the yard)

(Walking stick bug on our screen door)

and the kids checked off and on to see how far away he was that night.

Beginning to feel like fall

Even though it's not technically "Fall/Autumn" on the calendar, today felt like it. 

This season, we only have one child playing soccer (Pudge and Pequeño are focusing on other things but will have the chance to play soccer again in the spring if they want.). So, we started the morning off with the first game of the season. Little Bear's team won 3-2!

We brought the pop up tent for the younger ones since it was sunny and windy. 

Towards the end of the game, I took the younger kids for a walk to the nearby farmer's market which was at the Velodrome to get some duck eggs. 

While we were there, a bike race was going on so the kids and I watched for. Few minutes. They were in awe of how skilled the riders were. 

It was warming up so I decided to get each of the kids a frozen lemonade. (They wanted a silly picture)

Once we walked back to the fields, the game was ending. So we let the kids play at the giant sandbox for a little bit.

Little Bear used the time to take a break and drink his frozen lemonade. 

After that, we headed out to get groceries as a family. First stop was Costco where the kids had a "sample" lunch. 

Then we made two quick stops at Walmart and Weis before heading home to start making this weekend's dinner (and leftovers for tomorrow and beyond).  Papa got to work making a marinade for the skirt steak while I got the groceries put away. 

Skirt steak (on of my favorite things)

We sent the kids outside to play while Papa cooked and I cleaned. After a while, Cuatro went for nap and we let the bigger kids play in the pool. 

A few hours later, dinner was ready!

After dinner, Papa and the boys set up the tent in our basement for the kids to have a "camp in". They put sleeping bags and the full size pillow topper in for the kids to sleep on and they each brought their pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals. Then they got to lay and watch Trolls until they fell asleep.