Fun Friday

Yesterday was a wonderful confluence of early release and beautiful weather. Unlike today when it has been in the high 30s and snowing, yesterday was in the low 60s and sunny. It worked out well because Lily finally got to enjoy her birthday present. Amanda bought a Groupon for horseback riding at a local farm and Lily went with her friend Grace. This is a photo of her upon her return.

Riding High

Amanda was a little nervous for the girls only because the group coming back had a nervous rider who fell off her horse. Lily and Grace did not have that problem and Pancho behaved wonderfully for Lily. She decided that she has developed a taste for horseback riding. To quote C-3PO, "we're doomed!" Speaking of C-3PO, we began a Star Wars marathon last night. Amanda had dinner plans with friends, so the kids and I watched Star Wars while eating pizza, popcorn, and cupcakes. It had been about a year since Noah saw Star Wars and it was time for a refresher. We watched The Empire Strikes Back today and I plan for us to watch Return of the Jedi on Monday since we are all off for Presidents' Day.

The day was also fun for Noah because he got to hang out at his friend Nathan's house during the day. It is great to see how well they play together. There is rarely any fighting and they just enjoy hanging out and doing boy stuff like shooting baskets on the inside Nerf hoop, playing outside, and playing Wii.

Obviously it won't be like this every time, but this was how to run an early release day. As Grandpa E used to like to quote, don't you just love it when a plan comes together?

International Night

Tonight was the second annual international night at Northwoods Elementary. We would not have gone, but Lily was in a play about the Trojan War. This was something she did in her AG (gifted) class and they decided to bring it out for international night. Forgive the choppiness, but I didn't realize that she was in back-to-back scenes.

Lily seems pretty natural playing Aphrodite, doesn't she? All the kids did a great job, particularly the young man who played Paris. 

After the play we were treated to some dancing. Lily's friend Adele from the bus stop did Irish dancing. It takes some courage to get up on that stage by yourself, but she did it and she did a great job. We got everyone clapping along with the music too. After that Noah and I ducked out to try playing some New Zealand dodge ball in the gym. It's always fun to talk to Coach Cuffe.

We hit the various tables where folks set up boards talking about their countries and we got to sample some food. I'd say personally the highlight was the homemade baklava. It was neat to learn a few things about the various countries. I also suggested to the Dominican Republic folks that under their country's exports they should add "shortstops."

I suspect that they will do this again next year. I really wanted to take the kids to chess night at the local game store instead, but I'm still glad that we went to this. 

Social Weekend

We just finished a very social weekend. It started on Friday with the Daddy-Daughter dance at Lily's dance studio. Lily and I started the evening with dinner at Firewurst, which we both enjoyed quite a bit. However, after dancing a while I started to regret the wasabi slaw. We did some line dances (Hokey Pokey, Electric Slide, Cha-Cha Slide), a little waltz, a little swing, and some popular songs. I got to learn some moves that Lily and her friends made up for the newer ones. I think Lily was surprised that I can move a little bit. We had a great time.

We started off Saturday with Noah's basketball game. It didn't start until 10:00, but we had to be there at 9:15 for team pictures. I gave the girls a break and they didn't arrive until just before the player introductions. Plus, they had to run an errand for a birthday party Lily was to attend on Sunday. Noah played much better. He pulled down two boards and brought the ball up the floor a couple of times. Unlike most 5 year-olds, he understands that he is supposed to pass when he gets in trouble. That was encouraging.

After basketball we went to Uncle Eric's birthday celebration lunch at a local restaurant. Right after that we stopped home to let out the dog and then met friends from our old church at the NC Museum of History. That was fun, but by the time we were done we were all very tired.

Sunday started off with church as usual. We came home, had a quick lunch, and then I took Lily to a birthday party. I was told that there would be a "fashion show" from 4:00-4:30 and the birthday girl's mom encouraged the other parents to attend. I told Amanda about it and she picked up Lily. There were a few snags though:

• The show didn't start until closer to 5:00
• It lasted about 45 minutes
• No other moms came

Nevertheless, Amanda survived and Lily had a great time. It was good that Lily went because apparently this girl likes Lily and it meant a lot for Lily to come (her mom's words). We wouldn't necessarily know that from the stories we've heard in third grade, but things can be complicated among 8-9 year-old girls. It encourages us that girls want to have Lily around. I think she is more popular than she thinks she is, but that is just fine.

This week is ramping up already with activities for me planned every evening. More to come later.