It was rainy Sunday morning, so Zac took the kids to the only indoor place for a rainy Sunday: Marbles. It looks like they have some new play areas there. He also took them to see a 3-D nature documentary at the adjacent IMAX theater, which they all enjoyed.
It's always fun to gaze at the skyline from the parking deck!
Simon got some packs of easy-fill water balloons for his birthday, so after supper today our kids invited the new neighbor kids over for a water balloon fight. Aside from Alice's point-blank attacks, it seems to have gone well and everybody looked like they were having fun.
Zac took the kids to Prairie Ridge for the day since although I'm doing better, I'm still in no shape for leaving the house (or being far from a bathroom) for very long. He took some portraits of our cheeky children, and of course, documented some of the fun.
My friend Laura felt so bad for me for being so sick that she sent me a get-well present: a hammock! Since we already have one down in the backyard by the pond, we decided to try putting this one on our deck for easy access.
We started the morning of Simon's fifth birthday with the traditional cake reveal. I don't know why Simon reverted to baby talk for this event--probably overly excited.
Then, after having his favorite breakfast (crepes with powdered sugar) we headed to the pool for a playdate with Donovan.
Simon had apparently been squatting on the edge of the diving board for quite some time when I came out of the bathroom. I thought I could trigger a jump by newly arriving on the scene and telling Simon I was making a video to show the grandparents. It worked!
We stayed at the pool until nearly 3pm because the kids were having so much fun. We finally headed home where Simon spent some time with his other friend: a little black beetle he found when we were leaving the pool.
We had Simon's favorite supper: grilled salmon, green beans, and couscous.
Then it was time for cake!
Finally, it was time to open the birthday presents!
Simon got an analogue wristwatch (which he can read accurately to the minute),
a clock for his bedroom,
a launching rocket,
and a proper bug house.
He quickly transferred his beetle to his new home.
What a great day with this wonderful, cute, sweet five-year-old!
Simon said he wanted to build a stool. Zac told him to draw a picture of what he wanted. Then Zac helped him make it. Simon even hammered a lot of the nails himself. Fun afternoon project!
For today's excursion, Zac took the kids to the Eno River, where the kids had fun splashing around and catching fish and crawdads. A few other kids were there too, so they had some playmates.
Since we didn't end up going to Ohio this week due to my health problems, and Alice isn't in a camp and Simon's daycare is closed, Zac has been fully in charge of the kids. He takes them somewhere every day so I can have some peace and quiet in the house to lay around and go to the bathroom.
Today he took them to our favorite: Durham.
How to a get a butterfly to land on you: Two Different Techniques
