A String of Birthdays

Birthday Season is up and running full speed! My birthday kicks us off with Nikolas' just five days after. Nikolas, at 12, started a tradition of the two of us spending a day together--usually involving lunch and shopping of some sort. This year, though he's older and busier, was no different--he still made time to hang out with his mom :-) We had a delicious sushi lunch at a new restaurant--which may very well become a new favorite. He also brought me flowers and we shared tea and conversation. Though we did not get any photos, the time we spent was precious. I know that this tradition of ours has the opportunity to fade as he steps out and makes a life of his own--so I very much cherish it now.

My time with Nikolas was ahead of my actual birthday (gotta work the schedule!). On my birthday proper, I actually spent most of the day being mom and doing things like dental appointments and school supervision. I did however, take a great lunch break and treated myself to a wonderful charcuterie box.

In the evening, we had cake and gifts. :-)

Nikolas turned 20 this year! Career building is demanding so he worked on his birthday but came home to a dinner of his choice with friends in attendance as well as cake and gifts. Sonja did a phenomenal job on his card (all of the children made great cards though) and he got Hudson socks--so much fun!

Though he worked on his birthday, Nikolas arranged to have the day after off for celebration. These four have been celebrating birthdays together for the last four years.

Though the coordination of events is sometimes rough and the activity they choose, as well as the level of picture taking, varies from year to year, they've been faithful to celebrate together making memories to last. Nikolas and Bethany's birthdays are one day apart while Levi's is in May and Jozsef's in June. The bigger outing usually happens in April but there is always celebrating for the other times as well. This year, they made a day of the April gathering. They started the day with coffee and art viewing at two local museums followed by a lunch break before experiencing a rage room where they had the fun of smashing glass, monitors, keyboards, and the like. After smashing the keyboard, the boys made their own art. :-) They had a blast!

When all was done, they came home to tell us stories of their adventures over dinner and we topped off the night with cake and gifts, accentuated by cards artfully made by the younger children--this time for Bethany. :-)

It was a great day. We are looking forward to Levi's birthday as he is turning 21 this year. Plans are still being made...

Wild Animal Expo

Spring brings wonderful blooms, great weather, not too many bugs, and opportunites to enjoy activites. Therefore, we take every opportunity we can to explore and experience. :-) Our first spring event was the Wild Animal Expo where there were falconry displays, dock diving dogs, bass fishing lessons, reptiles to learn about and touch, bird dog demonstrations, food to enjoy, and vendors to shop.

The two older boys were away for the weekend helping at a church event, but the other children, John, and I attended the expo. We actually unexpectedly ran into Nikolas there as he was chaperoning a group of youth in a rousing game of Bigger and Better. Nikolas' team gave it a good go, but Jozsef's team took the prize with the top trade of a piano! :-) There was much to enjoy but our absolute favorite was and is the dock dogs. Watching them take the challenge of high jumps and long jumps over water is always exciting.

At the end of the day, we were tired and a little burned from the sun, but we were happy to have shared a day of fun together.

A Day in the Life

We participated in a homeschool field trip recently which taught us about a day in the life of Medieval Europe for the yomen farmers through historically accurate costumed interpreters and replicated items form the time as well as hands-on activities and demonstration stations. It's always fun to get up close and personal with history. We learned a lot and our costumed interpreters were our favorite. We learned that brie and bread were common travel foods and that stews often contained oatmeal. We learned that shovels were tipped with metal to make them last longer and that the term "sleep tight" had everything to do with the ropes people used as mattresses. We also learned that stockings were tied to your underwear and that swashbuckling was not a pirate term at all. Swashbuckling was about Medieval defenses of the yomen farmers (the middle class) who swashed with swords and protected their hands with a small shield called a buckler.

Though the focus for the day was on the Medieval life, the history center had other displays on local history. Since we were there, we were sure to explore that part of the center as well. We enjoyed learning about history regarding early settlers, slavery and civil rights, natural disasters, development of technology, and a few local hsitorical figures. Old photographs are always very neat to see, but learning about the use of glass negatives was really interesting. Seeing the original Maytag washer and the Bell phone switchboard was great too! There were so many great discoveries for us to uncover as we learned more about local history.

It was all very intriguing, fun, and worth the drive. :-)