Softball, soccer, and superheroes

Yesterday Oliver and I were not 100% back to normal, but we were both doing much better and able to get back to the "land of the living" as my mom used to say. I had assumed Paul would be at work and had asked his parents to help me with chauffeuring Nadia to her softball game, but he took the day off so he could see Nadia's first softball game and Ian's soccer game. Ian and I had to leave at 8:50 because I had snack shack duty from 9-10 at the soccer field. Paul, Oliver, and Nadia headed out the door around 9:15 to take her to her softball game. Oliver, Paul's parents, Paul, and I watched Ian play a soccer game in the rain at 10:00, and then we drove to the softball field to watch the last 30 minutes of Nadia's softball game. The weather had been gorgeous on Thursday and Friday, but it was cold, windy, and rainy out on Saturday morning. The weather was back to being pretty again today; at one point today Oliver was wearing his bathing suit and going down the slip and slide at one of our neighbor's house, which was quite the contrast to wearing winter coats at the soccer game yesterday.

Ian was assigned to a different soccer team this spring than the one he was on in the fall. The visiting team demolished his team. Ian played during three of the four quarters and was always on offense. I know the wife of the assistant coach, and I enjoyed catching up with her during the game. We met at a ladies Bible study two years ago. Nadia was up to bat twice during her first game. She struck out the first time (which was before we arrived). She plays centerfield when on defense. The ball never came anywhere near her during the entire time she was on defense. The second time she was up to bat we got to see her make her first hit! The ball barely moved. It looked like a bunt, but it was enough for her to make it safely to first base. She made it to third base, and then the team had their third strike so she hasn't yet scored her first run. We witnessed the most exciting part of her game. Her team lost the game. I think the score was 2-5. This week she has three softball games. Thus far I can say I'd much rather watch a soccer or basketball game than a softball game. I need to work on my photography skills when dealing with a fence being in between myself and the players. Nadia was wearing her softball jersey, but you can't see it in the photos because she was wearing her jacket over it because it was raining during part of the game.

Before I knew the soccer game schedule, I had penciled in two different museums into our schedule for Saturday. The Children's Museum was having a Maker Faire from 10-4, and the Everhart Museum in Scranton was having a Superhero day from 1-4. We had never been to that museum, and it was free to get in yesterday all day (10-5) in light of the special event they were having. Earlier in the week I wondered if we'd go to either of them due to passing the germs around the family, but I asked the kids on Friday night if they wanted to go to one or both museums, and they voted for both. The only reason we were able to do both was because we skipped Oliver's soccer game at noon, but considering he was napping at noon, he definitely wasn't up for a soccer game yesterday even though his fever had finally broken.

We could have spent more time at the Maker Faire. There were many, many different interesting things to do. Nadia and Ian did some soldering for the first time to make a pin that lights up. I hope we can attend this event in

future years. It was our first because last year it was on the same day as the opening day of Knoebels, and we opted for Knoebels. In hindsight we should have left the faire a little earlier than we did because by the time we got to the Everhart Museum we were too late for some of the activities such as the guided tour of the museum, a magician's show, etc. I am glad we went to the Everhart museum, but I doubt we'll be back anytime soon. It's nothing too spectacular and is 90 minutes from our house. The superhero exhibit was our favorite. On their website they had encouraged kids to come wearing superhero costumes. Once we got there and Nadia realized not too many kids were actually wearing costumes, she was quick to shed the Captain America costume she had on. Oliver and Ian kept their costumes on (Mr. Incredible and Optimus Prime).

I had packed our lunches, and then we stopped for dinner on the way home. Paul wanted to go to Texas Roadhouse, but there wasn't one on our way home. The kids lobbied for Red

Robin, and that's where we ended up going. If both Paul and I are going it would be better to go on the first Wednesday of the month when kids' meals are free, but we rarely go out to a sit down restaurant without a gift card so it was okay to splurge. My meal was free. We should have skipped ordering a meal for Oliver, but thankfully Nadia ate a lot of his macaroni and cheese in addition to her meal. It was time for the kids to go to bed when we got home.

This morning the kids' choir sang. In the first service they did it with a live accompaniment, which I prefer. In the second service they used the sound track. Nadia had a brief solo near the beginning of the song. Ian and Nadia opted to go to their classrooms after they sang during the first service. That's the norm for Nadia but very unusual for Ian. He has been in his classroom only a couple of times over the past eight months. Oliver opted to attend the worship service twice today. That was a first! It was not shocking that he chose to sit with Grandma and Pop Pop during the second service, but I

was very surprised he made the choice to sit with Paul and I during the first service as in the past he's always chosen to attend his class (in the "airport") during the first service. I will say he was very well behaved during the first service although he really wanted some grape juice during communion, which I would not let him have. He did a better job of singing when he sang in both services. He's definitely making progress. I'll post one video below tonight, and I'll post the second service tomorrow. Nadia did a better job of smiling in the second service. Unfortunately when she's not smiling her "neutral" face doesn't actually look neutral - it looks almost angry.

Because of our sickness for the past 10 days, Paul's parents didn't come back to our house after church. I took advantage of the beautiful weather and mowed the lawn and also vacuumed out the van. The kids played outside with several different neighbors. Nadia played badminton for the first time. Aside from church we just stayed home today, which was fine with me after being out and about almost all day yesterday. Let me say I am SO glad to have energy again today. On Friday morning I was overwhelmed at the thought of loading the dishwasher. Today it felt great to be mowing the lawn. Paul had a headache today. He doesn't seem to have the same bug that we did, but it seems now it's his turn to not feel well. Hopefully he'll bounce back quickly.

The cupcake Ian decorated

Each banana played a different note via the computer!