Go, Bears!

 

Several years ago, Paul and I stopped watching football. It's been a while since we have had cable tv, so we don't watch any sports. Last year I asked the kids a variety of questions to determine what sort of experiences to include on a first-time experience bucket list. Some of the questions related to sporting events such as whether they'd like to see a PSU football game. The kids said "no" to most of the athletic events I asked them about, but the exception was that they said they wanted to see a hockey game. When I was their age we lived in Maryland, and I remember going to NHL hockey games to see the Washington Capitals. It would be a longer drive if we drove to Pittsburgh or Philadelphia to see the Flyers or Penguins, so I decided that we'd go to a Hershey Bears game. Three nights a year they give out free tickets to HersheyPark at a Bears game. It's been seven years since we've been to HersheyPark, and the last time we went (May 2016) the water park wasn't open, so the kids have never been on the water rides there. The kids attended their first hockey game on Sunday evening, and we received 2024 HersheyPark tickets that we plan to use when we go to the park with the Towfighis next year in June. Our seats were above the goal that the Cleveland Monsters were defending for two of the three periods, which was a good place to be to see a lot of the action as the Bears defeated the Monsters 5-2. We had an early dinner at Pizza Hut before the game, and we visited Chocolate World before driving home after the game. We rode the free ride (which also means everyone gets a small piece of chocolate), and the kids also received a few extra pieces of candy as we walked throughout the building. Nadia was the least enthusiastic, but the rest of us really enjoyed the game, and I think all five of us are looking forward to going to HersheyPark in June! 

Here are some things I am thankful for today:

1. The boys were able to take a Safe Babysitter course on Saturday that was offered by a local hospital. They received their American Heart Association certification at the end of the day as they learned CPR and other first aid. 

2. While they were at that class, Nadia and I spent four hours working with other volunteers to pack 43,000 meals for people in Uganda, Ecuador, and Haiti. 

3. Saturday evening the VanHorns came over to our home for dinner. My kids enjoy spending time with Julianna (who is in 9th grade) and Nathaniel (who is in 8th grade). All of us played Big Picture Apples to Apples together. The four adults plus the two girls also played Taboo.

4. We enjoyed our time in Hershey on Sunday evening. Thankfully, it's only about 90 minutes from our home. 

5. Our second meeting of our little co-op went well yesterday. One family brought a second microscope which was helpful for the marine biology lab. I haven't taken any photos of our new co-op yet. Hopefully, I'll take some next Tuesday! 

6. Yvonne's body is finally acclimating to the high altitude in Ecuador! 

7. Although I had to make more trips today because of Nadia took the PSAT from 8:00-11:00, Nadia and Ian are now staying longer on Wednesdays so that usually I don't make as many trips to church on Wednesdays. Usually, I drop them off at 1:15 for art/chorus. They have a break for 90 minutes before they attend Bible quizzing (4:30-6:00), midweek meal (6:00-6:30), and youth group (6:30-8:00). This has meant Oliver has stopped attending Bible quizzing. He'll most likely rejoin it next fall. Paul, Oliver, and I return to church at 6:30 for Bible study. We all go home together after 8:00. Chorus was cancelled today because of a pep rally so Nadia and Ian had a longer break than usual in between art and Bible quizzing. Had we known about the pep rally, I would have had them skip art class today and just brought them at 4:30 for Bible quizzing. 

8. The repairman returned and finished cleaning our heat pump. We haven't gotten the bill yet, but I'm sure it will be a much smaller charge than it would have been if they had to replace the motor like they thought at first. We're thankful it's working again. It will be many months until we'll need the air conditioning again, but we will want to be able to heat the house!