Busy, busy weekend...

Usually, we don't have much going on. We're just excited to kinda hang out at home, but I could tell it was time for an adventure so Saturday was busy from 8 am to 10 pm.

The boys both started swimming lessons - I'm kinda ashamed to admit they haven't had any before (well, John had some when he was much younger) but I just haven't had the $$ & even now I don't but they've got to learn to swim. So, better late than never, although they both were a tad bit embarrased being the oldest kids in their classes. Oh well...

After swimming, we grabbed a quick lunch & then off to pick up Josh & Justin. These are 2 boys in our ward that John & Ben really connect with. Their mom watches J & B often on non-school days & they really do play well together. We went down to the Mall of America for a Battle Bots competition.

We all enjoyed that, but I had promised them they could ride a few rides. The amusement park was now called Nickolodeon Universe & they had some new roller coasters & rides. John had recently been there for a "physics field trip". They had to ride a roller coaster - fill out a physics worksheet about it & then spent the rest of the day riding rides. This isn't school like I remember it. Anyway, he was getting everyone excitd about all the new rides. Poor John, he's extremely adventurous & no one would go on the most intense coaster with him, but all in all I think they had fun.

You can kind of see behind the sign where the roller coaster comes straight down - this of course after going, literally, straight up. It's still amazing that all of this is indoors, which was wonderful for Saturday as it was miserable cold, windy & snowing.

A quick treat on our way out & then we had to rush off to Josh's birthday party - another exciting event. Quite a few of the boys from the ward got together & had a video game party. 3 TV's - 2 Wii's & 1 GameCube. Lots of fun & pizza & many exhausted boys at the end of the night. We'll be ready for a nice, quiet weekend next week.

Here's our latest update ... we just seem to keep busy with 'stuff'.

Ben got a new bicycle & has really been developing his riding skills. It was on sale at Target & the morning we went to get it was very cold - windy & snowy. And yes, it was just a couple of weeks ago ...

He rode it home from the store in spite of the cold wind blowing. He's preparing for the 8 mile 4th grade bike trip at the end of the school year.

John was invited to participate in school districts "Bridge to Knowledge". They have a physics section & then get to choose a couple of classes to take. John got to take a class on geocaching & then another one at the Observatory. His middle school has an observatory ( JMSObsevatory)- the largest one in Minnesota. He enjoyed both classes, but has decided he really enjoys geocaching & has asked for a handheld GPS for his birthday.

One weekend Ben decided to come up with a fun activity for both of them. He drug all the pillows & blankets into the living room & decided to go sumo wrestling. As you can see, fun was had by all (at least until they had to clean up all the blankets!)

Other news - Ben learned magic tricks one night at scouts & came home & put on a magic show for John & I.