off track activities

We've never attended a year-round school before, so having the younger kids off track for a few weeks was kind of a fun new thing for us. Unfortunately we filled it with long-overdue doctors and dentist appointments. Josh didn't have any cavities (for the first time ever!), and Ashley actually had a small cavity (for the first time ever!) and had it filled a few days later.

But we did a few fun things in between.

 We went to walk around the mall, and found Macy's already set up their letter's to santa mailbox. So Ashley and Josh wrote a letter.

 Josh watched the Believe Meter as he slipped his letter into the mailbox, to see if it went up. I don't think it did.

 We took Ethan to his new Orthodontist to talk about braces. He gets them this Wednesday. But the orthodontist had a wii in the lobby, so Josh was happy to wait while Ethan was examined.

Josh had to go to an allergist to check out how allergic he was to nuts, and also which nuts he is allergic to. Still totally allergic to Walnuts, and then pecans, and then hazlenuts. Poor guy. He asked me to take this picture so he could see what it looked like. 

The doctor also wanted him to get his blood drawn to test the exact levels of allergic-ness, and also to look at a few other foods. You can see how excited Josh is about this as we wait in the lobby for more needles. But he did like the cool hospital band they strapped around his wrist.

Ashley and Ethan also both had to get glasses last week. Strangely enough, Ashley's eyes were exactly the same as Ethan's old prescription, and so we didn't have to buy new glasses for her yet. She was sweet and said she didn't mind wearing his old ones. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of Ethan's new (and totally expensive...) frames.

 One of the days during their break, Ashley had to go to school to do her Math Olympiad's team practice, so Josh and I went to a nearby park to hang out.

 Hey, look! I was there, too.

 We also went to stroll around Gardner Village, and Josh and Ashley loved it. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that I bought them a piece of homemade taffy, and also a doughnut, and let them buy a toy with their own money in the cute little shops.

 They loved it so much, they asked if we could go there every week. I was a nice mom and said no.

 Ashley wanted this sign from the furniture store. Too bad it cost $50. But I took a picture for her to remember it forever :)

 And I also took a picture of my dream table. It's totally expensive, but it's rustic and solid, and has such an amazing finish that it wouldn't be destroyed by water or homework or kids. I want it...

 Since Halloween is over, the shops all had their halloween stuff on sale. Ashley got this cute pirate costume for her American Girl for a few dollars, then came home and dressed like a pirate herself.

 This is a yellow, yellow picture. But the kids begged to go check out the Lego store, so we went a few days ago, and Ethan decided what he wanted to spend his birthday money on. An architecture set of the Trevi Fountain in Rome. The other two bought themselves little inexpensive sets, too, and everyone spent the next few hours building and playing with their new legos.

Tomorrow everyone will be in school again, and I think I'll miss them more than they'll miss me. But maybe I'll be able to save some money now that they won't be home to go to the doctor or dentist every day.