All Aboard

We had a pretty good weekend. In fact, in went by pretty fast! Saturday afternoon Evan’s parents invited us to go to a town about 20 minutes away from our house to ride a train. We had seen pictures on the website, but we didn’t know what to expect. Since the train was free that day, there was a pretty good line when we showed up. Nicholas kept asking if we could ride the train now. I guess it was a good lesson in patience for all of us. But, the line was pretty steady and it was soon our turn.

Nicholas and Grandma waiting for the train

Nicholas sat in front of me with Evan and his parents behind us. Since my arms and legs were the only thing keeping Nicholas in his seat, I held on pretty tight at first.  That was probably the reason I felt like I had just ridden a horse when the ride was over. Nicholas liked it and said he was having fun. He did comment on the times that he felt the train was going too fast or too slow. He also covered his ears when the train whistle was blown.

He enjoyed it enough though to wait in the long line one more time to ride it again. This time his grandma got to hold onto him. I found this ride to be a lot more relaxing than the first since I could rest my legs. We tried to get Nicholas to cooperate and take some pictures in front of the train, but it wasn’t as easy as we had hoped. The train ride was during nap time, so he had a little bit of an attitude. We did manage to get a couple of pictures though.

Nicholas really didn't want to pose for the camera here.

Then we went to dinner and had pizza and dessert. Nicholas loves both, so other than the waiting for the food, he was pretty content. He picked out a super-rich and rather large brownie for dessert. I somehow managed to convince him to eat half and take the rest home. Our evening would not have been complete without a reminder of the fact that he missed his nap. Thankfully, he went to bed early that night.

Yesterday was church and we had to teach the second hour, so Nicholas had a long morning. He actually did pretty well. We had nine kids in the class, including his cousin, Carter! After class, Amanda and Carter came over for lunch. Those boys definitely feed off of each other’s energy. I don’t know where they get it, but I’d like some. They’ve started wrestling with each other. While Nicholas may outweigh Carter, Carter did get some good moves in!

Finally, after Evan went to youth group, Nicholas and I read and read and read and read books! It’s something we haven’t done enough of this summer. We actually took turns being the teacher to his stuffed animals. He has a couple of books that he has memorized enough to “read” with pretty good accuracy. I was surprised when bed time had crept up on us.

Nicholas was excited that his daddy was here this morning when he woke up. Evan starts his new job today. I think he is both nervous and excited. We told Nicholas about the new job, but the best way I could describe it was that Daddy wasn’t going to be so stinky when he gets home! Evan has orientation today, so we’re not sure how long the day will be or what the week will look like. We’re really at peace about his decision to join the company. The nice part is that two people from his old job told him he could come back if it didn’t work out. He’s a hard worker, so companies quickly see his value.

I’m trying to finalize my supply list for the school year these next few weeks. Last year was our warm-up. This is our official preschool year. I’m very excited. We’re not starting until after Labor Day though. Our school year runs from the day after Labor Day to the Friday before Memorial Day. We just finished our “summer school” last week.  We used My First Book Of Tracing (Kumon Workbooks) to work on his pre-writing skills and he just loved it (Thanks, Patty)! We also worked on ten Bible verses and a number a week.

I’m not quite sure what this week holds for Nicholas and me. My Bible study is over, so there is no Tuesday morning break for me. Friday is acupuncture though, so I know there will be some relaxation at the end of the week.