a day in the life

Wow -- I had no idea it's been so long since I blogged here. I've been at my other two blogs, and we've been busy, so I guess it just slipped my mind.

Over at Radical Unschoolers' Network, Ren has asked people to share a normal day for this month's blog carnival topic.

The first challenge for me was finding a 'normal' day -- does that mean any random day, or one that sounds particularly sparkly and unschooly? We've been home more than gone lately, and tho we've done some interesting things here and there, it's just been too hot (95+ most days and no monsoon) to go out, and the boys really enjoy the new Play Station 2. Lots of fun for them, but doesn't really translate well into a blog.

We spent the afternoon at Jenny & Chris's farm yesterday, where I'm sure the boys had great fun, tho I don't know what they did. I had a great time hanging out enjoying wine & snacks with Jenny & Crystal, but I'm not posting that here.

We have plans to spend Wednesday in Jemez Springs with new friends, making tie-dyed t-shirts, but that's the day after Ren's deadline, so it won't qualify.

Today is the best I can come up with for Ren, and we do actually have plans to leave the house for a park day with the tribe, so I'll start now and add as I can.

I was up at 6:30 or so. We brought Dans' best friend, Scotty (from Ironwood Farm) home with us for an overnight. Dan is sleeping in my bed; Scotty is draped across the couch, having woken from his place on Andy's floor. I saw him there when I woke, curled up near a pile of legos, meaning he likely just ran out of steam mid-project. Andy is asleep in his bed. It's 7:40 now, and I don't expect anyone to be up and around before 8:30 or so. I generally have mornings to myself, giving me the opportunity to have a quiet breakfast and cup of tea. I checked my email, made some oats for breakfast and started this blog. I also usually get out for a 30 minute walk with the dog -- generally leaving the boys home with a cell phone -- but not today since Scotty is over, and that's likely too much for Andy.

By 8 am, and Dan and Scotty were both up. Scotty dug thru a pile of legos, while Dan admired a very cool transformer belonging to Andy. Dan just showed me how the cable extends from it in helicopter form, and asked me to check online to see if it's still sold in stores. We found 3 online at Amazon.com -- one for $189.99! Dan said the one for $25.75 is good enough for him, so we'll put it on our wishlist for later in the week/month.

Around 8:30 Dan fired up the Play Station for a game. Scotty checked the pantry to see what cereal we have. One of the things he enjoys most at our house is that we have exotic cereals -- I enjoy that Scotty will eat them no matter how stale they are! I'm pretty sure the last time anyone ate that Peanutbutter Cap'n Crunch it was Scotty on a sleepover, probably 3 weeks ago.

After breakfast, the boys set up for a two-player game of Grand Theft Auto. Not my first choice of video game -- too much gunfire for me, but the music is interesting and the fake commercials are a hoot -- "nothing says I Love You like a 3 million yr old chunk of carbon" (or something like that) parodying an ad for diamonds.

Sometime around 10, I heard Andy up and around in his room. He didn't come out to the living room for a while, since he usually spends his first half-hour or more alone in his room.

Usually, I water my herb garden, the strawberries and morning glories, but no need to water today, since we had thunderstorms overnight. We watched some spectacular lightning at the farm and on our drive home last night.

After a while, Dan announced he's done with Grand Theft Auto, saying the game cheats, tho Scotty continued to play. Around 10:30, Andy came out to join us and asked for breakfast. No Cinnamon Toast Crunch in the pantry, so he asked me to run out to the grocery store for some. He was even willing to be responsible for Dan & Scotty. We need lunch for the park later anyway, and a trip without 3 boys sounds much easier, so headed out.

At some point during the morning, Dan got out his electric guitar, hooked up the amp and played a bit. I told him it sounded good and I enjoy hearing him play.

I called Andy from the store to confirm what everyone wanted for lunch. Got home from the store to find Dan & Scotty just finishing up a shower. Scotty told me they'd started out with a bath, but that was too much trouble. I loaded up the lunch bag for the park with something for everyone, and the fall-back of peanutbutter & honey sandwich makings. Andy's played Naruto on the Play Station, with Dan & Scotty for an audience, while having his breakfast.

Andy's and I each had a shower, then we packed up and loaded bikes, food and water for park day. I picked up some Capri Sun drinks at the store and tucked them in the freezer without the boys seeing them, so I stashed them in trunk for a surprise at the park.

About two blocks from home -- car packed up with two bikes, all our park gear and three boys -- Andy announced "on the way I want to stop at Target so I can buy my new Bakugan." Um, the Target isn't on the way to the park, sweetie. How about we go by Target on our way home from the park?

We did stop by the bank drive-up window for gas money, then the gas station on our way to the park. Along the way, Dan spotted three motorcycles in front of house. He also called out whenever he saw a Ford Mustang, his current favorite car.

There was a big group there today, with kids chasing, biking, swinging, running all over the playset. For a while, Andy & Eliza (the 5yo daughter of my friend Jenny) made the sweetest picture, with her head resting on his shoulder as he played his DS. Scotty had brought his electric dirt bike, which is big enough for him and Dan to ride together, so they bombed around the park for a good long while. They even got in a few laps of the park while I put the bikes on the rack.

Later in the day, when Andy was hot, tired, eager to head for Target, and scrounging for more water to drink, he found the two Capri Suns left for him (the little boys had already had theirs). He was thrilled that I'd thought to get the extra drinks. That really lifted his mood, and made the wait more pleasant.

We left the park shortly after 5. I pointed out that we had the bikes on the rack, tied but not locked down. Andy offered to go in alone to do his shopping. He's 12, and pretty regularly when we go to Target, he and Dan head off for the toy dept alone, but I'm always in the store. Andy had his cell phone and said he'd call me when he was done, so we dropped him at the door. This was his first time in Target entirely alone. He and Dan have been into our local Gamestop without me, but it's very small and I can see the entire store from the car. The Target is huge, and from the parking space I found, I couldn't even see the entrance. Just a little new and scary for me.

Dan and I waited in the air-conditioned car, talking about his plans to catch up with a friend who has been out of town for a while. After about 15 minutes, I texted Andy to ask if he'd found his toy yet. He texted 'not yet' then a few minutes later called to explain that while he'd found one toy he wanted, he really wanted two (for some set plans he has) and he'd asked a store employee if he could check the back room for it. I mentioned this to Dan, who was getting a little impatient, saying "you know Andy. He's always ready to ask for what he wants." Dan agreed that Andy's like that. Several minutes later, Andy called to say he was in line to pay, so we drove to the entrance and waited picked him up.

When he got into the car, he told me that when his purchase rang up, he was 20 cents short and was worried about what to do. He didn't want me to have to come in to give him the extra money. Then he saw the woman behind him hand the checker a dollar to cover him. He was so genuinely grateful for her help -- he just couldn't believe her generosity. Of course, that's just the kind of thing Andy would do for anyone else in line who was caught short, and he's seen me do the same, but still he was surprised and thought it was very cool. I told him how cool it was that people had been so helpful to him in Target.

We got back home around 7pm. The boys found themselves some snacks and a few more CapriSun drinkers. Andy poured a bowl of Cheerios for himself. I toasted a blueberry bagel and buttered it. Dan helped me eat my bagel. We ate well at the park, so dinner will be light tonight.

The boys watched Johnny Test on Cartoon Network, and saw a commercial for WeirdWorld -- a new TV show promo'd as coming soon, but with no details. It looked creepy and cool, and the ad said to check it out online Weird World Show. I looked it up for the boys, and yep, it's very creepy and cool, with cryptids (I'm not sure what those even are). The site had a listing of the first three episodes - one about Mongolian Death Worm venon, the second about Kumari Kandam a 'sunken city lost to the ocean's darkest depths' and something about a feeding frenzy in the cryptid dungeon. Looks very cool. No info yet on when or what channel to watch, so we'll check back to see when we can watch an episode.

I asked Dan if he'd like to play War with me, he asked if we could play Go Fish instead. He won.

This got really long and I'm ready to watch some TV that I dvr'd earlier this evening. By ten, Dan will be ready to head for bed to snuggle in for night, so I have just enough time to catch my show. Andy will stay up later, tho he likes to be settled in his room, with the light on once I head for bed.

I'll send my link to Ren. I'm glad she suggested this, because it's easy to think we don't do much in an average day -- it's nice to have a reminder of how much happens in one day.