Monday our last week at Love to Grow On started. The kids got their show while I was running an errand so I missed what it was or who picked it.
Gideon had Heather read him Bobcat Bootcamp and I read him a page from the Big Book of Planes.
Cecilia had Grandma reading from the Richard Scarry Collection. I missed what Heather read her.

Tuesday Gideon picked Calliu.
I read Gideon two stories, Under My Hat and another short one. I’m not sure what Brittney read him either.
Cecilia had Grandma and Brittney read to her, and I’m not sure what they read.

Wednesday we moved to the hotel. Hotel stays with young children seem to always be at least a little difficult. I like to try getting suites that include 2 beds and a couch with a hide a bed. That way Heather and I can share. Otherwise we end up doing a guys and girls split which just doesn’t usually work as well. We didn’t get shows, though we did put HGTV on at the end of the night in hopes of calming them down for bed. Cecilia in particular was so overtired, and decided to fixate on wanting Grandma.
We did books on Zoodles. Gideon picked Casey at Bat and had me read it. Cecilia picked City Mouse and Country Mouse, but wanted to listen to the Zoodles reader read it.

Thursday was the kids last day at school. They seemed ok to me when they got home. I hadn’t been the one to drop them off the last few days so I didn’t have much to go on. It was a busy day at the homestead with the movers packing and loading though. After that we had dinner out before Cecilia’s last gymnastics class. She got a kick out of the first one Grandma and Brittany seeing being the last one she had. The kids got to have Orange Leaf on then way home. They watched Dora curtesy of Cecilia and didn’t get stories. Brittany watched them while Heather and I went to try and get some last minute stuff done at the rental in Circle Pines.

Friday was the big day of course. After getting Heather to the rental in time to let in the cleaning crew I worked to load the cars and saw Grandma and Brittany take the kids off to an indoor playground for a bit. After closing everything out at the rental Heather and I met up with the rest of the group and headed out. I drove the Mini alone while everyone else was in the van. Gideon started out saying he wanted to be in the Mini, but I reminded him that the Mini didn’t have a movie screen and he changed his mind. It was after lunch and kind of rest time for them. This was a bit of a bummer since it might have been some good hang out time, so maybe the next morning would present a new chance to try it out. A late night stop at a hotel in Lincoln saw us around the halfway mark, a good spot to be.

Saturday was a long one. Gideon rode with me for the first leg of the trip. He wanted the radio off and didn’t want to talk to each other at first. He just wanted to read and do the activities he had with. After quite awhile he decided to start chatting. Then he wanted to go into the van, until he realized I had snacks in the Mini too. Then we chatted for a bit longer. Ultimately when we stopped he wanted to go back into the van though. I understand, the ride is rougher in the Mini and there was less to do. Also, he was in the back Friday. We had dinner with Heather’s Mom’s side of the family and the kids got to pick movies for the last hour or so drive to her parents house. The way we set up for road trips they each got to pick their own.

Sunday all the change started to catch up with Cecilia. She had a meltdown getting ready for church. Things eventually calmed down and the kids were hyper on the way up to see the new place. We went there to let the cable guy do the install as well as to do a bit of a walk-through. It was a little smaller then it seemed in the Skype video session, but the layout is much better than what we had in Circle Pines. Cecilia fell asleep on the way back to Monument and had a hard time getting to bed. Gideon picked Magic School Bus and no stories were read that I know of.

Monday Gideon got sent home from school again. He also had a rough end of the game at baseball. The clincher for the night was a smell of gas when we got home causing us to hang in the car watching a movie (Big Hero 6) for 30 minutes instead of getting stories. This all likely caused the late night jitters that kept the kids up for another 30 minutes after they finally got to  bed.

Tuesday. A rare (lately) day where we had nothing planned. Gideon had a pretty good day and didn’t have to come home from school. We got Cecilia’s room cleaned up and Gideon picked Arthur for a nighttime show.
Gideon finished reading me a set of his learning to read books. I think Heather read Paddington to him.
Cecilia had me read The Gingerbread Girl to her. I’m not sure what Heather read to her.

Wednesday night we got rained on at Gideon’s game after getting to watch his kindergarten graduation ceremony. The game was called early as a downpour started in the third inning. On the bright side enough game happened that it didn’t need to be rescheduled. No movies or stories though.

Thursday I took Gideon to practice while Heather took Cecilia to gymnastics. Gideon got to watch Postman Pat while I worked on getting Cecilia’s new bike put together. There were no stories or other shows though, Cecilia got home too late for any of that.

Friday Cecilia go to have a short graduation ceremony from pre-school to the school age program. There were all of 5 kids, so it was very quick. It did run long after though, with a potluck dinner and some fun for the kids. After we got home Cecilia had to try her new bike, but only for a bit. While she’s technically in the right height range for it, it’s kind of big for her. She also loves her new backpack. No stories or shows due to the late night.

We tried a short towing bike ride with all four of us Saturday. Cecilia picked Team UmiZoomi for a bedtime show after church.
The kids each got to pick a shared story from Heather, but I missed what as I was working on getting a new smoke detector installed with the landlord.

Sunday we spent all day at ValleyFair, about 3 more hours than we expected to actually. Gideon picked Arthur after confirming that Land Before Time was still unavailable, Fireman Sam was no longer available, and we didn’t have any new Miles From Tomorrowland.
I read Gideon Jake and the Neverland Pirates Trick or Treasure after Heather read to him from a book about airplanes we got at Airventure last year. At least it looked that way.
I read Cecilia The Gingerbread Girl again and don’t have any idea what Heather read her.

With this entry TWB will be on a hiatus for 1-2 months. I will continue making the posts in the “background” so there should be no loss of time-line, just a delaying of it. In the interim I might post other writings if I can force myself to take the time.

Monday we finished our long weekend with a trip to an indoor playground due to poor weather. Cecilia likely picked Team UmiZoomi. There were stories but I have no idea what they were.

Tuesday Gideon was on a liquid diet so I went and hung out in his class for the day. I might as well not have been there for the most part. If I would’ve planned ahead better I would’ve logged into work and made a half-day of it instead of a full day. Gideon probably picked Arthur. Again, I forgot to take notes so I don’t have the stories down, but we did have time for them.

Wednesday Gideon insisted on going to play baseball even after his procedure. He also took himself out of the last inning as he recognized he needed to rest. No show due to the late day and no stories either, I think.

Thursday was a rough night for some reason. After practice for Gideon and gymnastic for Cecilia they just didn’t want to settle down for the night. No show and almost no stories for the evening. As to what those stories were, not really sure.

Friday the show was the Twin’s game in the cold and rain. That was our show and there were no stories.

Saturday we did not go to the airport for the open house. I did get the Trail Gator installed and Gideon and I tried it briefly. It seemed to go well. After church Gideon picked Miles From Tomorrowland for a show.
Gideon had Heather read from Paddington Bear while I read him the hidden picture book filled with kids, each page containing him.
Cecilia had me read her Easter Parade from the Berenstain Bears while Heather read her Sailor Dog.

We spent the majority of Sunday at the Blaine Airport for Discover Aviation Days. After a laid back afternoon we started America’s Got Talent for the year after which Cecilia picked Team UmiZoomi.
Gideon read to Heather and I from some of his learning to read books. He’s doing very well. I remember him getting mad at us trying to coax him through the first few pages of them at the beginning of the school year. Now he can read most of them himself with very little help.
Cecilia had me read her a small book that was essentially a silly poem about animals and Christmas stockings. I’m not sure what Heather read her, but it wasn’t a book from Gideon’s room which is what she was asking for when I walked out of her room.

After next week This Weeks Bedtime is going to take a short break while we prepare for and do a move to Colorado. I will double down my efforts to get daily notes down though. The idea is that when it comes back the coverage will not be lost for those weeks taken off, but the series becomes time-delayed. This has the advantage of not telling random internet people that we are out on vacation until we are actually back from said vacation. I have thought about transitioning to a time-delayed style a couple of times in the past year and honestly this seems to be the right time to get it done.