Monday Heather’s trips to practice with Gideon started. Since she had been the only one at the Team Parents meeting she needed to get information to the rest of the team parents, and find an ally or two to help with the administrative overhead. Gideon picked Arthur before he left. Our current process for late practice days is a show and story before leaving, straight to bed after.
Gideon had me read Arthur’s Halloween and we looked for the names of the authors kids.
Cecilia had me read Georgia the Gingerbread Fairy.

Tuesday they got to watch Penguins of Madagascar for the car ride to and from Elk River. No stories, but we did finish the movie inside after getting jammies on.

Wednesday Heather had to bring Gideon again. Not all the parents had previously been there. Specifically one of the parents she needed to talk to wasn’t there. This time it was an early practice so they were back at a reasonable time. Cecilia picked Team UmiZumi.
The kids both had me read Gideon latest library book, Arthur’s Birthday.
Heather read Gideon another chapter from Paddington. I’m not sure what she read Cecilia.

Thursday was Cecilia’s turn to be out late. She had a gymnastics introduction class. Of course she wanted to keep at it and take more, so we signed up for weekly sessions. Gideon picked Arthur again which was watched before they left.
Cecilia had me read Arthur’s Birthday as did Gideon.

Friday the Huisinga’s got to have a date night. Gideon looked very tired when I picked him up and Cecilia had a rough start to her day. We were bracing for the worst. Everyone was ready for some rest whether they knew it or not. All five kids were bouncing off the walls waiting to eat and after, so we took them to a park for a bit. I took the three little huisinag’s home which didn’t go over well with our two. Eventually they calmed down and Cecilia picked Team UmiZoomi. (Apparently sleeping in their tents with the tunnels leading to the hall was part of them calming down.)
Gideon and Cecilia listened to Heather read both of the class books brought home by Gideon.

Saturday morning was park cleanup day for Centennial Little League. Gideon’s team and another from the coach pitch league had a small park with a single ball field to work on. All of the kids did great. Cecilia participated even though it wasn’t her playing ball. Gideon was the last kid working on getting the field ready. We let them play for a bit before heading home so we could walk to the picnic and exhibition game party that kicked off the season after. Gideon picked The Land Before Time.
Gideon had Heather read Lego Star Wars a New Hope and me read Sheep Blast Off. He later tried to get me to read another one because that story was short, but I declined as he was supposed to be sleeping.
Cecilia had me finish her chapter book Blondie Rapunzel’s Royal Pony. I’m not sure what Heather read her.

Sunday we did haircuts for the kids. We also had lunch at Joe’s Crab Shack. The close one has an outdoor playground that the kids love to head to before and after eating. One of the few places to get decent for you food and let the kids play. After rest time it didn’t take long to tell that everyone was still exhausted. Gideon wanted to make dinner, so Heather helped him with that. She let him do everything practical for his age and size. After a bit of Amazing Race Cecilia picked Dora.
Gideon had Heather read him his customized I Spy style book and had me read him Caps for Sale.
Cecilia fell asleep to me reading her The Pirate Fairy after Heather read her something else. I almost got caught stopping early as she stirred when I got off the bed, but she pretty much turned to her side and went to sleep as she asked if that was the end.

Cecilia picked Creative Galaxy for Monday night’s show. Heather had left for MOPs so the kids were stuck with just me for story time.
Gideon had a new book from the school library, Arthur’s Halloween. Cecilia picked the Pinocchio story from the Disney Christmas Collection.

Tuesday Cecilia got a sliver at school. The teacher apologized that they couldn’t take it out. Gideon picked Miles From Tomorrowland. After that we worked on the sliver for a bit. When that was taking too long and getting hard to finish we put on a Kate and Mim-mim as a second show for Cecilia to help us get through cleaning the last of it out.
Gideon got a Fly Guy book from Heather. He didn’t end up getting a story from me because he had watched Cecilia’s second show with her.
Cecilia got to hear Fly Guy Fly High from Heather.

Wednesday Cecilia picked Creative Galaxy. She said her sliver still hurt a little, but it seemed to be mostly in her head at this point.
For story time I read Cecilia a story from the Critter Collection. I believe Heather did as well.
I read Gideon Pizza Party and am not sure what Heather read him.

Thursday Gideon picked a Miles From Tomorrowland, but since there were no new ones changed his mind to a new Chuggington. This was not long after Heather headed out to a meeting for the coach pitch team parents. Turns out that when it mentioned “Team Parents” it meant that as a title, not a status. The meeting was specifically for the parents that were running the team alongside the coaches. We’re still finishing sorting it all out, but Heather is not taking on all the etra work as we cannot support her doing that.
Cecilia picked her Sophia Halloween book and Gideon picked his Hot-wheels Extreme Stunts book.

The kids were home from school Friday. Since working from home with both of them here and neither sick is nearly impossible we all took the day off. We ended up basically hanging out at home and relaxing due to unforseen circumstances, but it worked out well. Cecilia picked Team UmiZoomie before bed.
Cecilia and Gideon both had me read them Arthur.
Heather read Gideon the first chapter of Paddington. I’m not sure what she read Cecilia.

Saturday wasn’t very eventful. We didn’t go to church as normal because the kids really, really didn’t want to. Heather took Gideon to the last indoor practice and we got some good outside time in afterwords. Gideon picked Miles from Tomorrowland as a night time show.
I read both kids Arthur again.
Cecilia originally wanted to hear Arthur from Heather as well, but screamed about not wanting it when Heather went in to read to her. We’re pretty sure she had just fallen asleep. Heather ended up reading her something else, but I’m not sure what. She read another chapter of Paddington to Gideon.

Sunday we went to “our Easter Church” as the kids put it. I don’t remember exactly how it started, but we ended up going to Grace Fellowship for Easter and the following year the kids were asking about our Easter Church. It’s been the same every year since. Cecilia picked UmiZoomi for a show after a long fun day.
Gideon had us both read him his new Star Wars reader book.
Cecilia had us both read her her new Disney Princess reader book.

Monday the grandparents went home. Due to drive and flight times, as well as the other events to unfold during the week, I didn’t go with to drop them off. The kids got home and were doing pretty well. They got to eat Ruby Tuesday’s for dinner. I got to enjoy a little time without others around which is more important for me than I like to admit. Gideon picked Miles From Tomorrowland for a nighttime show. After stories Cecilia lost it wanting grandma and basically cried herself to sleep.
Gideon brought home two class books and a library book (The Clone Wars: Heroes and Villans.). I read him a bit from the library book as well as one of the books from school. Heather did likewise with the other class book.
Cecilia always wants to get in on the class books. Heather read her one and I read her the other.

Tuesday everyone but Cecilia essentially had a partial day. Gideon had a doctor’s appointment that Heather and I both went to. Later we hung out with the Huisinga’s for dinner and some playtime at our place. They had to leave much earlier than normal so when they did leave Cecilia picked Creative Galaxy.
Cecilia has some new frozen step into reading books. She had me read the Anna’s Best Friends one. Gideon had me read Fly High Fly Guy. That was the stories for the day, and they shared them. Standard practice for these dinner with Husinga family nights.

Wednesday didn’t have much going on. Sometimes that’s a good thing. Gideon picked Miles From Tomorrowland.
For a story Gideon had Heather read him his latest class book. I read him two more entries from the Star Wars library book he had.
Cecilia had me read her Anna’s Best Friends again. Heather likely read her one of the other two Step Into Reading Frozen books.

Thursday got to be a little bit of a late day. Nothing planned or specific had happened, it just kind of got away from us. Cecilia picked Creative Galaxy instead of a story and Gideon joined her. They both asked for stories upstairs anyhow, but were reminded of the choice they made.

Friday we had a bit of a long day. It was somewhat planned though. I brought the kids to play at the indoor playground after school. It was still a little cold for outside play. It is finally time to experiment with adding some dairy back into the kids diet. Ultimately as long as it gets to where we can do dairy avoidance instead of full elimination I think life will be much easier. The offshoot is that Gideon got to eat cheese pizza no sauce, otherwise known as cheese bread. We tried a new show, The 7D, at bed time and decided not to do that one again for a while. We let them watch a single Fireman Sam since the chosen show (by me) didn’t work out so well.
Gideon had me read him a Fly Guy book, probably what Heather read him too.
Cecilia had Heather read one of the new Frozen Learn to Read books. After a bit of a melt-down she finally had me read her a Palace Pets book.

Saturday morning Gideon and Heather went to the store. They got back just in time to rush through getting lunch and me getting Gideon to Coach Pitch practice. I had to eat lunch at practice. When that was done we all went to the park together. We were able to spend some time flying kites, and Gideon spent some time practicing baseball. Eventually some of the kids from Gideon’s class showed up and they all played together until it was time to go. Straight to church and home for a night of Amazing Race and dinner. Cecilia picked Creative Galaxy and the kids got to have dairy ice cream while they watched it.
Cecilia had Heather read her Anna’s Best Friends and begged me for a Fly Guy book.
Gideon had us both read to him from his library book.

Sunday we spent the morning at the indoor park in Edina. We had a nice lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. The kids did great even though they had nothing to do. No coloring or activity sheets. No electronic games. Just hanging out looking around and waiting for the food. Rest time was the drive home from there and a little bit of time at home after. We ended the day with Cecilia taking a very long bath and Gideon getting some time on the Wii U. Gideon picked Miles From Tomorrowland.
For books Cecilia was struggling. She eventually heard me read her the Finding Nemo story from the Disney Christmas Collection, and I believe Heather read her something from it as well.
Gideon had us work together to finish his school library book as it was due the next morning.

Monday started a week of the kids getting to sleep in a bit, and me as well, while Heather’s mom took them in to school after breakfast. Apparently some of the kids in Gideon’s class got an idea to build a Leprechaun trap and he brought that plan home. So after the trap was set and we finished dinner Heather and Grandma read them both Gideon’s latest class book. This was so they could go out for some shopping and not get back until the kids were in bed. Cecilia picked Creative Galaxy for a show.
I read them two Fly Guy books, one for Cecilia and one for Gideon, but they shared so they each got two full stories.

Tuesday a little boy was bummed when he hadn’t caught a Leprechaun overnight, and devastated when one hadn’t visited by the time he got home. We figure this had to come from Kindergarten because it’s never been this strong of an event in the past. For a bedtime show Gideon picked Postman Pat.
The kids both had Heather and her Mom read them Fly Guy books. They have had quite the thing for these books lately.

Wednesday Heather and I went off-site for dinner and time to go over finances and future planning. While we technically could do this at home the kids get in the way before they go to bed, and after they’re in bed Heather’s about done for the day. (Contrasted with my difficulty in helping them out in the morning.) I do know Cecilia Picked Creative Galaxy.
Grandma read stories to them, but I didn’t find out which ones.

Thursday I was in charge of getting Grandpa from the airport. Of course, that wasn’t going to happen until late as he was coming in on the last flight. And it got delayed. Gideon had earlier told Grandma he could stay up and go get grandpa with me, but she assured him that wouldn’t work out so well. Gideon picked Mike the Knight.
Cecilia had Heather’s mom and I read from the Pinkalicious Storybook.
Gideon had Heather’s mom and I read him Fly Guy stories.

Friday was Gideon’s birthday. Heather and her parents went and got Sonic and Cecilia and treated Gideon to a special lunch at school. He fought to open presents early all evening after school until eventually we did when dinner was all cleaned up. Cecilia picked Creative Galaxy after eating some cake.
Cecilia had Grandma and Grandpa read her some small red books. I’m not sure exactly but they are probably learning to read style books.
Gideon had Grandpa and me read him Fly Guy books.

Saturday was party prep day. It was also “get to the store and get the last of Gideon’s baseball equipment” day followed by their second baseball practice. It was Gideon’s first as he was in Colorado for the one prior. It’s coach pitch baseball and the practice seemed to go well. Gideon picked Miles From Tomorrowland after dinner.
I wasn’t involved in reading stories, but it looked like Gideon had Heather and Grandma read him Fly Guy books. Cecilia had them read something from her room.

Sunday we had a birthday party for Gideon. All but one of the invited guests was able to be there. As they are now 6 it was a parent drop off situation. It made for a crazy house over the afternoon, but it seemed to go well. The kids all looked like they had fun even though our craft failed to be realized and we ended up with no car race as we had hoped to finish the day. After a little Amazing Race over a picnic dinner Cecilia picked Creative Galaxy.
Cecilia had Big Snowman Little Snowman from Grandma and Pinkalicious Pink Around the Rink from Grandpa.
Gideon had Grandpa read him his library book from school, something about Labrador’s. He had Grandma read him fly guy because he was getting too tired for the other book a second time.

Monday I woke up before Cecilia. Being a school day I knew I needed to get ready and then spend time waking her up. We had our last two of us dinner since Heather’s flight was due in late at night. Cecilia picked Creative Galaxy for a night-time show. She hadn’t finished her bedtime snack when it was over, so she bargained for more time by giving up one story for a Fireman Sam. The remaining story was Splat the Cat On With the Show.

Tuesday Cecilia got to be woken up by Heather. The nice weather also meant playing outside for a bit after getting home. Cecilia wanted a bath pretty badly, she even shortened her show to a single Fireman Sam so she would have time after dinner. She had Heather read her Old McDonald Had a Farm while I got to read the next chapter in Blondie.

Wednesday continued the nice weather. When we all got home it was time for a family walk with Cecilia on her striding bike. She didn’t want to go in, and who can blame her. She decided to watch Creative Galaxy after dinner. Heather and I both read her a Fly Guy book.

Thursday wasn’t as nice as it was expected to be. Don’t take that wrong though, it was still a wonderful unseasonably warm day. We had pick-up day when everyone got home. After dinner we had a family walk for the fourth of five days this week. Oh, and it was Cecilia pushing for them. When it was show time today we went with Land Before Time. Yeah, there’s a TV series that was done for it. She had me read her a Fly Guy book again I can only assume Heather read her one as well.

Friday came and I brought Cecilia t the airport to pick up Gideon and Heather’s mom. We stopped at Sonic on the way back as per Gideon’s request. The kids got to play outside at a park before dinner, and after a late meal Gideon chose Fireman Sam.
Cecilia had Heather and Grandma read her Fly Guy book.
Gideon had Grandma and me read him Bedwetting and Accidents Aren’t Your Fault. We split it with me reading the first part and her reading the second.

Saturday. Heather’s birthday. Cecilia tried to go check on Grandma after seeing Heather wasn’t up instead of waking her up. It woke her up though. After a full but largely uneventful day we had dinner run late at a restaurant for Heather’s birthday. Home for cake and presents left us watching Fireman Sam by Cecilia’s request, but not getting stories.

Sunday the kids spent the morning getting new spring clothes. After a day of bike riding and playing outside later on we watched some Amazing Race as a family. We are still on the first episode. Gideon picked Postman Pat for a nighttime show.
Cecilia had Grandma read her a story from the Pinkalicious story book. She had me read her a Fly Guy book after much negotiation with Gideon.
Gideon had me read him a Fly Guy book, and Grandma read him a different one.

Monday saw the start of a new week as it always does. This time it coincided with the first week of the month. That means MOPs for  Heather. The kids did great for the evening. Gideon picked Miles From Tomorrowland for a show.
After that we read Bedwetting and Accidents Aren’t Your Fault for Gideon and If You Give a Moose a Muffin for Cecilia. Being only the three of us we read stories together so they would both get two.

Tuesday had nothing really special going on, except snow. It was almost a strange sight we’re so far behind this year. Gideon wanted to play at a park in the snow on the way home. Cecilia had already been dropped off at home and had no interest in going elsewhere. After dinner she chose Fireman Sam for the nighttime show.
Heather ended up reading both kids Gideon’s latest class book.
I read Gideon the Bedwetting book and Cecilia has me read her How do Dinosaurs Eat Cookies.

Wednesday saw the sun shining again. Heather started to get her and Gideon packed for a short trip. I helped Gideon finish his homework for the night and Cecilia made another one of her “bunny capes.” These are basically a bunch of sheets of paper glued together end to end. Some will have a little bit of art on them, but that appears optional. After breakfast for dinner Gideon chose to watch Fireman Sam.
Cecilia had Heather and I both read from the Disney Christmas Collection. I read the Dumbo story and I think Heather read the Winnie the Pooh one.
Gideon wanted the Bedwetting book again. This time Heather read the first two chapters and I read the second two.

Thursday Cecilia’s class at preschool had a family night. The kids in her class have been acting stories and songs out together since their current teacher got back at the end of the summer. The preschool’s  teaching method allows the interests of the class to guide their curriculum. This resulted in the kids, aged 4 to 5.5, to put on a play for us. Actually, two plays. One based on the book Snowmen at Night and the other based on a jazz/blues version of The Three Little Pigs. One of the most surprising things was how little prompting the kids needed during the plays. In fact, they needed close to none. It was a really good show. Cecilia picked a show to watch at home, but I actually don’t remember what.
Heather read Cecilia The Penguin Who Wanted to Fly while I read her Snowmen at Christmas.
Gideon had us both read him Georgie the Gingerbread Fairy.

Friday was the day we dropped Heather and Gideon at the airport. We left right after getting the kids and were a little behind since I didn’t get out of work early. Cecilia had a rough go saying bye to Heather, but was fine 15 minutes down the road. It took long enough for her to calm down to talking levels that we ended up braving rush hour (which was light) past home and having a late dinner together at Chili’s. When we finally got home Cecilia picked Fireman Sam. I told her one episode and two stories, but then she bargained for two episodes and one story. The story was Fly Guy Meets Fly Girl.

Saturday Cecilia woke me up to the surprise of nobody. I had her watch one Disney Junior show while I dozed/woke up slowly. We had a pretty normal Saturday. Breakfast, Home Depot first Saturday, a little bit of errand running, church, another store stop due to running out of time before church, and a late dinner combined with a show. We watched Henry Hugglemonster and read three chapters in Blondie.

Sunday we stayed home. We did go for an afternoon walk since it was so nice out. Other than that we played some board games. Cecilia did some art projects as well. She picked Mike the Night for a bedtime show. For story time we read two more Fly Guys.

Monday Heather was home sick. The kids had dentist appointments after school and did a pretty good job of getting there. No real issues reported and we got home a little sooner than expected. Cecilia picked Mike the Knight for a bedtime show.
I missed what Heather read to the kids because I was finishing up some cleaning downstairs.
I read Cecilia the Frozen story from the Disney Christmas Collection. Gideon I read a different story.

Heather really tried to get back to work Tuesday, but it just wasn’t going to happen. I brought the kids right home after school, but then didn’t get them picking up their rooms as I had hoped. They did spend some time playing board games with Heather, so I think it still counts as a win for the night. I decided to pick tonight’s show, a combo episode of Thomas the Tank, Fireman Sam, and Bob the Builder. My reasoning is that I got them to start it early and get to bed just a little earlier than normal.
Cecilia had me read her the first page of a chapter book about Rapunzels pet horse. I’m not sure what Heather read her.
I’m fairly certain Heather read Gideon some pages from his bigger Hot Wheels book. I read him his latest class book.

Wednesday was back to normal. Almost. My lower back pain was gone, but I did something to gain a massive knot in my shoulder-blade. Took two days to stretch and fade out. Cecilia had her last day of gymnastics after which Gideon picked Miles From Tomorrowland.
I read Gideon a Hot Wheels reader book. I’m not sure what Heather read him.
I don’t remember what either of us read Cecilia.

Thursday was cleaning day. We needed to get the house picked up as we hadn’t for a bit. The kids did great helping out. We’ve learned we have to separate them. One helps downstairs while the other helps upstairs, then we swap them around. Dinner was late, and eaten while watching Little Einstiens picked by Cecilia.
Cecilia had me read her Bedwetting and Accidents Aren’t Your Fault after hearing me read it to Gideon.
Heather read from the bigger Hot Wheels book Gideon has after I read him the Bedwetting and Accidents Aren’t Your Fault book.

Friday. On the bright side Friday was date night. On the not so bright side Gideon lost control at school and lashed out to the point of us having to pick him up. Not a good thing. Heather ended up having to be the one to deal with it due to working from home that day. The rest of the day was good though, the kids got some kind of movie (later revealed to be Big Hero 6) and jammies night at the Huisinga household and at least one of them apparently fell asleep on the drive home.

Saturday we stayed home for a bit of a low-key day. After church and some quick shopping stops we watched a bit of the new Amazing Race premiere. The kids took a bit to understand that their favorites from before weren’t here since it was all new racers on a new race. Once we got past that, and the introductions which were “too slow” for Gideon, we were good with the new set-up. For a nighttime show Gideon started out with picking Amazing Race, but at the end of the day he really wanted Miles from Tomorrowland.
Cecilia had me read her the I Spy style book with her picture in it. I missed what Heather read to her because I was dealing with a little boy, but I think it was something with Oliver and Hope.
Gideon had us both read him Bedwetting and Accidents Aren’t Your Fault.

Sunday was a busy day. We had two birthday parties to attend in the afternoon. On the bright side the morning was able to start a little slow. Of course we ended up starting slower than intended and got out of the house almost 10 minutes behind schedule. We can’t even blame the kids as they were really good about being ready this time around. After we finally made it home we watched the end of Robots for a night-time show by Cecilia’s choosing. (We had started it in the car during the long drive to/from Elk River.)
Cecilia had me read her a book about The Penguin Who Wanted to Fly. Heather read her Huggly’s Pizza.
Gideon had us read him the bedwetting book again. This time Heather read the first half and I read the second half instead of both of us reading the whole thing.

Monday we started the day with a trip down to the wolf walk again. We weren’t sure if the water park would be on weekend hours or not, so we figured better safe than sorry. We got there in time to make the origami wolves, and then we went to go swimming. A couple of hours of being beaten by waves and a little water slide action later found us watching some shows to the sounds of microwave cooking for lunch. Well, I also used the coffee pot to cook hot dogs. I’m not sure if that makes me a hacker, desperate, or just weird. Rest time was abbreviated and followed by getting new stuffed animals and a scavenger hunt. That was followed, with prompting, by another trip to the water park. This was to be the last trip due to timing and also chlorine rashes on Cecilia and me. Some arcade action, dinner, another story time, and finally Cecilia choosing Fireman Sam (with prompting from Gideon) finished the day out.
Cecilia had Heather read from the big Richard Scarry collection while I read her a Fly Guy book.
Gideon got Fly Guy books from both of us.

Tuesday was go home day. We started the day with packing everything into the van after breakfast. The kids really wanted to do the scavenger hunt again, so we started with that. Gideon’s took a bit to get started letting Cecilia take an early lead. Gideon caught up partway through though. After that they got to customize t-shirts before we left. The whole morning took longer than expected, partially due to the kids actually sleeping in. We almost had to cut the coloring short, but they finished in time. Lunch just changed from a stop 60 minutes down the road to a drive-through on the way out of the hotel. We made it home with enough time to unload the car before heading to a book fair and conferences at Gideon’s school. We saw a couple short video’s of him working with the teacher. I wonder if our parents wish they’d have had that kind of technology. Gideon chose Fireman Sam at the end of the day.
Cecilia had Heather read her Cuddley Princess Pals while I read her new book, Camilla’s Special Day followed by helping her do one of the pages of stickers.
We both read Gideon a chapter from his new book, Cooper. This is the first book Gideon has specifically chosen to get that had no pictures.

Wednesday I took Cecilia, who had a rough day, to gymnastics. When we got home Gideon was just starting a Mike the Knight after having seen a couple of Fireman Sams. He had also read a couple of chapters in Cooper with Heather. After the show was bedtime.
Gideon got a story with me, but had already read with Heather. We read Bobcat Bootcamp.
Cecilia got a story from both Heather and I. We both read her Camilla’s Special Day.

Thursday we had our last small group meeting for an indeterminate amount of time. Gideon ended the day on a bit of a rough note, but we were able to all calm down by the time we got home for a late story and bed.
Cecilia had us both read Camilla’s Special Day.
Gideon had Heather read to him from Cooper, but I read him a short one which I don’t remember the name of.

Friday Heather went in even though she’s usually working from home that day. She had a late work party which meant I picked up the kids. We tried surprising Heather with the clothes being put away before she got home, but that meant dinner wasn’t ready. Also, my back was still hurting from the trip so Heather made dinner and we ate late. After Cecilia picked Mike the Knight we went up for stories.
I know we read Cecilia Camilla’s Special Day and I’m pretty sure we read Gideon Cooper.

Saturday we had some serious errands to run. Luckily, once we got things moving they went fairly smoothly. It got bad near the end, but two hours at a store will do that to young kids. Despite a pre-church meltdown we had a pretty good night watching Miles From Tomorrowland via Gideon.
We both read Cecilia Camilla’s Special Day and Gideon Cooper.

Sunday Gideon got to go to a birthday party of the girl that he’s been friends with since they were in the nursery together. Seriously, even back then the teachers pegged them as closer friends than most of the other kids. With Heather sick Cecilia got to spend the time Gideon was at the birthday party in the indoor playground next door. After dinner and showers I let Cecilia pick one show, Sophia the First, and Gideon pick another, Miles From Tomorrowland.
Cecilia had Heather and I both read to her from the Little Critter Collection.
Gideon had Heather finish Cooper while I read him How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Monday Heather stopped at a park on the way home with the kids. It’s been a long time since it stayed light and warm enough to make that worthwhile. Gideon saw a friend from his gymnastics class there. At home he finished almost all of his valentines and a chunk of his homework. It was a productive day for him. Cecilia has really had the art bug lately and cut lots of paper trying to make a “bunny cape” throughout the evening. They watched Mike the Knight courtesy of Gideon.
Cecilia had me read her Barbie’s Secret Door, A True Princess. Heather read her Bedwetting and Accidents Aren’t Your Fault at Cecilia’s insistence.
Gideon got to hear Bedwetting and Accidents Aren’t Your Fault from Heather and had to settle on Me First from me while Cecilia got that one read to her.

Tuesday the Huisinga’s came over for dinner after a day with some freezing rain and late afternoon snow. The roads weren’t as bad as they could be though, and it was us getting home late that caused dinner to run behind. After a couple hours of playing the Huisinga kids wanted Octonauts. As the guests the choice was left to them, so they got it. The kids really wanted a wait, so I told them we would try the Octonauts that showed as 10 minutes on the DVR. I warned them that if it ended up being a full one we’d get no stories. We got no stories.

Wednesday Gideon started Octonauts while Cecilia was at gymnastics. After that she watched part of Doc McStuffins since she missed the first part of Octonauts.
Gideon chose Math = Fun Weights and Measures from Heather while I read him Mega Machines.
Cecilia got to hear the Frozen story from the Disney Christmas Collection from Heather and the Pinocchio one from me.

Thursday I took the kids to the indoor playground after school as Heather wasn’t feeling quite up to it. After that Cecilia picked Mike the Knight and since we started the show early they got to watch two episodes.
Cecilia had Heather read Oliver and Hopes Amusing Adventure while she let me pick Little Critter Bedtime Princess.
Gideon got one of the Hot Wheels books from Heather and had me read him Snowmen at Christmas. After reading the book we were talking about how it wasn’t real, just a pretend story he told me that it was because it’s fiction. He also told me that non-fiction meant it was true. He learned about the difference from the librarian at school.

Friday the Huisinga kids were here, minus a sick J. They all watched Octonauts before I brought the visitors home. I also read Cecilia Santa Comes to Minnesota and Gideon Horton Hatches an Egg. (He wanted 500 Hats but I put my foot down, I needed to get the others home!) I’m not sure what Heather read them.

Saturday was Gideon’s last day of gymnastics. We also finally told them that we had a surprise in store for them over the weekend as we needed their co-operation to make it work. They figured out we’d be staying at a “show n tell” before we left. The multiple bags packed away to the car was a dead giveaway. We went as a family after gymnastics and had almost a 4 hour drive to Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells. After check-in we explored just a bit, then played in the water park for an hour, and finally had a very late dinner before the hotels nightly story-time at 8. Since it was also Valentines day they had a “dance party” after story-time. Gideon didn’t last too long before he wanted to get back as he was tired, but Cecilia would’ve probably stayed for quite a while if allowed.
Gideon got a Hot wheels and Fly Guy story both by the time Cecilia and I got back from the dance party. We then started Mike the night via Amazon streaming. That was a bit more of a process than the usual Amazon button on the TV remote. In any event after the show Gideon wanted a story from me (Ninja Turtles Pizza Party) and Cecilia wanted one from both of us. I missed what Heather read her as I was reading to Gideon, but I delivered an encore presentation of the book I just finished for Gideon. Heather was the first one down, and was actually woken up to read Cecilia her story. Within about 15 minutes (stories finally ended about 10) I was the only one left up, as usual.

Sunday Gideon picked Fireman Sam. This was after a very long day with two trips to the water parks, a wolf walk in the morning, a rest time where only Heather slept, and dinner out. Oh, don’t forget capping the night off with story time and another dance party due to the full house on a holiday weekend. Fireman Sam comes in single episode format, not dual back to back like most kids shows they want. That means we watched two manually.
Gideon had Heather and I choose for him, he was tired and probably could have just crashed to be honest. I read him Plane Pals (which I then read to Cecilia) and Heather read him Mega Machines. I’m not sure what she read Cecilia.

Monday Heather had a mops meeting. That means it’s just the kids and I after dinner. We played a little bit of Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus before showtime. As games for kids go it’s pretty good. Cecilia picked Creative Galaxy.
Gideon had me read Snowmen at Christmas while Cecilia picked out the I Spy book that has her in it.

Tuesday we went to the indoor playground after school. Due to traffic and membership renewal time (It’s been three months already?) we got out of there a little late. Also, drinking fountain and bathroom stops. Gideon ended up doing his vest of 100 things for Kindergarten’s 100th day of school celebration while watching Creative Galaxy.
Cecilia had me read her Cuddly Princess Pals while Heather read her Snuggle Buddies.
Gideon had heather read to him from the Big Book of Airplanes while I read him the I spy style book he got from his grandparents.

Wednesday was Cecilia’s gymnastics day again. This time Heather brought her and I stayed home with Gideon. We got some homework finished and played just a bit of Nintendo. He did pretty good putting it down when time was up. Instead of watching a Creative Galaxy repeat we watched two of the Amazon Premiere shows, Buddy: Tech Detective and The Stinky & Dirty Show. Their latest book order came in so we had some new books to read.
Gideon had me red him Me First, his latest library book. Heather read him some of his new Hotwheels books.
Cecilia had us both read her the Gingerbread Fairy.

Thursday we had small group. We didn’t manage to get to the indoor playground on the way. The kids did get to play together at home while we finished getting ready. We let them watch Paddington Bear on the way there and back.
Cecilia had Heather pick the story she read and it ended up being Llama Llama Mad at Mamma. Gideon picked out one of the new Hot Wheels books.

Friday Cecilia picked Kate and Mim-mim for a bedtime show. The day itself wasn’t very stand-out.
Heather read Cecilia Snuggle Buddies while I read her Olaf’s Summer Day.
Gideon had us read him a couple of the new Hot Wheels books again, I read Extreme Stunts and Heather red Shark Attack.

Saturday Gideon had gymnastics in the morning. Heather had a quick side trip she wanted to make so Cecilia got to spend that time home with me. We did her letter box pictures and then played some board games. For bedtime I’ve found some more new shows via Amazon Prime and added them to the watch list. From this Gideon picked Mike the Knight.
Cecilia had Heather read Pirate Fairy while I read the Little Mermaid story from Disney Christmas.
Gideon had us read more Hot Wheels.

Sunday we went to the Children’s Museum in the morning. The kids had a blast as always. We spent time in the creative art room this trip, which we haven’t really done before. The kids liked it a lot. They may have been influenced by Creative Galaxy, but not in a bad way. We will likely try to get in that room sooner next time we go so the kids have time to make whatever they would like. After a down afternoon where the kids played Super Mario Party together (and beat the Nintendo) Cecilia picked Mike the Night.
Cecilia had Heather read her Pink round the Rink. I read her Gideon’s school library book, Me First.
I read Gideon a book about helicopters that we got at Airventure last summer. Heather read him his library book.