The last week (a bit late…)

Last weekend we were lucky enough to go and see another baseball game.  My friend Tracey had reserved a suite, like a private box at the top of the stands.  It even had air conditioning, which was very nice in the intense heat.

We stayed for most of the game, and the kids had a good time.  They were all nice and tired, and Seb fell asleep on the way home.  Nothing like a late night over a long weekend.  

Sunday we went out for some ice cream, then to the pool, then a BBQ at home.  Nice and relaxing.

Monday was Labor Day so everyone was off work and school.  We decided to check out the Bacon Labor Day festival as Simpsonville City Park.  It was well advertised and looked like fun.  We got there about 12.30, and they had already run out of food.  The queues were stupidly long, and there was little mention of bacon anywhere.  They did however have a pretty good car show, always a winner with my boys.  All sorts of different cars, old, new, military.  There was also a stock car, which the boys had kittens over.  The owner was nice enough to let all 3 have a seat in the car.

                                     

                                     

They loved it, it was the highlight of their day.  We felt a little let down by the festival. It was billed as being awesome, and so was not.  Thank goodness for the car show.  We went up to Simpsonville and got some lunch, then headed to Home Depot.

In our last trip to Costco, I had bought a massive bag of floor.  I wanted a decent container to store it, and had an idea for a big bucket.  I found what I wanted.....

                              

Everyone went back to school and work on Tuesday.  Sebastian had his first lunch at school.  He did really well, and ate most of it.  He will now be having lunch there on a Monday and Tuesday.

This still gives us our afternoons together.  We have been to the pool, and caught up with friends.

                             

He is also still off all day on a Friday.  This week we went to Gravitopia for their kids under 6 jump.  This is $8 for an hour 9-10am.  There was only 5 kids and 5 adults.  Perfect.

                             

Then it was shopping at Walmart.  I spied a few presents for Christmas and Isaacs birthday.  Not long now!!!!

After lunch we headed into Greenville.  I wanted to check out the main library.  I was not disappointed.  Their kids section is massive, and although there is plenty for Sebs age, there is even more for kids Oliver and Isaacs age.

Seb loved playing with the castle and the people who went in it.

                              

It took him about 30 minutes to find the computers, which is unusual.  But there were so many other things to get his attention that he wasn't there for long.

                             

They have a play room at the back of the kids area which he also enjoyed.  It was the perfect way to kill an hour before we had to get the boys, particularly in the heat.  I will definetly take him back, and I intend to take the older 2 one weekend soon.  

He had such a good time, and was so please to get this book, that he fell asleep in he car holding it while in car pool for his brothers.

                             

Yesterday we checked out Trains, trains, trains at the Mauldin Cultural centre.  This is an exhibit of model trains that comes once a year.  The boys loved it, even better it was free, though we did make a donation.

We want for lunch at Chicora Alley in Mauldin.  Our friends the Withers recommended it.  We were the first there for lunch at 12, though there was someone drinking at the at the bar.

The server, Corey, was very good, attentive, and not too in your face.  We all went with soft drinks. The boys choose chicken tenders for Oliver and Seb.  We ordered a grilled cheese pitta for Isaac.  He was much dismayed about this, as he wanted normal bread, and boy did he make his feelings known.  Paul went with a burrito, while i opted for the Chicora burger. Sen decided to split his drinks cup, making a large mess, but the staff quickly cleaned it up and got him a new one. We did not have to wait too long for our food, we could even see the chefs in the kitchen. 

After all Isaacs moaning, he loved his pitta cheese sandwich, and the other w were sold on their tenders.  I had opted for sweet potato fries with my burger, and they were delicious.  Paul loved his burrito, especially the beans not being too processed inside.  Everything felt super fresh. 

There was clean plates from 3 out of 5.  The check came.  A pleasant surprise, one child eats free for every adult eating on a saturday.  This made it very reasonably priced.  Pretty sure we will be back at Chicora Alley sometime soon. 

An essay (sorry)

Hey

This week has felt like another long hard week.  I don't know if it is the early starts (back to 6.15 wake up now Oliver is back at school), but it has felt very hard.  Don't get me wrong, we are still loving it!

Last weekend was Labor Day weekend.  This is a holiday that is celebrated in the states for the achievements of workers.  There was a festival held in Simpsonville over the weekend, the Upstate Harvest Moon Festival .  We toddled along to this on Monday, as everyone was off school and work.  It was quite good.  There was animals, a car show and lots of stands/stalls.  There was also a kids zone, $5 to enter for kids.  Clever parents, we had no cash, so did not indulge our delightful children.  It was very HOT, so we had an ice cream, and left quick sharp.

'Hump daaayyyyyy'

We have met up with a lot of friends this week, this entailed 2 trips to McDonalds (only ice cream and drinks were consumed, and round a friends house.  It is nice for the kids to be able to socialize.  I must also thank all my lovely friends here for helping me out and listening to me vent this week, it has felt good to talk.

Thursday afternoon I had a meeting with the directress and teachers from Seb's school, to see why they do not think he is ready.  It turns out they think he has problems going up and down steps, he nearly fell when holding one of their hands.  I explained that he is better going up and down on his own, even if he does tend to climb them rather than walk them.  They are concerned about his lack of language and are worried he would get frustrated about not being able to express himself.  They want his first school experience to be a positive one.  I can kinda see their point.  They also picked up on the fact he struggled to make eye contact when they were doing 'work' with him.  It was the second time he had met the teachers!  It takes time for relationships to build.... I came away feeling a bit 'meh' about the whole thing.  I still think they were over subscribed, and he was one of the easiest to turn down.  After speaking with another mum from the school, there appears to be one rule for one, and a different for another.  I want Seb to go there though.  I dont want to be driving to 3 different schools in a morning.  It is very frustrating for me, but I think Seb will love it when he gets there. I explained to them all the different things we are doing at home, and the directresses eyes lit up.  They know I am doing my best to try and prepare him, and I think this impressed them.  They will reassess him in December, so hopefully they will deem him ready, whereas I know he is nearly there now.

Then Friday morning Seb had his well child check.  He was a lucky child and did not have to have any injections.  This is because when him and I were registering, i forgot to bring our notes from the UK.  I have to drop them in next week, then they will contact me to arrange what is necessary.  The doctor was, again, awesome.  We talked about his lack of speech.  She thinks it is an expressive delay, as he makes a lot of noises.  When she was checking him over, she checked the bit under his tongue (lingual frenulum, involved in tongue tie), and thought it is still a bit thick, which could be impeding him.  She did say however that third children, particularly boys, can be slow to potty train and talk, which is what I knew already.  Sebastian was most uncooperative during his physical, god knows what he will be like when he has his jabs.  He is average in weight, and small in height, a bit like Oliver.  I explained to her what Sebs school had said about him not being ready for school.  Funnily enough, her kid goes to a Montessori school in Greenville, so she knows the drill.  She agrees with me in that, although he may not have a speech issue, for admissions sake, she recommends speech therapy.  That way they can see if it is something physical or if it is just the fact he can't get a word in edge ways most of the time.  They will contact me and let me know when the appointment will be.  I love the boys doctor, she is very common sense and down to earth.  If anyone local is looking for a good general practitioner, let me know.  I don't know if it is because these have been well child checks, but each appointment for the boys has taken at least 50 minutes.  Seb will have a 3 year check in January, as well as some jabs coming up soon (I know he will need at least 2)

Now the other 2 chimps.  They only had school Tuesday-Friday due to Labor Day.  Isaac did one day of lunch and learn.  He is been fine at school, even enjoying it, though he is very tired.  The 3 afternoons I have had him home, the TV has not gone on at all, until we have got Oliver.  We have done all sorts. he played with playdoh with the animals, using the green as land, and the pink as mountains.

He wanted some blue playdoh, so Seb and I made that for him on Friday morning.

He then experimented with baking soda and vinegar colored with food coloring.  He absolutely loved this.  He loved the fizzing, the bubbles and the colors.  I so need to do the mentos and diet coke with him, he will love it.

Oliver has had his usual 3 baseball practices this week, though one of these was a practice game against his coach from last season, coach Kyle.  It is interesting to compare the 2 different coaching styles, neither is good or bad, they are just different.  Oliver's team is the Rockies, after the Colorado Rockies. Games begin the week after next, we need to get olives some grey baseball trousers.  I presume tops and hats will be ordered pretty soon.  We all went to watch the practice game on Friday night.  Oliver's team are pretty good, though Oliver just prances around the pitchers mound most of the time.  He is a good batter though, and managed to hit a pretty big one on one occasion, and got ran put 2 other times.  Think he is being noted for his batting ability, which is good, as he plays no attention to the game.  He finds the fielding boring, but we shall be working on that over the weekend.

Wow this was not supposed to be such an essay, well done if you have managed to read this far.....think I need to blog when things come into my head, rather than waiting for the weekend.