Plumbers and Protocol

We had plumbers scheduled for the first four days this week.  On Monday, they dug.  They tunneled under our house all the way to the middle where the kitchen sink rests.  On Tuesday they fixed all the pipes leading from the kitchen and the boys bathroom.  It was a very loud day with a lot of pipe cutting and lots of noises under the house.  They completed all the repairs that day. Yay.  On Wednesday they spent all day putting the dirt back in.  It was a lot of shoveling and running the hose.  On Thursday they were supposed to complete the job, but they didn't show up.  There was only a small pile of dirt left anyway.  While we were out on Friday, they came to take care of the rest of the dirt.  Now Josiah can take his extra long showers without fear.  

When they were fixing the pipes on Tuesday, we were not able to use water at all.  It was a rough day to not have water, because it was Josiah's protocol night.  His class went downtown to a fancy restaurant and a show at the theater.  They were supposed to put into practice all the etiquette they had learned.  We ate at a restaurant called Birrapouretti's, which, as the name might imply, did not specialize in Josiah's favorite chicken tenders.  Ironically they did have a cheeseburger, so he ordered that instead.  His whole class used all their etiquette pointers and were super respectful in the restaurant.  We got one check for the fifteen of us which was quite a sight.   

Then we headed to the theater.  It was opening night for the musical Newsies.  As we found our seats, Josiah said to me, I hope I like it.  I didn't really like the movie.  It was very good and he ended up really liking it.  The dancing was my favorite.  We ended up closing out the theater because we kept taking so many pictures.  There were spots inside the theater...

and out...

By the time we walked down towards the parking garage, the cast was coming out of the Stage Entrance doors.  Some of Josiah's group went to get autographs and pictures.  Josiah got the lead character's autograph.  It was his first performance before a live audience, so he did incredibly well knowing that!

I then dropped off Josiah and six of his classmates at Aidan's house.  There were nine boys total and they stayed up all night long with the intention of setting a world record in Minecraft.  They succeeded and their names are up there for the: (deep breath)  Minecraft: Bedrock Edition Cooperative Kill Bosses Glitched Set Seed No Touchscreen Glitch All Bosses.  Should you ever want to check it out, Josiah is listed as The Drippy Goat...

After such a busy night out on the town, Henry, Caroline, and I did not get home until close to midnight.  One of the other moms hung out with them all night so they would not be alone.  They got to go out to eat, so they were happy.  

By Friday, Josiah and his whole class were back at Aidan's house again.  This time they watched Hamilton together.  But, before they turned that on, all eyes were focused on Josiah and Bobby's last Good Morning Greece episode.  It was thirty minutes long, so they had never been able to show it in its entirety on their CC days.  

From the Watch Party, many of the boys went to another friend's house and helped set up for an ice cream social.  There was a full ice cream bar, but after the goodies were eaten, they played many Minute to Win It games.  This particular friend lives an hour from our house, so it was another late night.  At the end of the evening, we dropped off all his friends and along the way we picked up Caroline at her friend's house.  We didn't get home until 11:30 p.m.  Caroline said she does not like staying out late.  I don't think Benson knew what was going on.  

While Josiah was off with his friends on Friday, Caroline had a park day with a few of hers.  She wanted to go back to a park we hadn't visited since before covid.  Caroline was six then, so the park was a little different than she remembered.  Everything was 'smaller.'  She had fun with two friends and then went home with her friend Sarah for the rest of the day.  You can't tell it from the pictures, but it was really hot.  The heat index was 108° every day this week.

While Josiah and Caroline were at their friend's houses, Henry and I got salads for dinner.  He's my salad guy.  Then we played a game of HORSE with the basketball.  This was the first time I have ever, and probably will ever, win a game of HORSE against Henry, so I took a photo to commemorate it.  It was all legitimate.  I was crushing it.  ;-)

Another day, Henry and I played his second Clue Mystery game.   This one was even more fun and Josiah bowed out early so he could play it with his friends later this summer.  This time, Henry guessed all three things correctly.  

This week also served as the last week of jiu-jitsu for Henry and Caroline.  The month of June is just too crammed to keep it up.  On their last day they played shark tank, which both kids really enjoy.  They are put in groups of four and then numbered, 1, 2, 3, 4.  #1 comes out and (individually) fights 2, then 3, then 4.  Then #2 comes out and fights them all.  They did many, many rounds starting from different positions.  Caroline won all of her matches.  Henry won most of his.  Each round is only 20 seconds, so it goes fast and they get sweaty.  The owner of their dojo spoke with me for a few minutes asking where we were moving.  When I gave him the name of they city (not thinking he would have ever heard of it), he said his uncle lived in that same city.  Small world.  

Henry finished out his weekend with a pool party.  His MARCH friends got together at 'M's' house, ate burgers and watermelon, and swam the night away.  Henry has a lot of fun with these boys.  We are trying to do all the things so all three kids came get in as much friend time as they can.