Sophia and Avery came to my house this week after school. Perfectly cozy:

The nest with a very large tv screen:

The new card shuffler was a big hit:

We’ve been playing Cover Your Assets. I warned them I would been playing much more aggressively this time. It didn’t work, I lost again. Jelly beans lined up for consumption:

Because of snow in the northwest Terry didn’t actually arrive from Kelowna, British Columbia, until after midnight last Wednesday. We walked the 3 miles around the lake a couple of times and rode 17 miles to the end of Jack Rabbit Trail and back. That might have been a bit far for Terry’s first ride of the year.

Avery introduced Rusty the gecko to Terry. He also asked Terry, “Do you speak Canadian?” Answer, “I am speaking Canadian.”

On Friday, we made apple strudel and went to the TGIF at the Lodge.

Terry generously gave Sophia, Avery and Carson some Canadian money. Each of them has their own wallet:

After church on Sunday, we went out to Justin’s to visit:

We have a fun 5 days together, it went by fast. Thanks for coming, Terry!

This is the first place claimed when Sophia and Avery come to my house. I brought in two of the outdoor ottomans from the patio for the winter and made it comfy.

Sophia’s team won the tournament.

Number 4 for Carson.

at St Ignatius on Sunday afternoon.

Carson met the teacher he’ll have next year in transitional kindergarten.

A sample of the Del Castillo sports schedule. Thursday:


Saturday morning:


Saturday afternoon:

Sunday morning:

I didn’t go to Avery’s Sunday @ 7pm game. Busy kids.

Martin Luther King Jr Holiday. Lenin dropped off Sophia, Avery, and Carson mid-morning. Sophia and Avery immediately went to their winter nest:

Carson and I put together a puzzle:

Then he watered plants.

All the plants.

We went to Chipotle for lunch.

I hadn’t been to one of Carson’s swim lessons in a long time and I was amazed at the progress he’d made.

It was a short drive to Carson’s next activity. Avery asked if he could “ride with Grandma.” Of course! As soon as we left, I began to hear subliminal messages coming from the backseat. Slowly the messages became louder – Starbucks … Starbucks … Starbucks. Avery, should we go to Starbucks? “Yes!” But you have to finish it before we get to gymnastics, I don’t want anyone to feel left out and it’s only a couple of miles away. “I can do that!” So we got his favorite, a caramel ribbon crunch frappuccino, and he began drinking it very fast. Avery, don’t drink it so fast, you might get one of those ice cream headaches. I’ll drive slowly. “That’s a good idea.” Maybe I should put some gas in the car? “Yeah, you should do that.” LOL. We parked, but didn’t go in right away so he could finish. I love these Avery moments!

Carson graduated from the Mini class to the Kinder 1 class and he got to ring the bell.

I picked up Sophia and Avery at school on Tuesday, then took Sophia to her ortho appointment. Sophia’s homework tonight was to complete a project for the Witch of Blackbird Pond: baking one of 3 recipes, taking 3 pictures and getting them printed, due on Thursday. She chose an apple tart. Thais found an easier recipe online, but didn’t have a couple of the ingredients. I asked if I could run to the store for her – yes!




As a retired teacher, I can not imagine the negative feedback I would have received to have made an assignment like this.