Bug Week

This week is an "off" week, or "free" week for the twins, meaning no camps, no vacations, no visitors, etc. They do still have swim lessons (Tues & Thurs mornings), but otherwise no schedule. Remember back in May I came up with a theme for every week of the summer? For the most part, we haven't done much with those themes, because there's been enough other stuff going on. But I figured this week we'd need our theme, so I looked back at my notes to see what I'd planned. Bugs! Insects! Creepy-crawlies! Seemed very appropriate for a week where (I thought) we'd go to a lot of parks. We got some bug books out of the library on Sunday, and boos got in the spirit by catching a lot of ladybugs and putting them in inappropriate containers, such as Lego cars.

Actually the week hasn't turned out the way I thought it would AT ALL, due to some last-minute major events cropping up. I had my job interview on Monday afternoon, and as noted in the last post, was offered the job on the spot and then had to do a bunch of paperwork and running around. Also on Monday we signed a contract for a new roof to be put on our house and whaddaya know, they had an opening on Wednesday. So the materials were delivered Tuesday afternoon, and placed on the existing roof via conveyor belt.

Very exciting for two little boys, not to mention their parents.

Wednesday morning we were awakened by the sound of a big truck driving past our bedroom window at 6:45 am -- we'd been told they'd come at 7:30, so I'd set my alarm for 7:00. No matter, I was awake and got dressed quickly. Here they are getting started on the job.

We'd been told not to be around while the roof was going up, so we had breakfast at Denny's, but in retrospect I think we could have stayed home -- at least for breakfast. After breakfast we took Rocket Boy back home and the kids and I went on our special Bug Week outing to the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster.

The Butterfly Pavilion is a very nice place, a bit pricey, a bit small, but overall nice. If we lived closer to it, I think I'd buy a family membership, because the boos are already asking to go back, but I don't want to spend $25 or whatever it was every week. I'd been to it once before -- and remembered it as being larger -- but boos were quite happy with the size it was.

I'd told them that a butterfly might land on them, and Kid A was especially disappointed that none did. Should have worn pink, maybe, something that would attract the butterflies. Or maybe they only land on calm adults, such as this lucky lady:

I'd remembered that the Butterfly Pavilion has a tarantula that you can hold:

(I held it -- boos were too scared. It's a very gentle tarantula.)

But I'd forgotten that there are lots of other little animals too, such as sea stars

(Kid B said, embarrassingly, "Sponge Bob's friend is a sea star!") and bees.

We spent a lot of time watching the bees fly in and out. When they came back to the hive they had pollen sticking to their legs.

So overall it was a very good visit, though there were a few moments like this one:

All too soon boos were ready to go to the gift shop, but we managed to spend a lot of time (and money) there, choosing gifts for the little girl whose birthday party they'll be attending in a little over a week. I also let them choose some better bug-catching apparatus: Kid A got a bug gun (of course) that sucks up insects so you can look at them, and Kid B got a ladybug jar with a magnifying glass. We already had some bug guns, but I'm not sure where they are, so oh well, now we have three. Story of my life.

OK, so now it's what, 11 am? I'd really hoped the Pavilion would use up more than TWO HOURS, but no. So, since we were in Westminster, I casually drove to what used to be the Westminster Mall but is now just a Lone Penney's, sitting all by itself, and bought more unstylish clothes to maybe wear while teaching. (Pretty soon I'll have spent my whole as-yet-unearned salary on unstylish clothes.) And across the street was a McDonald's with a play structure, so we went there for lunch. (Note to anyone who finds themself having to eat at a McDonald's: the new chicken wraps are not bad. Get the grilled chicken, for lower points.)

We got home again about 1:15 to find the roofers starting to put on the new plywood.

A good sign, but man, they had a long way to go, especially since some parts of the roof still had the old roof on them. How could they possibly finish by the end of the day?

Our next outing was to the park, where boos hoped to catch ladybugs with their new bug-catching tools, but were mostly unsuccessful. Dad joined us there, and then we all went to Starbucks for a snack break. I felt like I was hemorrhaging money: breakfast at Denny's, entrance fees at the BP, gift shop purchases, shopping at JCPenney's, lunch at McDonalds, and now Starbucks. Not to mention what the roof was costing us! But oh well, why not go for broke: we still had several hours of the day left, so I took the kids to a movie.

We'd never been to the cinemas at the 29th Street Mall before and I was pleasantly surprised. NO recliners! And NO reserved seats. We just walked in, told the guy what movie we wanted to see, bought tickets and popcorn (oh well), and found our own seats in the theater. And they were very comfy, despite not being recliners. We saw Earth to Echo, which was fairly dumb, not terrible, but a bit over the boos' heads. Kid B in particular was frightened by it, and I don't think either of them understood why the camera kept turning upside down and wobbling. For me it was a way to kill another 90 minutes. For them it was an experience. Tonight they asked me if we could go back and see Earth to Echo again and I said NO. I think we will go to that theater again, though.

Home again. It was about 6:30 and the roofers were still pounding away. Rocket Boy, who'd spent much of the day there, confessed he'd worn earplugs much of the time. He wanted to eat out, but I had hit my wall and couldn't go on. The kids felt the same, so we nibbled on this and that. And finally it was quiet and we went out to have a look.

We have a new roof. Looks very much like the old one, but I know it isn't. I'm eagerly anticipating the next thunderstorm so that I can watch our bathroom ceiling NOT leak. And then we have to decide what to do next: we need rain gutters, new windows, a new bathroom ceiling...

Today boos were busy catching ladybugs again. Poor ladybugs.

We let them out every evening.

We had a playdate today, and Rocket Boy had a job interview. This weekend we'll probably go to the cabin. Not sure what we'll do tomorrow, maybe go to a park, as Bug Week rolls on.