Take You Child Outside Week, Fall for Novi, and the Primary Program

This week was yet again another busy, action packed week. It was "Take Your Child Outside Week", so there were many activities set up around Novi for this, and we also attended the Fall For Novi event. Finally, we had the Primary Program today, which went really well.

On Monday, we had a fairly relaxing usual day. I took Soren to the gym while Keira was at school. I actually didn't have anything else to do today while Keira was at school, so it was great to not have to rush around.


That afternoon, I realized that one of my potted plants had started to grow into the ground through the bottom of the pot. I made an attempt to permanently plant it, so we will see how it does. It is a mum, but I am not sure if it is the hardy variety or not. Keira and Soren enjoyed "helping".

We finished off the day at Maybury. I got in a nice run and Keira and Soren were able to play a bit.






On Tuesday, we went to Lakeshore Park for our first "Take Your Child Outside" activity. They had a fun "hike" planned followed by a birdfeeder craft.

We hung out for a little bit afterwards, but then headed over to Heritage Park in Farmington to meet up with my visiting teachers and a few other friends from church. It was great to get together with them, and Keira and Soren had a blast playing in the sand. I usually don't let them in the sand, so they took full advantage of it and got super messy. They both needed a bath when we got home.





On Wednesday, while Keira was at school, I had planned to take Soren to an outdoor storytime, but it was very wet, so it was held inside the library. This was probably better, since we were enclosed in a room and Soren wouldn't be distracted by the park.



I just ran today when ryan got home, and Keira and Soren had fun outside while Ryan cleaned up his bikes. They wanted to help again too, and love playing with the hose.

On Thursday, we had a low key day. We did a few errands and hung out at home. The diaper boxes are a constant amusement for the kids.



We also went to our playground, but didn't stay long due to Keira tripping and falling and wanting to come home.


Friday was a busy day. Keira went to school, and then we had Soren's two year pictures done at JC Penny. They have changed their website, so I am not sure that their is an easy way to get the images into a slideshow like I have done in the past. I am going to have to copy screen prints of everything into paint, since the "download" button has disappeared as an option. After pictures, we went to McDonalds, which is always a favorite.

On Saturday, we did more errands and then attended the Fall For Novi event at the Civic Center. It had some pretty intense demonstrations. The first was was pretty scary, and Keira hated it. I hope she doesn't have nightmares or become too afraid in general of fire, as I was as a child. They set a room on fire, and then put it out, to illustrate how fast fire spreads. The entire room was consumed in under 3 minutes. They did 2, one with sprinkler systems and one without, and we only watched the one without, as it was just too stressful for Keira. They also had many of the city's fire engines on display, and Soren LOVED being able to sit inside one. In fact, he asked to have the door closed so he could go for a ride! A fireman climbed the 100ft ladder, and Keira and Soren had a blast in the bounce house. I was glad we ran into Kimberly, Dale, and their children, as Keira enjoyed playing with Paige, and it cheered her up a bit since she was not nearly as excited to be there as Soren. Soren is so perceptive. He noticed a helicopter approaching, and I thought little of it. He said the helicopter was coming, and I acknowledged it, but then realized that it really was going to land at the civic center. We rushed over to see it land, and Keira enjoyed seeing that. A second one arrived just as we were leaving, so we saw the UM helicopter land from the road.

Ryan had his final "official" group ride of the season today while we were gone, and we arrived home about the same time. I went on a short run, as I am officially signed up for a half marathon next weekend, and am in my taper for the race. That afternoon, Ryan went for a real hike at Lakeshore Park with his scouts, and then we had our usual pizza for dinner tonight. It was a fun day.

On Sunday, we had the Primary Program. We got up really early and got to church with plenty of time to get everything ready. It went super well, and everyone really felt the Spirit. Keira even said her line, and Soren handled being in the audience better than I thought. Kris and Linda came too. I am glad it went well, and am very glad that it is over. It was a ton of work, but worth it. I took a huge nap afterwards, and then we had a relaxing evening at home.




Up for next week, we will be having lots of cider and donuts, as Soren is turning 2, Keira has a field trip, and I will be running the Brooksie Way Half Marathon.