Basketball, Strange White Stuff Falling from the Sky, and a Houseful of Kids

Our homeschool group usually has a park day every Friday, but with the cold winter temps we've had lately, we planned instead a day inside. The park where we play volleyball and where the Nazi Pool is located has an indoor gym that allows free play. Well, not free as in you don't have to pay but free as in the kids are free to play as they wish. I went prepared this time, having called a friend from the park's county to ask her if I could walk in with her, thus avoiding the out-of-county double charge. They didn't even ask for my license. Or to see what I was wearing under my jacket.

The kids had a great time. They started out just shooting baskets but soon had a full-fledged game of b'ball organized and underway.

And once they tired of that, they enjoyed pool, ping pong, and air hockey.

Audrey just did Audrey things, though: a purple basketball, which she scammed off of her sister, and her Littlest Pet Shop Pets kept her busy.

About halfway through our time at the gym, the snow began to fall, so our group headed outside to the parking lot. And then migrated to the playground. We moms sat in a car, looked around at the otherwise desolate park grounds, and joked about how we homeschoolers will go to the greatest lengths to avoid crowds.

And then my husband called and told me I should come home. Which is code for, "I know you're not a great driver--especially in this stuff--so please come home safe and sound. Now."

So I arrived home safe and sound, and the kids had a blast playing outside as the snow continued to fall.

I had heard on the news that we were supposed to receive from a dusting to an inch. So I wasn't worried about the birthday party which was scheduled to take place the next morning. But it kept snowing. And snowing.

So I rescheduled the party to begin at noon. This party was for my little man, Michael. At age 9, he is certainly becoming quite the little man. My Lego man, though he had a Lego birthday party last year, asked for another Lego party. And that is what he got.

Per his instructions, I made a Power Miners cake with the good guys fighting against the rock monsters in the midst of a hot stream of lava.

We played some Lego games. The first was a scavenger hunt in which the kids--divided in teams--searched the house for baggies of Lego pieces. In the end, they raced to assemble a Lego castle. There was also a word game in which the children formed as many words as possible from the two words Power Miners. The last game involved building Lego towers to see which team could reach the tallest without falling over.

We had a good time. A group of boys is a wild group, but I think everyone had fun. But I'm Lego'ed and partied out, and I'm headed to bed.