Saturday morning we invited mom over for breakfast, who entertained and chatted with us all.  She also dropped off some DVDs of old movies which I want to upload to YouTube (after some editing out of naked me in the pool).  Joanna, Duncan, and Berry put in a bunch of work into a lemonade stand while Emma and I went to the library.  It was nice getting some quiet time with Emma and we returned with a bunch of watercolor books.

Both girls worked on watercolor paintings that afternoon.  I'd picked up Grand Theft Auto 5, so I managed to play some of that, careening around the city in stolen vehicles.  Joanna and I both worked on the garden, which is coming together nicely.  Eventually Sam arrived and we watched more Tested, giving food tips to astronauts and flying drones with first person view cameras.

Sunday was also quiet.  The girls kept painting.  Honoka made cheesecake.  I stole them all in the afternoon to do secret Mother's Day activities.  In the afternoon I finally finished the end of Metal Gear Solid after considerable suffering.  Emma made Sam watch High School Musical and Sam had Emma play Demon Souls.  Berry downloaded a Minecraft animation program and started making videos.  Sam has been making an island in the latest Unreal SDK.

Sam and Honoka have enjoyed a week of sleeping in due to late starts due to testing.  Sam's signing up for classes next year: PreCalc, European Lit, Chemistry, Japanese 3, and hopefully AP European History.  He might also get some electives in jogging, computers, and international foods.

Joanna's been busy, helping at Charlemagne and working on assorted writing projects.  Duncan and Berry had their science fair yesterday, with the tadpoles dutifully transported to the gym for a couple days.  They've also enjoyed track and field this week - I think it's good for them to run around.

Berry was really funny this morning.  She's been helping make breakfast since she turned eight.  This morning she was complaining about how she wish she could stay in bed and have breakfast make itself.  "Now I know why grownups are grumpy all the time."  It cracked me up.

My mocha is gone and I have a ton of work to do, so I'm signing off for now.

Emma reports being sick and has been out of school for a couple days.  Honoka slept in yesterday and missed a couple class periods.  Today she's off to LCC for a catering event.  Duncan and Berry are getting ready for their science projects on dreams and the life-cycle of frogs, respectively.  Tonight they're off to their track and field practice.

Last night Joanna and I went out to dinner and wandered around downtown, chatting all the way.  We ended up having great tea before returning home.  Sam continues to push me to play Metal Gear Solid, which I keep failing at.  It's hard being an over-the-top action hero.

Hopefully this weekend mom will join us for dutch babies.  I'm supposed to remind her to bring a checkbook, as Sam is apparently owed money.

Saturday morning I picked up Emma and we went to the library together while Duncan, Berry, and Joanna went off to chess and birthdays.  I picked up a book - The Girl with All the Gifts - and read it incessantly all day until I finished.  I haven't done that in a long while, and it was a rare treat.   Eventually Emma was picked up to go kayaking with her mom and Sam.   

Berry had her birthday party at Putters, with everyone playing laser tag except Honoka and I.  I think Joanna had a really good time, as did the little kids.  Everyone returned home for more Mythbuster substitute videos and pizza.

Sunday was very much a hang out at home day for me.  I played Elder Sign with Emma and Berry after breakfast, saving the world once again.  Sam woke up and I played with them after lunch, while Berry was swept away to the next birthday.  I did some yardwork.  Joanna grilled dinner.  We enjoyed the warm evening weather once again.

Berry has been adjusting to her eight year-old self.  She had a few moments over the weekend that involved excessive screaming.  Over the same few days she's been very sweet, helping make breakfast and assisting with chores.  Growing up is hard work sometimes.

Berry has been quiet cheerful and helpful lately.  This morning I got up late and Berry helped cook breakfast for everyone.  She can be surprisingly sweet at times.

Sam and I have been playing video games on occasion in the evening, either fighting together as bunnies in Overgrowth or Sam making me play Metal Gear Solid on his PS3.  I think he feels I missed out on my console video game experience and I require some cultural education.

Joanna went off to yoga this morning.  She's keeping the household together and working away at her stories for Lane County Monthly.  All is well.

Saturday we bid farewell to Joanna and the little kids as they went off to a chess competition.  Duncan returned with a trophy, though I'm a little unclear on the specific criteria.  Emma and I went to the library and then later to the U of O bookstore, returning with books and presents.

The afternoon was pretty low-key, playing and doing art, or assorted clean-up tasks for myself.    With no new Mythbusters episodes, we watched some videos from Tested, which is affiliated with the two Mythbusters folks.  There are some good ones in there - the kids liked the space burrito.

Sunday had a breakfast of waffles, followed by Joanna and Duncan going to church while Berry, Emma, and I worked away in the garage.  I tried to repair an old cabinet with Emma's help.  Berry destroyed a microwave.  We eventually wore ourselves out, not quite finished with anything.

Sam went hiking with his mom that afternoon and the rest of the crew went for a long visit to Amazon Creek.  It was a gorgeous day.  Joanna brought home swamp water and sticks for the tadpoles.  The kids ran around on the playground.  Eventually I coaxed them away for a walk along the creek, coming back home a little pink with sunburn.  Cubicle life hasn't prepared me for the outside world.

The day wrapped up with kids finishing homework.  Sam and Emma played a game involving wrestling in sleeping bags, followed by Overgrowth video game bunny fighting.  Berry won a game of Sorry with Joanna.  I played the laundry folding game and mostly succeeded.

Emma got her hair cut yesterday.  It's short and cute and sassy, which fits her nicely.  She's going to a school dance tonight, which means that she's really going to play Magic with her friends until she calls me and I pick her up.  

Duncan and Berry are pondering track and field classes after school.  Hopefully they stick with it.  Duncan got a glowing review of his mod made in his online class he's been taking - I suspect he'll take more computer classes in the future.

Even though Sam moved his computer downstairs, we still manage to play quite a bit together.  Last night he got Demon Souls and I watched him play for a while, along with some bunny-on-bunny fighting action with Overgrowth.  Other than sleeping in and missing first period on Wednesday, I think all is well with school.  He's having fun playing D&D after school a couple days a week.

Honoka is her usual quiet, well-behaved self.  Joanna has been rushing about interviewing people and working on assorted novels.  The little kids have a chess competition tomorrow.  Emma and I will likely hang out and go to the library.  Life's good.

I'm towards the end of a Portal-like puzzler called The Talos Principle.  It's fun, and has an interesting story, but I put it on hold to play Pillars of Eternity.  It's an homage to the old Baldur's Gate games of 16 years ago, done with all the modern bells and whistles and a great non-D&D world to learn about and explore.  I've sunk in a ton of hours and continue to have fun with it.

Sam's been working on his PS3 games he recently picked up, including having me go through Metal Gear Solid.  I'm slowly getting okay at it, but am only halfway through.  I may have to go bug him to let me play more tonight, as I'm curious as to how it turns out.

I've been driving mom's car around this week, mostly used to driving a stick shift again.  I think I'm getting my car back from the shop today, minus a very large check.  It's amazing how much we spend on transportation.

Joanna and the little kids collected tadpoles for a science presentation yesterday afternoon.  There's a little aquarium set up for observations.  I've heard frogs return back to the site they're born, so I keep imagining a horde of frogs coming to the door a year from now.

Sam and I saw It Follows last night.  I'm not normally into horror movies, but I heard good things about it and it seemed a fun thing to do with Sam.  It was pretty good, as horror films go, and I was more intrigued by the monster than terrified by it.  Sam and I discussed various defenses all the way home.

Joanna and I are going out on a date night tonight.  Emma got a hair cut and will surprise us with it tomorrow.  Life's doing okay.

Saturday morning the little kids went to chess.  I worked on cleaning the garage a little more, then Honoka and I went down to Saturday Market to pick up veggies and meet up with Emma, Jamie, and Meg.  We eventually returned home and spent the afternoon hanging out and dying Easter eggs.  Duncan and Berry spent much of the afternoon playing with Flynn and his friend, but eventually returned to partake of the egg art.  Emma was delivered to Jade's birthday sleepover.  As the day wound down, I fetched Sam from Jamie's and picked up pizza.  

Easter Sunday started with lots of chocolate and Joanna and the little kids going to church.  I picked up Emma, who had learned to put on makeup during her evening out.  Later Sam and Honoka awoke and we ended up playing assorted games like "Secret Assassin" and Superfight.  

The whole crew arrived for Easter dinner.  We chatted and ate our way through the evening.  Eventually kids were put to bed and I helped Sam with logarithms, barely remembering them myself.  He still has a lot of homework to catch up on.

This morning I drove my mom's car to work since mine is still in the shop.  I managed to remember how to drive a stick successfully.  It'll be nice to get my real car later this week.

Sam dragged himself to school this morning.  He's been home all week with stomach issues, which is his Achilles's heel.  Honoka just rushed out the door - hopefully she makes it to class on time.

Emma was her usual cheerful self last night.  She made me do exercises in the basement to show me what she's been doing in PE.  Though she says she hates PE, she seemed rather excited.  She claims floor hockey is the sport of her people (she enjoys being Canadian too).

Duncan and Berry have been their usual selves.  Berry's been working on her comic writing empire, charging her family members for her creative output.  Duncan continues to accumulate Minecraft mods.  Emma helped put them both to bed last night, reading Archie comics given to us by Uncle Dave long ago.

Date night tonight.  Quiet weekend ahead.  Life's okay.