Friday night Joanna and I went out to a little brewery, enjoying our crepes and cider.  Afterward we listened to some music and wandered home to our reduced horde of children.  Honoka was out at a catering event, dressing like an alien with her "catering Olympics" team.  I hear she won 2nd place for her dessert.

We released the science project frogs Saturday afternoon.  Emma went to Kate's for a birthday sleepover.  Sam returned home.  We both kept playing Witcher 3 and comparing how we played different quests.

The next couple days were generally relaxing.  Emma and I played a bunch of Munchkin.  I took the kids out to the park.  Duncan and Berry helped at a car wash.  Joanna went shopping, despite her gimpy ankle.  I mowed the lawn and did endless laundry.

Life's okay.

Sam and I have both been obsessively playing The Witcher.  Joanna sent off an essay to The Sun and has been getting her book ready for publishers. She sent a couple more stories to Lane Monthly and wrangled a raise.  I've really enjoyed some of her recent biographical articles - this one in particular.

Berry and Emma were fighting over who was cooking what at breakfast this morning, a conflict I can get behind.  Hopefully they'll do the same over laundry and cleaning up after dinner.  Duncan was having some computer woes, but maybe it got resolved.  The life of an aspiring YouTuber is full of technical challenges.

Honoka is off on a catering trip for the next couple days.  Emma has a sleepover with Kate on Saturday.  I'm off next Monday, so hopefully we can all get some good hang out time over the weekend, maybe enjoy some sunshine for a while.  I need to do a library run tomorrow, and we've promised to release the frogs from Berry's science experiment.  The fun never stops.

I got a new hard drive at work, so I've been cracking open my computer and moving parts around.  It's a little weird, as I'm never sure what I'm allowed to do, but I knew how to do it and it all worked out fine.

Joanna's ankle continues to heal.  The crutches are long gone.  She's managed to limp around and do all the typical things, just slower than normal.

Duncan and Berry continue to go to track a couple nights a week.  I think they enjoy it still.

Sam's grades are slowly improving as he makes up work assignments.  We're back to two A's and a B for the things I can see grades for.

Joanna is slowly working on the various summer plans.  We have our Crater Lake trip booked, which should be an adventure.  My plan for the beach trip with everyone is to load up my mom's car with board games, clothes, and beach supplies.  I'll take people over in the minivan.  Can't wait to see everyone.

I was a little wonky Saturday morning due to fatigue and running around filling in for Joanna.  I played Castle Panic with Berry first thing, and then Superfight with Emma.  I took kids to chess and Emma and I went to the library.  Somewhere in there I got a haircut.  Sam went to work for my mom.  Pizza was purchased.  Honoka got ready for the prom and I took her and her friend to the Ford Alumni Center.  Honoka told stories of a little toddler one of the Prom Patrol people had taken with her, so I think Honoka mostly played with babies.   It made for another late night for me, though - Sam entertained me with more Metal Gear Solid and throwing things at me in the basement.

Sunday morning was pretty relaxing.  Kids were fed.  All but Duncan and Honoka went to see the Avengers movie.  Homework was done.  Emma and I puttered around outside.  Joanna slowly began limping around instead of using crutches.  I played more with Sam.  Everyone is getting excited for summer.

Life is never boring.

The kids have continued to entertain.  We had food from Honoka's catering program last night - the soup was really good.  Emma was working on a mandala and trying to write about her perfect Utopian society (I suggested a billion helpful robots with my brain uploaded into them).  Duncan continues to be all about Minecraft.  Berry helps me cook breakfast if she wakes up early enough.  Sam had me play more Metal Gear Solid while we worked on Biology last night.  All is well.

We're starting to nail down summer plans for the curious:

I think tonight we're going to attempt to go to the Avengers movie.  The rest of the weekend is pretty low-key - library, chess club, and hopefully getting outside.  Should be fun.

Sam got some C's on his midterm grades, and sure enough it's due to missed assignments when he was sick last month.  He's started to take care of things, though I need to make sure he talks to his teachers to get things accomplished.

Berry was back at school today after being sick a couple days.  Thanks to mom and Bob for keeping an eye on her yesterday.  Duncan dutifully went off to track by himself, which he seems to enjoy.

As for me, my evenings have been pretty quiet.  I've had a couple fun nights of hanging out with Sam and playing Metal Gear Solid.  I think he enjoys making fun of my lack of skills.

Friday night was pretty quiet.  I picked up Emma around bedtime and we all arose Saturday morning to dutch babies and bacon.  Emma and I went to the library and made our peace with the library mafia.  We may still have a few books out, but I think my balance is zero.  There were a few good books we returned with.  Meanwhile, Duncan and Berry went off to chess and then after to their track meet.  They had a good time and brought home some ribbons, which Berry in particular was quite proud of.  As the day rolled on, I picked up Sam and we had the usual pizza and science.

Sunday was the Mother's Day extravaganza.  I arranged for cards to be made and flowers bouquets to be assembled.  Crepes, strawberries, and whip cream were served and the hand-painted pottery was handed over. 

 I think Joanna had a good time and went off to church with Duncan while the rest of us puttered around.  I mowed the lawn and took out the compost, but otherwise enjoyed the weather and lazy morning.  After lunch I took Sam, Emma, and Duncan to my mom's to deliver flowers and a card.  While we were there, we ended up doing a bunch of plumbing - fixing one thing and breaking another.  Fortunately it's practice for me, as we have the same clogged tube issue in one of our faucets.

Yayoe took Berry shopping for her birthday.  She returned home with a stuffed seal that she carries everywhere with her.  Apparently Berry was very well behaved with Yayoe.  

We attempted to take Joanna to dinner at Off the Waffle, but it was annoyingly closed.  Instead we headed to Sizzle Pie, which was pretty good after a fairly long wait.  At least we got to see the entertaining people wander around downtown.

Now it's back to work, where I can hopefully relax a little.

It's been a generally positive last few days.  The kids are all finally well again, with Berry making it to track and enjoying herself, despite complaints on the way there.  Emma is still having issues with her toe, but I think she'll keep the nail and it hurts less.  Joanna got some work done, ordering books for her client and getting writing projects wrapped up.

This weekend we need to settle more accounts with the Library mafia.  My $77 in overdue fines last weekend was just the beginning.  We have some books we can't find and more fines.  We'll see what the total damage will be.

I need to start getting things ready for Emma's birthday.  The general plan is a Friday night sleepover on the 29th and a birthday shindig the next day around 10 or 11.

I'm also hoping to finalize my time off for the summer as best I can.  

Back to work!