Dragons Love Tacos! And Halloween!

As a surprise to the boys this past Saturday, we took them to a play in the city based on the children's picture book Dragons Love Tacos! by Adam Rubin.  The play was good - Sean was really engaged.  I wasn't sure how much Evan liked it but this morning he wanted to take the playbill to school to show his teacher so that must be a good sign right? 

 

After going to the play, we enjoyed some Lou Malnati's before heading over to Maggie Daley Park for the Inaugural Chicago Halloween Gathering event.  The kids got to be in a children's costume procession on the ribbon and then afterwards we hit the stations and played in the park.  We stayed for the evening's parade but at that point, everyone was really tired.  We'll have to pace ourselves better next time!  In general it was one of the busiest weekends I've planned in a while.  I need a vacation from my weekend!

Pete the Cat Tries His Best

Sean had to do a book report for school.  He had to pick a book, write the report and make a character out of the book using a pumpkin or gourd.  He picked Pete the Cat Play Ball.  If you have ever read a Pete the Cat book, you know that he always, always tries his best (he is not always successful).  Sean painted his pumpkin blue and we cut out eyes from card stock.  We made ears (they fell off).  We couldn't find a little baseball hat so we had to give up on that....  It turned out okay.  I wish I had used different paint since the acrylic I had did not look great.  His teacher took the book report project to the local library and had them displayed.  I took Sean to see them last night and he was pretty pleased with himself.  Pretty pleased indeed!

Boo Camp!

The past few years at this time the boys have gone to Boo Camp for cub scouts.  It's a camp that we've been to a bunch of times but they still really like it.  There is a ton of things to do:  fishing, archery, rope bridges, games, launching a trebuchet, etc.  I have yet to go because I always have something going on the weekend of Boo Camp (usually Girl Scout related) but Steve and the boys make a day of it!

Camping!!!! No Rain

Well it has been awhile since I have gone camping with scouts and it hasn't rained but this weekend we got lucky!  The boys' Cub Scout Pack had a camp out at Camp Oakarro this past weekend.  We attended as a family for the first time (usually it's just one of us going with the boys) so the giant tent went up for Friday night.  We were lame and left Saturday night after the boys did a camp skit.  We hiked, went fishing, played games and had many "forest" adventures as Evan likes to call it!  It makes me so happy to see them run off with the other scouts to build teepees and explore! 

School Picture Day

1st Day of School 2015/2016

This morning Evan and Gretchen argued, on this first day of school, of whether or not Evan's 1st grade teacher was his teacher that year (he starts 2nd grade today).  I had to break up the argument by explaining that they were both right and how school years are calendar years... it was all very exhausting.  Steve is out of town for work so these little cuties had to get up real early so I could drop them off at day care and get to work. 

Derma-what?

So today I get a call from day camp asking me to come and pick Evan up because he has lice.  Then they say I need to pick up all three even though they only think it's Evan.  One of them has had lice before and it is the worst.  We had to buy a really expensive nit comb and comb and treat several times.  I know what the adults look like and what the eggs look like (excuse - I have to barf now).... I get the kids and immediately get Sean into the chair to shave his head.  I do a quick check and I don't see any bugs and no eggs but to be safe, he gets shaved (#2 guide).  Next up I get Evan in the chair.  I look at his head more closely and I don't see anything.  Not a bug, no egg sacs, nothing.  Evan does have dermatitis (cradle cap) that happens to be pretty bad because of all the chlorine his head has seen this summer.  It looks like my psoriasis - white and scaly.  I normally use the lice comb (irony!) to remove it from his hair but I've been lazy and haven't done it lately.  So I see no lice but a lot of dermatitis.  To be safe he gets shaved with the #1 guide (military short).  I decide to call the camp and I know they must hate me because I want to know what they saw.  They tell me they'll call me back. In the meantime, I do the shampoo on the boys and shower them.  Throw all the blankets we have around the house in the wash.  Strip their bedding and lay sheets on the couch so they can sit down.  Still no call yet so I decide to start working on Gretchen's hair.  Before combing it with the nit comb, I use a regular comb and I don't see anything.  She has a lot of hair so by the time I'm done, it's huge. Finally the counselor calls... She says they say something jump out of his hair (lice do not jump) or maybe fell out.  I ask if they looked at his head and they indicate they saw the white stuff (the dermatitis) so they ask Evan if it's itchy and he says yes.  Then he tells them he has lice.  GRRRRRRRR.....  I explain he has had dermatitis since he was a baby and my pediatrician can vouch for that so they say he can come back tomorrow if I have a doctor's note.  I call my pediatrician and they won't do anything without seeing him so we go in this evening and she looks him over, listens to my story and gets me a letter.  Then she tells Evan that he caused his own problem!  Moral of the story:  Don't listen to a 7 year old.  In truth, I'm not mad anymore... everything in clean and the boys won't need a haircut for awhile but man, am I tired!