We got Eric’s report card on Friday and he is tearing up kindergarten. I know, everyone brags on their kids and he has an age advantage over most of his peers, but right now it is a nice experience. He gets a small weekly allowance for doing good in school, but this deserved a cash bonus – which he immediately decided to spend on additional Pokemon cards. So Kathryn took Eric and his buddy Trevor (who appartently also got a report card bonus) to Toys-R-Us to spend their loot and afterwards to McDonalds. A 6 year olds dream night out.
Saturday we went to the grand opening of the Holland Patent Ice Skating Rink. The town permitted flooding of a portion of the town park and a very smooth, but sloped ice rink was made available for the public. The grand opening included music, coffee and hot chocolate, and loaner skates for kids that didn’t have ice skates. The weather was warm and there was a big turn out. Kathryn assisted Eric as he slid around on skates for 45 minutes.
Saturday night Skip hosted a group of snow shoers and XC skiers as they took advantage of the full moon to cruise the Greenbelt Trail. It was slow as a group of XC waited on a the following snowshoers, but the weather was mild. Eric enjoyed skiing at night with a headlamp. Afterwards everyone convened at Skip’s house for Kathryn’s home made seafood chowder (delish!) and snacks.
I have been battling bronchitis for 10 days and finally made it to the Doctor’s for prescription medicine. The shotgun approach was prescribed including an antibiotic, steroids and an inhaler with alburaral. After a couple of days I am feeling better already.
Painter, the baby painted turtle, was confined to a large tub in the basement where he happily dug into the mud and hibernated until this past week. The mud in his tub dried up and he awoke to investigate the problem. After re-hydrating his ‘pond’ and covering him with a damp cloth Painter dug in somewhat and went back to his snooze. We will continue to monitor his slumber and plan for his move to warmer floors within the house.