Of flying money and flying shrimp

Yesterday could not have gone much better. I found nearly everything I was looking for in the vendors' hall at the homeschool convention. My plastic got plenty of use... at first I was a little shocked at how the total was rising, but then I remembered I was getting materials for 4 kids instead of 2 or 3. I'm really looking forward to getting started with some of the new stuff.

My kids all had a blast at Miss Kathy's house (this is the same Kathy who helped me get the house together after the new carpet was installed). I rode to the conference with Kathy's daughter and her husband; Kathy was keeping their 2 kids for them as well. Add to it my 4 (although Emily doesn't really count, since she is 13; we just didn't want her at home all day by herself). They played games (What special day is it today? not April Fool's Day... it was National Peanut Butter Day. Guess the number of quarters in the jar, etc.). They ate LOTS of food. And they spent the afternoon at the zoo. 1 grandma, 5 kids ranging from 4-10, plus 1 13-year-old. Is she brave or what??? I don't even like taking all 4 of mine to the zoo alone!

I was glad everyone was agreeable to letting us take them out to dinner last night as a way to show appreciation. We headed back to Kobe and had an even better time than last time. Our chef was much more talkative and entertaining. The food even tasted better. Brian and Emily were the only 2 in our party of 12 to catch a shrimp near the end of the meal. Noah was too tired to eat, though. He and Joel fell asleep on the way home, but woke up and managed to stay awake for a little while before falling back asleep on the couch while watching their dad play 007 on the GameCube.

Today brings a little bit of housework for everyone and then maybe a matinee in the afternoon. Emily wants to see Miss Congeniality 2, and the other kids want to see Robots. We may split up to see those.

Those of you who need to, remember to turn the clocks forward tonight! You don't want to be late for church in the morning!