We finally have a picture of Albin doing something else besides using the computer! We stopped at the bakery in Stoughton for a drink before going to the library. He was so tired all afternoon. It reminded me of when he was small and we'd carry him around like a sack of potatoes. Of course, he's now bigger than me, so that doesn't work as well. (I tell him: you may be taller than me, but I still weigh more!)

Elise was at one of her last scene study classes. She'll have one more class in two weeks, then the performance. She's really come a long way since the fall. She would come home all worn out and almost cry about practicing her scene. Now she knows it inside and out...has for awhile, actually. We'll see if she'll want to do it again next year (she has such a good acting teacher!) but if she wants a break for a year or two, that would be fine, too.

Elise does gymnastics on Thursday afternoons. We just have time to get home from scene study, change into leotard and grab a snack, and we will be on time for class. I really think we may need to change gyms, though. She is having a lovely time and learning a lot, but I decided last night that the general environment of this gym is best described as toxic. The waiting room is a zoo of people, children yelling at intervals, moms berating their children about homework, etc., that if I didn't have my knitting and Albin's ipod, I wouldn't have lasted three weeks. I can survive with those devices; however, I find the invasive commercialism of the gym offensive. All the kids come out every week with a piece of paper advertising some open gym, drop-off weekend program, etc., for the kids to attend (at additional cost). There is an LED sign above the window of the gym floor, and after her class was over, I read a bit while waiting for her to stand in line for her paper and come out. All I caught was "...sleepover parties. Your kid will love you for it!" I hope my kids love me for the support, encouragement, respect and pure joy in their being that I (and Karl!) have for them, not because I let them go to sleepovers with friends! I understand that the gym has large operating costs, and needs to have as many kids in it as possible, but it still rankles.

We did have good family evening, though, the first we've been together with nothing else going on for a week. Albin was on the couch playing Lego Star Wars, Elise and I needle felted more creche figures, and Karl read more Loamhedge to us. It was lovely!