What a crazy weekend! Yesterday J had to be at Team Rave rehearsal at 8am in New Jersey. We woke up at 4am, picked up another kid from her team at 5:30am, and got to the dance studio in NJ at 7:15 (after getting a bit lost). We had breakfast at a nearby bagel shop, got the kids to rehearsal on time, and hung out for 1.5 hours til they were done. In the meantime, I notice there was a nail in my tire and I drove to get that patched up. Thankfully it took all of 15 minutes and it was during the rehearsal, so no time lost. After the rehearsal was over we drove the 30 minutes to Six Flags. This took us over an hour, though, since we got lost once again. God, I suck at directions! The park was all decked out for Fright Fest, which I hoped wouldn't scare the living shit out of J and W.

We went on a few rides, I got J dressed and made up, and we met the rest of the kids at 2pm. We found good seats at the theater and the kids went on around 2:45. They were fantastic as usual. We decided to spend the rest of the day at the park, so after J got changed and got most of the makeup off, we set out with the other families from her studio. It was very crowded (which always makes me uncomfortable) but we still had a good time. They went on some roller coasters and ate a lot of crap. At almost 6pm, the kids who had done this last year said the ghouls come out and scare you. I thought that was funny and how much fun that would be. We heard a parade going on but couldn't see much through a wall of people 5 rows thick. I lifted J up and B lifted W up on his shoulders. The next thing I know they are both starting to cry and desperate to get the HELL out of there. I didn't understand why until I pushed through some people to actually see the parade.

I couldn't believe what I saw. People dressed like zombies, so real looking, that I can't believe I let the kids see that. Then a huge open busload of them came by. I figured thank goodness we were far back enough so as not to see them. Then I started to hear screams and the crowd opened up in front of us and here comes the whole busload - right toward me and the kids. Holy fuck! I screamed to B to grab the kids and face them the other way, QUICK. And of course Mr. Roaring-Chainsaw-Zombie has to be the one the kids saw. SHIT! So they all finally left our area, but J and W are now totally hysterical crying. We got them calmed down and explained how they are all actors, paid to do this for Halloween, it's their job, and look those 2 are taking pictures with that guy, and the weapons are fake, and it's makeup, and on and on I went. They both decided they wanted to stay a little longer but after about 45 minutes, they'd had more than enough. The zombie people were everywhere and the kids just stopped enjoying themselves. We left by 7 (covering their eyes the whole way out).

Great. Now I'll probably be paying their therapy bill in a few years. I really didn't expect it to be THAT scary for them. I mean they absolutely love scary movies and ghost stories and stuff. K was loving it all and was upset we had to leave. I don't know. I guess next year we'll leave at 5:30 - before the ghouls come out. I feel terrible.

Ok, so the kids went to CCD this morning. K got her Confirmation gown and the iron-on letters for her Conf. name. She is volunteering in different younger classes, helping the teachers with things. We spent the afternoon together going to a couple of high school open houses. She loves one of the schools (my alma mater, :D) and if she's definitely going to high school, this is a great place to go. It's about $6000 a year, so we need to start on the frugal living again. I think we'll manage.

Tomorrow my homeschool group is doing Yemen at the Foreign Lands Club meeting. K and J will be doing a presentation on Yemenite clothing together and W is still deciding if he wants to participate. We're making a maple rice pudding, which we found on a Yemen recipe site. The rest of the week is filled with dance, TACHS classes, and homeschool get-togethers. We might go to the Hall of Science again some time this week, too.

I'll be spending time on reorganizing the apartment and the finances, the summer/winter clothes change-off, arts and crafts, and more home-learning. The kids are finding so many interests lately. I plan on keeping the tv off a lot more and being more involved in providing them with whatever teaching they need. This could be anything from finding a website for them to sitting down learning geometry for an hour. They've been asking for more direct teaching. I think we'll do some science experiments, crafts, and US history this week (in addition to the workbook math/reading/spelling/writing). The fact that they love and ask for stuff like this makes things easy for me. And I enjoy learning stuff right along with them. I know that the kids are just used to school teaching and that's why they prefer it at home, too, but at least at home there's no anxiety or misery. Oh, and they really learn. No cram and dump here. Should be a good week.