Polo Pals

These two just finished up their water polo season--first time with both of them playing at the high school. Bug was one of the JV captains and Bean made varsity.

It was a super short season with only 6 games, and the teams were small, so they ended up moving people around a lot (Bug actually got to play in a couple of varsity games and didn't drown!) 

Neither of their teams did particularly good, but they had a lot of fun getting to actually play and not just condition how they had been for months and months. 

And, of course, just getting out of the house and interacting with other people their age made it all worth it.

This kid, on the other hand, didn't really love being back to sitting beside a pool for a 2-3 hours at a time on game days. This is how he spends most of the time. . . reading. He sometimes mentions maybe wanting to play water polo someday, but at this point, he has zero interest in watching any of the games, so I'm skeptical😆

So glad that they got to play, and it was nice having something feel a little bit normal. 

Bug's season did get interrupted by a Covid quarantine, which was a bummer. Our area's numbers have been getting better and better, but the high school has been a hot mess this past month. They have had a few kids test positive each week, which leads to 30-40 new quarantine cases (anyone who sits within 6 feet of the sick student). Apparently they haven't seen any spread happening through the classroom contacts (and Bug never showed any symptoms during the 10 days he had to stay home), but they are seeing spread through parties happening over the weekends. It feels like we are so close to the end of school, and have so many things getting ready to wrap up that these kids just need to hang on for a few weeks so everything doesn't get cancelled. Three of the teams had to end their season early, and others have been out of commission for up to 2 weeks.

Bean actually adapted her in-person classes in order to be sure she got to finish out the season after Bug's experience. She only has one class with enough kids going that she has to be within 6 feet of anyone else, so she stopped going into the classroom for that one and would just log in from the gym where they have tables spaced out around the room. She didn't want to take a chance of someone exposing her and having to quarantine for that last week of games. And Bug got to return in time for the last 2 games, so at least he finished out the season with his team. He has not returned to school yet, and with only 8 days left, I'm not sure he'll bother. This year has just been so weird all around.

 

Zoom Church

I just want to document the beauty of at home church--snuggled up on the couch with my family and a warm blanket. What is not to like about this?

Back to Science

We're on our third week of science classes. It's been a lot of back and forth with deciding what these classes would look like this year. My original hope was to have live classes for those who felt comfortable, and an online option for those who didn't. I was getting excited about expanding my business--online classes meant I could take students from anywhere! And even the challenge of finding ways to approach the topics and bring them to life over a screen sounded like it would be good for me. 

But with the way things have gone in our area this summer, it wasn't feeling safe. I debated holding class outside, in our backyard, which sounded a little better than bringing 15-20 kids a week into our home. But the more we looked at it, and the more we tried to find a way, I realized I was going to need to hold all my classes online. Our family has just done too much to avoid this virus to make anything else practical. In the end, the charter schools all announced that they wouldn't pay for any in person classes this semester  (which affects 5 of my students), and the crazy smoke issues we've had from all the wildfires would have made outdoor classes impossible the past two weeks, so it was the right decision for sure.

And with moving all my classes online, in the end, instead of growing my business, I just combined my online only class with my current classes. A couple weeks before class started, I was at that make-it or break-it spot. I had lower than normal enrollment in my classes, so unless I started advertising and pushing hard to get more kids in my new online Wednesday class, I was going to be doing more work for less money. This just isn't the year for me to be able to handle the extra time working. And I'm so glad that I made that choice because 3 weeks into this school year, I know I'm maxed out. This is not going to be an easy year for any of us.

But back to science--I did hold optional outside classes for the first lesson at a local park so the kids could pick up their supply kits and we could look into the characteristics of living things. There were only a few families interested in this option, spread between two classes based on age, so it was really easy to set each family up under their own tree with plenty of distance and yet they could still see my props and hear me. 

And then, I returned to my online set up at the kitchen table. It's gone okay, and I feel more prepared for teaching this way now that I've had a few months practice and planning time. Each student has a binder of worksheets and interactive notebooking pages that we will use this semester, as well as the supplies for various labs and hands-on activities we will be doing. It's sometimes a challenge to help them find the right supplies for class (following directions is rough!), but we're all learning. And I'm really trying to provide variety in our activities --we've split into breakout rooms to brainstorm, taken online quizzes and answered polls, done guided experiments, watched videos, used note-taking guides, and colored and cut and glued. As always, the youngest class is the toughest, but I'm trying to keep their interest and make science fun--which really is my only goal for that age. 

After three back-to-back classes, I'm beat. I've also felt oddly let down the past couple weeks. I think the sheer amount of energy it saps from me to teach through a computer--repeating instructions over and over because someone always misses it the first 3 times, trying to sound alive and excited to keep the kids engaged--while not getting much back from the kids leaves me feeling pretty sad at the end of it all. When we would be in person, I got to engage more with the kids, and hear their jokes, and laughing, and enjoy a certain amount of positive energy from the group being together. That's all gone now and it's hard. My kids are all pretty great, but they just don't get the same chances to talk among themselves as they work, or respond to my questions easily. Some of them won't show themselves on the screen for more than a minute or two, some don't like to answer questions. (Some, like Peanut, won't stop talking, which presents it's own set of problems😂.) Most can't type fast enough to make the chat box helpful, and my youngest class can't really read, so everything visual has to be in pictures.  But we're making it work for now and just pray that we'll be able to meet in person again before the end of the school year.

Escaping the Smoke

The Air Quality Index has been so high in our area that we've been stuck indoors, so when we checked the coast and realized that there was a small pocket of clean air north of San Francisco, we decided to go for a hike.

It was really foggy and cool when we got there--which was a nice reprieve from the crazy heat we've had.

Although this little Peanut was freezing--should have pushed for him to wear pants, but it's hard to convince people that it might be cold when it's already heating up into the 80s back home.

But other than a pretty cranky littlest guy, the rest of us enjoyed the wet hike. It was raining in the trees from all the fog collecting there--just like we get in the redwoods. And not being able to see anything around us was actually really fun. 

The fog cleared some before we finished and the kids were disappointed to be able to see into the valleys instead of just imagining what was actually down there.

It was also crazy windy in a couple spots--notice Peanut hiding just down the hill. This crest right here, which was between two hills was the worst and it was all we could do to get him to walk through it to continue the hike. Luckily, it did get better once we got out of the little dip right there, but it took some convincing to get him to see for himself.

The final decent to get back to the car went better--snacks and a promise of stopping for Taco Bell on the way home got him through the end. I would have stayed a lot longer to enjoy breathing fresh, clean air, but we'd pushed him long enough.

 

Beat the Heat

When it's going to hit 108 at home, there really is nothing else to do, but head to the beach for the second day in a row. We ended up back at the same beach we'd had dinner at last night, this time with a family of friends.

This family happens to have a dad who is into sand sculpting, so he came equipped to make little towers for the kids to carve.

Bug and Peanut worked on this one.

"Do you want to build a sandman?"

Peanut decided he liked the seaweed.

The kids spent HOURS in the water. The water is not warm, but it doesn't stop Bean and Bug from boogie boarding until their whole bodies are numb. They would come in for a bit, and then go right back out. Peanut was more of an in-and-out guy. But for how easily he gets cold, I was impressed with his water time, too.

And now we have a weekend of crazy temps while we're stuck at home. I'm not brave enough to try the beach on a hot weekend. Traffic and crowds seem like it wouldn't be worth it, so we'll just have to hide out in the air conditioning.

Pescadero State Beach

Beach days are the best days. And this day was pretty incredible. After a slow, kind of rough start (Bug had an ortho appointment which slowed down our departure, and then had a little incident that involved almost fainting in a gas station--don't worry, it was a little random, and he's totally fine), we made it to the beach and the rest of the day was magical.

We met up with friends, which just makes it even better. The kids were able to play together, while mostly staying distanced and/or wearing masks and it was almost like any other summer beach trip.

We all needed just a little bit of normal, and a whole lot of fun.

Peanut is going to miss his friend, E. They move next week and it's been hard to have our time with them not be quite as easy as it normally would have been. But they are making the most of it while they can.

This girl was so happy. She swam, she played, she got to talk to people--all what she needs to thrive.

We went to Pescadero State Beach, which was a little harder to get to than some beaches we frequent, but had so many fun elements--the ocean, of course, but also these rocks and the river that flows past them. 

The little kids were in heaven, being able to safely swim and paddle around on the boogie boards.

The kids also organized a sand castle contest between each of the families.

Bug and Bean worked for a long time on this monstrosity. It's hard to see, but the layers of moats were very elaborate, and protected their castle in the middle for a long time before the tide finally took over.

There is also access to a marsh area with trails, so we went for a little hike when it started to get a little chilly at the water.

I wish I'd gotten a picture of all the kids besides this one. They all masked up and happily followed the leader :). 

It would be fun to come sit out here and watch for birds.

I didn't get any bird shots, but found this bee on a really cool flower--California buckwheat.

And the ultimate playground--a gum tree that was climbable by all of the kids.

These monkeys had so much fun. They could have stayed here for hours.

Climbing is one of their favorite things. 

What a perfect day! 

We loved getting to hang out with friends. We loved being outside all afternoon. We love the beach, always. This was an adventure that we needed right now. Things are feeling stranger, and so much is up in the air--we have no idea what is coming next, or how hard this next school year is going to be, but right now, we're going to grab on to every opportunity that we have to feel normal--to get outside, and play, and explore, and see our friends. I'm just so grateful that we have a few people who are still being careful so we feel like we can see them in these ways. So many people we know have just given up on taking any precautions, and for us, it feels reckless. We worry about Daddy-o's autoimmune disease and what it could mean for him if he gets sick (we're hoping, nothing, but we just don't know.) We also worry about the direction our state, and most of our country, is headed because of the haphazard cautions. It's sad to think that we could have had things in control and this summer could have mostly been open, if we'd just responded more like some of the other countries had responded, but here we are. And so, we take our precautions, and we find places where we can be outside and be free.

Summer School at Hogwarts

Peanut convinced his siblings to play Hogwarts with him this summer. Sometimes, the age gap between him and Bug and Bean is too bad. They spent hours and hours playing Hogwarts back in NC with the neighbors. 

(After taking Polyjuice Potion)

Peanut only sometimes joined in, and had absolutely no idea what any of it was about because he hadn't read the books or watched the movies at that point. But now, he KNOWS.

And he takes it all very seriously. He came up with 9 classes and they each teach three of them. Classes are held three each day, M/W/F. When something else interrupts the schedule, it is a huge deal and often means make up classes at 8 p.m. or on a Saturday😂. Just today, he said, "Isn't it a bummer that water polo is on the same three days as Hogwarts?" He doesn't like any other responsibilities getting in the way of those classes.

And even though he takes it a little too seriously, and stresses the other kids out sometimes, I think they are also enjoying planning their classes and creating awesome visuals.

I even convinced them to get the chemistry supplies out for potions one day 

and they had fun with actual science disguised as magic.

I can't decide if all the arguing and worrying is worth it, but at least it does give them something to do for a few hours a week.

Keeping Us On Our Toes

These three have been the best pandemic surprise ever! They are so cute and funny. We've been getting them out pretty much every day for play time in the backyard.

The kids came up with this obstacle course and all our animals have been loving it! They climb, jump, chase each other around, and try to find ways to escape constantly.

Sweet little babies with their mama.

Poppy also loves the obstacle course--gives her a lot more things to jump over, which is pretty much her favorite thing to do.

I highly recommend over populating your home with guinea pigs if you want to mix things up :)

Double-decker!

The bridge.

Wiped out after play time.

So many opportunities for expansion, haha. Bug added this bridge to a little apartment up another layer. Only a couple of the pigs were brave enough to try that out.

So, pandemic fun continues!