The new Netflix show, Floor is Lava, dominated our lives for a couple days, with lots of reenactments. I preferred the ones that happened outside, like this, to the indoor ones.
Then, it was Calvin and Hobbes. One entire day was spent in pajamas, reading C & H. He finished off all three of the books we own and would love it if I found some more.
Random cold spell that only lasted for a day or two, but the winter coat was pulled out so he could keep reading, outside. Hahaha.
We realized that as much as everyone has been begging for free days and no schedule, we do better with a little loose routine. Not "school", but an hour or two of directed activity, has really improved the attitudes in our house. One morning, Peanut did an online nature study about the water cycle that included a little experiment.
Some mornings, we play a game or two after breakfast. Some days, I read aloud, we watch author interviews about books we love, or do science experiments. It's really been nice. And the kids still have hours and hours of free time.
We finally got back out for a hike, after taking 3 weeks off because I was battling an ingrown toenail. (The toenail won--I had to go to a podiatrist to have a piece removed, which is pretty much a nightmare in my mind--I cannot stand the skin under nails and wasn't sure I was going to make it through the whole thing without fainting, but I did it, and can almost look at my nail again now.)
Our hike wasn't very strenuous, but we spent an hour by a creek doing some nature journaling. Bean did this watercolor of one of the trees, Peanut and I found items to represent each of the primary and secondary colors in nature. It was a nice morning, and made me realize how much I'd been missing these weekly adventures. We all need the outside time, but it's more than that. As much as I enjoy our backyard, a certain level of depression starts to set in when we aren't leaving the house for anything fun and wild. And right now, maintaining our mental health is important. This Covid thing is hard! Less time on social media and more time in nature makes us happy.
The farmer's market FINALLY opened! It has been a mess of delays, mostly not pandemic related, and I missed our summer fruits so much. I was giddy when I got to go down and pick out pluots and nectarines and berries. It just felt like a little bit of normal. Except all the masks, and the fact that a woman coughed by the strawberries, which reduced my options of which basket I could choose--things that would not have been a part of the farmer's market last year.
More reading--in all types of places. Peanut finished up the final Harry Potter book a few days ago.
Everyone has done so much reading.
I love finding them scattered around the backyard like this.
There has also been a lot of writing going on. Peanut latches on to whatever he's currently reading, so after reading Tales of Beedle the Bard, he started his own wizarding fairy tale book and has been churning out the stories.
After a couple weeks of lethargy (probably related to my toe, the lack of exercise, and way too much time on Facebook), I finally got motivated and tackled the art supply corner. I had hopes of purging a lot and making space for some other things to be stored here, too, which was mildly successful. It's hard to get rid of things when I know they might come in handy some day. The kids want it all.
The finished project looks much nicer, and even though you can't tell from the pictures, I did get rid of a couple garbage bags of stuff, and have some new supplies tucked away in some of those bins. As soon as I get the table in this room cleaned off, I'm going to start strewing different supplies to see if I can generate interest in some of the things we never use.
The boys and I did another nature study, on caves this time. I love getting to sneak a little learning in, even though we're technically on summer break. And caves are just cool. I hope that we can go visit one in person sometime soon. Following up our indoor nature studies with in person application is the best.
Other un-pictured events:
Bug and Bean have had water polo every Mon/Wed/Fri. They are both really enjoying it, and it feels like a pretty safe activity. They don't get to actually play, but the conditioning drills and strengthening exercises get them in the water, and around friends.
We've had a couple meet ups with friends. I ended up sitting out for hours two nights in a row with just the moms, and then we've done a couple day time things for the kids. It has helped so much with feeling isolated. The kids are mostly really good about the masks and distancing. I've realized my kids are more spatially aware than most kids, haha, but everyone is trying and we need the interactions.
Church on Sunday continues to be a highlight of the week. Bean keeps saying how much she likes the discussions we have, and we all love seeing Rara each week. She's started sharing a family history story with us each time, and then Daddy-o reads to us from a life history journal that we had given his mom which she recently returned to us, full of her stories. We're loving getting to know our ancestors a little better.
And, of course, the endless hours of meals, meal planning, grocery shopping, and food preparation. I don't even know how it's possible, or why it's happened, but I feel like I spend twice as much money on food right now, and yet, the kids are always hungry and always looking for something to eat.
And that's most of the past couple weeks.
