July.

Is the corn knee high yet? We remain mostly in our quarantine bubble, though can't complain too much, all being happy and healthy and fortunate. Just some days a little more sick of each other than others.

The other day I was so frustrated with the kids and how chippy they were being to each other and to me that we headed back to the beach, and invested in an annual parking pass for the state beach lots so that we can escape to the ocean more this summer (hashtag vitamin sea.) And it's working out well - the kids are both LOVING going in and boogie boarding, and Doheny hasn't been crowded, with easily ten feet of space between us and other parties while sitting on the sand (Adam has to come out at regular intervals to warm up his scrawny body.) The upside to his lack of body fat is that he hardly even needs to make an effort to get taken into shore by a wave:

It's been really nice. We've already gone twice, and are getting the hang of preparing to get out of the house and playing together on the sand. This is the first summer that I feel comfortable going with the two of them and the one of me, though Ellie would definitely like for me to quit watching her and let her paddle out to sit with the adult surfers, seeing as she thinks she's people. I hope that as the summer goes on we can check out new and different beaches too.

We've also been doing our bike riding. Today Uncle Jake mapped his route by our house so that the kids could ride with him for his birthday. When I told them what was happening, they were so excited that they started jumping up and down and screaming with joy, which was super sweet.

So that was a really fun treat to have on a hot Sunday.

Speaking of - the only thing we can truly complain about is that our air conditioner has breathed its last. Gigi brought over some box fans, which are seriously saving our lives in the afternoon hours before the house cools down. It's not totally unbearable - having a single story house helps, and our ceiling fans are doing their best, but I do not enjoy when my house is over 85 degrees inside. We're going to end up replacing the whole system, including the 40 year old, asbestos-laden duct work (for the best, obviously) and are getting quotes on solar. Who knows - we may still all be in this house quarantined next summer if the country can't get its shit together and stay inside/wear a mask, and by then I may want to just blast the AC at 62 degrees and lay on the floor in despair, so having a new, energy efficient, solar powered system may be just what the doctor ordered. Meanwhile, after our excellent afternoon swim at the Resort and Spa yesterday I went in to find that Grizz was running his AC for the first time in who knows how many years, just to taunt me. Joke's going to be on him when we all come and sleep over if it gets any hotter.

June.

Whoof, it's been awhile. Everything is pretty much the same, and not the same.

For example: the yellow mustard has died out on the trail, but the thistle is blooming!

The kids finished third and first grade, and both apparently passed.

After all of the nagging to have them complete their work, and then go back and re-do work that was substandard, the end of year grading simply registered how consistently they had participated in the online learning, not what their scores were overall. They both got a slew of C's, for "consistently." As they say, C's get degrees!

I gave Tim an amazing hair cut! (you get what you pay for)

We've ridden bikes almost every day - Adam is finally steady and confident on his bike, and able to start himself. Ellie has gotten strong enough that she can ride her bike to and from the school, which is especially nice because it hardly fits in the car, and our bike rack hasn't arrived yet. I am usually following fairly close behind her, but once Adam is good to go, I'm definitely going 1980s parent and just locking them outside and saying they can eat whatever berries they find and drink from the hose.

And of course, using our membership to Grizz's resort and spa many days a week. Adam loves being a shark boy, even though he has no front teeth.

How It's Going.

Not much to report, just some new pictures for your updating.

Scenes from outdoor PE

Butterfly rearing as part of hands on science class

Star Wars Rebels viewing during break time

Lost teeth as part of anatomy teachings, Tooth Fairy as part of our course works on myths and magic

Doing our best to be grateful for all of this time together

Six Weeks.

Well, here we are! Six weeks of home schooling in the books, six weeks until the end of the school year. I'm unsure how they'll handle the last little bit - the final days of school always seem to be a lot of parties and fun stuff. Will I have to source random art supplies so we can do projects? Will they have us doing math until the bitter end? WILL WE ALL SURVIVE? Who can say, but I'm feeling like we'll be able to manage. My least favorite things about home schooling is how Adam always has a science video he has to watch, and then he has to do some writing and put down one or two facts he learned from the video. Except, he always tells me he didn't learn anything, he already knew everything that the video contained. He'll sit there for a half hour pouting and when I ask him to write something, he screams at me that he's thinking. I've asked him, maybe just put down two facts that were interesting to you, even if you already knew them. Nothing is interesting. How about two silly facts? None of this is silly. How about two stupid facts? JUST WRITE SOMETHING DOWN FOR THE LOVE. Meanwhile, Ellie's class has more grade-based homework, and she has been real ornery when I make her go back and revise failing work. She's like "I DID MY BEST!" You only answered two of the ten questions, that's not your best work! You didn't write in complete sentences, and I can tell from your answer that you didn't learn any of the material. This week has been better in terms of her not having a fit when called back to re-do a task (her teacher lets them correct work for higher credit.) Last week one of the questions was "what was the Paul Revere story about?" and she wrote "the things he said and did." Check minus on that, kid.

Our routine is still working for us, for the most part. It's amazing how adaptable the kids are to something like this. They know that COVID is bad and we have to be safe. They're amused by the idea of Tim and I wearing masks when we go to the store. I think they're enjoying the sleeping in portion and the Overwatch before bed portion, for sure.

Having our lunch meeting al fresco

Afternoon reading time

Adam making himself comfy for online learning

Lucky making herself comfortable across both of the baby beds turned cat lairs

Another One Bites the Dust.

Another week completed by Mean Teacher Mommy and her very cute, medium naughty students. We had another outburst from Ellie this week about how she's going to drop out because she already knows all she needs to know, and Adam continues to dawdle as though he's getting paid by the minute.

He did finally lose his front fang, and now the other one is sort of wiggly and he looks like a cute little yokel.

Tim also stepped in for some indoor PE, playing Dance Dance Revolution with the kids. Who needs a brand new Nintendo Switch and the just dance game featuring the latest tunes, when you can bust out your fifteen year old XBox and ten year old Konami dance pads and do the Safety Dance? I mean, really.

In nature news, it's hot as heck already, no thank you. Much grumbling on our outdoor PE walk earlier this week, better results with a field trip to Grizz's pool, despite the water still being quite chilly.

We also caught a giant lizard that was looking like he might want to knock on our front door

And saw Mrs. Malard and some of her children

Quarenteam.

We continue to hang in, a month after school shut down. Today the teachers all sent out a picture where each teacher and administrators from the school is holding up a piece of paper with one word, and all together it says something along the lines of "we miss you, we love you and we are proud of you, we are all in this together" that made me cry. We really do have amazing support from our educators. This week the kids did even better about getting into the routine and handling their work - they're getting better about working through their check list through the day. We usually start around 10 and end around 3 with a break for lunch, and then go out and do outdoor PE. All of the rain has everything blooming on the trails, and it's lovely.

Ellie got the okay to take out her palate expander this week, so we'll see the orthodontist again in a year to follow up (and then probably get braces, ugh.) Adam has a front tooth that is absolutely hanging in by a thread and makes me want to vomit - but the thought of yanking it out also makes me want to vomit. It's so fun to be squeamish and a parent.

Our Easter was pretty subdued. Lots of candy, eggs all over the house and just relaxing.

Adam continues to spend most of his time wearing his comfy. It's like the young man equivalent to leggings and a tee shirt. He is also eating us out of house and home - this morning he had two breakfasts, some pretzels, a full lunch and then a banana by one pm. He's going to be taller than Ellie by the time this is all over, and she's going to be taller than me. They are delightful little beasts.

There's also a ton of face timing and zoom calling. Adam has a check in call every day, Ellie is on twice a week. Listening to their poor teachers try to manage thirty students and all the technology makes my brain explode - questions like "can I go to the bathroom?" and "I don't have a pencil" as though the teacher can do anything about it. Or the kids asking the same question that their classmate JUST asked. I am not cut out for the teaching profession.

The assistant principal got in on a PE session today - it's important to remind him that he can stop staring at his monitor as needed during the day.

SPRING BREAK!!!!

Whoooooo! So Crazy and Wild!!!!!

We were supposed to be at the Grand Canyon by now, but canceled everything two weeks ago. I felt bad for the people whose AirBnBs we were scheduled to stay in, hoping that wasn't their main source of income, but also happy to get my money back! The smaller bummer is that it's been pouring since Sunday night - the kind of rain we don't often get, the kind where we have to keep lights on in the house during the day. Makes me feel even more like a deflated balloon.

The kids are doing okay. They are thus far unaware that they won't be returning to their classrooms this year. I had hoped the district would cancel spring break so we could just plow through and be done with this nonsense a week earlier, but I understand that the distance learning is a ton of work for the teachers, and they are probably still scrambling this week to prepare lesson plans and learning options. We had gotten in a pretty good routine last week, so it's hard to go nothing, especially when we can't really go outside.

We did try to escape this morning, but only made it a little bit down the trail before the rain picked back up. Still saw some ducklings though, so that's fun!

I am impressed with how well they're doing, how nice they're being to one another. I love watching when they start doing made up games together, or using boxes to create things for their dolls. I am about to brave Target for groceries and also hopefully a few items for their Easter baskets.