FALL BREAK WEEK!!! Since I am no longer allowed to bank my time off at work anymore, I thought I would take the week off with the girls just for the heck of it.
Sunday, Oct 5th
The big kids went camping with my parents at a state park about 30 minutes away. We drove over and spent the afternoon. We went on a short hike where we got down to the river's edge. Marian liked splashing in the water and the girls enjoyed picking mussel shells out of the water. Olivia was fearless in reaching into the water to grab those shells. They also found some hickory nuts that they cracked and picked open. We sprinkled them on our food for supper. Sam helped carry wood for the fire and generally liked being in the woods. I also got to roast marshmallows which was excellent.
Monday, Oct 6th
The big kids are still gone, but Marian says lots of cute things. Her language acquisition is on fire right now.
Tuesday, Oct 7th
I retrieved the big kids from camp where they helped tear down and clean up. We kept everything low key in the evening because they were tired and dirty. At supper I asked what their favorite thing about camping was:
Grace--exploring and looking for shells
Olivia--exploring, looking for shells, and getting messy
Sam--hearing the train whistle in the distance
My father called the woods they were hiking in "The Enchanted Forest" which is so out-of-character for my father as to make you wonder who that man who looks like my father might be. The Granddaddy Effect. They were said to be extremely helpful so hopefully they learned a lot about camping.
Wednesday, Oct 8th
We set the alarm early for 4:50am to attempt to view the lunar eclipse. About an hour or so before the alarm, a big storm blew through so it was questionable whether or not we would see anything. We got out of bed and looked out and the sky was pretty clear. Overhead I heard children walking around because Grace had also set her alarm so as to not miss anything. We all tramped outside and looked. The partial eclipse was already underway, but there were also clouds blowing in from the west. The children were excited to see the partially eclipsed moon, but soon the clouds won before it was complete. We stood for a few minutes waiting and occasionally a glimpse could be seen which elicited a shout from some child and then we waited some more. It was soon apparent there were no more glimpses to be had. None of our pictures really turned out. We went back inside and fired up the NASA live broadcast on the computer and saw the eclipse in totality and listened to the NASA guy talk. The NASA guy was in Huntsville which is just a couple of hours down the road. I was glad of that because he always gave his local time first when discussing the timing of events and his time is our time. We all eventually went back to sleep in order to wake up less than an hour later to get ready for a dentist appointment. We were a tired bunch and cranky by the end of the day. Most conversations for the day revolved around talking about the eclipse, how it works, why it happens, why is it called lunar, why the moon turned red, what is a solar eclipse, and on. Lots of astrological excitement here. I learned that Grace already knew what refraction means. Also just announcing that the total solar eclipse in 2017 will pass right over my parents' house so anyone who wants to come see it is invited to the party.
Olivia was sick in the afternoon.
Thursday, Oct 9th
I was in a pretty poor mood on Thursday. I spent the day either cleaning or avoiding cleaning by staring at the Internet. The only thing of real note from Thursday is that Grace is reading a lot. She is reading to the point of being annoying. "No, you can't read at supper." "Grace, put the book down and come here!" "Grace, where did you go? Why haven't you come back in here?" "Just finish what I told you to do and then you can read." She is reading a wide variety. I die a little death every time I see her engrossed in the Disney Princess storybook, but she is also reading Magic Kitten. :P Also Children of Noisy Village and St. George and the Dragon and a Boxcar Children book, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and part of Prince Caspian. So yes, reading.
Olivia was sick all day.
Friday, Oct 10th
Olivia still sick and I am still cleaning. The highlight of the day was rearranging the bookshelf in the girls' room and reading to Grace out of the Barefoot Book of Classic Poems. It really is such a lovely book. After reading and discussing several of the poems, Grace asks, "Mommy, are you supposed to be cleaning?" And thus ended our poetry session because yes, I really needed to be cleaning.
I've read Sam several books over the course of the week, but I've not really kept up with what they were. He is also starting to sit and examine books on his own. He spent a lot of time looking at Noah's Ark and wanting to know why the town was on fire. He is obsessed with fires and firefighters right now.
Saturday, Oct 11th
Olivia is getting better but still sick and I am endlessly chasing Marian since her new favorite hobby is banging on the computer keyboard and clicking on the mouse.
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| Olivia searching with gusto! |
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| The Loot |
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| Roasting marshmallows for probably the first time in five years. |
Monday, Oct 6th
The big kids are still gone, but Marian says lots of cute things. Her language acquisition is on fire right now.
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| The fallout from Sam's packing |
Tuesday, Oct 7th
I retrieved the big kids from camp where they helped tear down and clean up. We kept everything low key in the evening because they were tired and dirty. At supper I asked what their favorite thing about camping was:
Grace--exploring and looking for shells
Olivia--exploring, looking for shells, and getting messy
Sam--hearing the train whistle in the distance
My father called the woods they were hiking in "The Enchanted Forest" which is so out-of-character for my father as to make you wonder who that man who looks like my father might be. The Granddaddy Effect. They were said to be extremely helpful so hopefully they learned a lot about camping.
Wednesday, Oct 8th
We set the alarm early for 4:50am to attempt to view the lunar eclipse. About an hour or so before the alarm, a big storm blew through so it was questionable whether or not we would see anything. We got out of bed and looked out and the sky was pretty clear. Overhead I heard children walking around because Grace had also set her alarm so as to not miss anything. We all tramped outside and looked. The partial eclipse was already underway, but there were also clouds blowing in from the west. The children were excited to see the partially eclipsed moon, but soon the clouds won before it was complete. We stood for a few minutes waiting and occasionally a glimpse could be seen which elicited a shout from some child and then we waited some more. It was soon apparent there were no more glimpses to be had. None of our pictures really turned out. We went back inside and fired up the NASA live broadcast on the computer and saw the eclipse in totality and listened to the NASA guy talk. The NASA guy was in Huntsville which is just a couple of hours down the road. I was glad of that because he always gave his local time first when discussing the timing of events and his time is our time. We all eventually went back to sleep in order to wake up less than an hour later to get ready for a dentist appointment. We were a tired bunch and cranky by the end of the day. Most conversations for the day revolved around talking about the eclipse, how it works, why it happens, why is it called lunar, why the moon turned red, what is a solar eclipse, and on. Lots of astrological excitement here. I learned that Grace already knew what refraction means. Also just announcing that the total solar eclipse in 2017 will pass right over my parents' house so anyone who wants to come see it is invited to the party.
Olivia was sick in the afternoon.
Thursday, Oct 9th
I was in a pretty poor mood on Thursday. I spent the day either cleaning or avoiding cleaning by staring at the Internet. The only thing of real note from Thursday is that Grace is reading a lot. She is reading to the point of being annoying. "No, you can't read at supper." "Grace, put the book down and come here!" "Grace, where did you go? Why haven't you come back in here?" "Just finish what I told you to do and then you can read." She is reading a wide variety. I die a little death every time I see her engrossed in the Disney Princess storybook, but she is also reading Magic Kitten. :P Also Children of Noisy Village and St. George and the Dragon and a Boxcar Children book, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and part of Prince Caspian. So yes, reading.
Olivia was sick all day.
Friday, Oct 10th
Olivia still sick and I am still cleaning. The highlight of the day was rearranging the bookshelf in the girls' room and reading to Grace out of the Barefoot Book of Classic Poems. It really is such a lovely book. After reading and discussing several of the poems, Grace asks, "Mommy, are you supposed to be cleaning?" And thus ended our poetry session because yes, I really needed to be cleaning.
I've read Sam several books over the course of the week, but I've not really kept up with what they were. He is also starting to sit and examine books on his own. He spent a lot of time looking at Noah's Ark and wanting to know why the town was on fire. He is obsessed with fires and firefighters right now.
Saturday, Oct 11th
Olivia is getting better but still sick and I am endlessly chasing Marian since her new favorite hobby is banging on the computer keyboard and clicking on the mouse.
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