Week Away (Ocean City, NJ)

 We are back from a week at the ocean. 

A few highlights:

• I worked from the library for 2.5 days, and then had time off. For the first time in years, work was not too busy or too stressful, so I could actually enjoy time off. 
• I brought my noise-cancelling headphones to the library - there were occasionally noisy people (not obnoxiously noisy, just mildly noisy) and I work much better when it is QUIET.
• We saw a pod of dolphins, super close to the shore!!! That was amazing. I don't think I've ever seen dolphins that close...
• We went on walks amost every day.
• Kids went to a water park - they are all old enough to no longer require adult supervision. Which meant adults could relax and read books.
• I read quite a bit.
• The kids made frequent trips to the store (easy walking/biking distance) to pick up random things needed for dinner.
• I made golubci (stuffed cabbage) and they were delicious. (I actually made them ahead of time at home, and brought them with me).
• Being in the water was refreshing. It was cold, but in a good way.
• I mostly avoided waves. I still swalled some salt water.
• Why is the water in the Atlantic ocean so much saltier than the Baltic sea?
• Nephew and husband both managed to find whelk. I think there were a total of 3 large ones, over the course of the week. I've never seen one before - look it up! I guess they are edible, but we just let them go.
• Kids found some hermit crabs

It was a good week.

Do you prefer ocean, sea, lake, river, pond, or swimming pool when it's hot outside? (Let's pretend money/distance/time is not a limiting factor)

Seven/Eleven/Twelve

Another school year is over: 7, 11, and 12 are the grades our kids will start in the fall. It was a good year, both in terms of kids balancing activities, school, and hobbies and in terms of academic achievements. They learned, they became more responsible, they became more mature. Our youngest adjusted to the middle school (although, after initial excitement, she really missed her elementary school and not having to run around from class to class). Our older daughter worked hard in her classes and started competing for the dive team and the envirothon team. Our oldest was juggling running, work, orchestra, and schoolwork (including his hardest class to date, AP Physics). 

And yes, we now have a high school senior. I am semi-excited and semi-apprehensive. He is interested in airspace engineering. He has a pretty good idea about where he wants to apply and he is planning to work on the essays + applications this summer. I am trying to gauge how much support he is going to need (I asked him and he said he would let me know). E is also going to have a heavy classwork load next year. On one hand, I am so excited about E exploring what comes next and dreaming big. On the other hand, I am a little anxious about all the stress and all the complexities of college applications and senior year. 

I didn't realize that senior portraits are taken the summer before 12th grade. I actually thought that the email from the photo place was a phishing email and I texted a couple of acquiaintances about it - and it turned out that yes, this wasa real thing, and I better register...

When you were in high school, did you have any idea about what you wanted to do? 

Movies, Museums, Musings

The girls and I went to see "Project Hail Mary" last Saturday. I loved it. It was fun, and funny, and sad, and suspensful, and had a sense of adventure, and held a promise of discovery. And science (as well as scientists) was portrayed in a positive light, as it should be - a way to understand the world around us. I also loved the build-your-own-tech-with-ductape-and-plywood. When you are on the cutting edge of science or tight on money (as many labs are), or both, the equipment you need may not exist, or may be too expensive... so you improvise and make do. Science is great for people who love to tinker.

This is the last week of school for all 3 kids. They've been watching movies. They are sick of watching movies and feel this whole week, for the most part, was pointless. There were a few class parties, here and there, and a couple of tests and assignments for the highschoolers. But mostly, they were just bored. (The older 2 should not have been bored, they should have been using the time to study for Envirothon/SAT/etc, but they didn't want to becuase... last week of school and they are sick and tired of studying).

My mom and I went to 2 museums last Sunday. It was nice to catch up and chat, and the art was beautiful. I visited all my favorite Van Gogh paintings. I need to learn more about Haim Soutine. I saw a few "paintings within a painting" that I never noticed before.

It's hot and humid. I still went on my morning walks and it wasn't too bad (but not as refreshing as it was a couple of weeks ago).

Do you have a favorite museum? A favorite painting?

June Worries and Antidotes

 I am really dreading summer break this year. I tried to put together reasons for anxiety and potential ways of making things work better.

1. Transitions to summer

Every year, the first week after school ends is rough. Because kids are done with school and are home while my husband and I are still working, and... I am just afraid that it will be very stressful, with no allowance for personal time. 

Solution: none. I will have a hard time. This is mostly a "me" problem, and has to do with transition from being home alone at least 3 days of the week during the school year (my husband works from home twice a week) to never being home alone during the summer. This is a change from having my alone time guaranteed 3 times a week vs... none

• Think about an alternative way to have alone time..

2. Lack of consistent summer routine

Every week is going to be different. Some weeks, we will be travelling. Some weeks, C has camp. E's schedule is different every week. H has Envirothon until the end of July.

Solution: 

• Have a talk with kids about what they want to do when they are home (my guess: watch videos, eat junk food, and lie around in their pajamas) vs what I would like them to do (make lunches, wash dishes, go on walks, play volleyball/basketball/ping pong/badminton, read). Maybe come to a happy medium.
• Set expectations for when kids are home (NO sitting around the house in pajamas all day long watching youtube videos!!!!)
• Have a discussion with the kids about the expectations ahead of time 
• Have a plan for daily chores for the kids
• Make sure there are books and audio books that kids like 
• School work: all 3 will have some school work to complete
• Sometimes, just putting on my noise-cancelling headphones and ignoring everyone to get my work done (or to have some alone time) is OK.
• Take breaks to play/hang out with kids 

3. H has no camps and no job

Her babysitting gig ended this week. H at home with nothing to do = a ticking bomb. 

Solution: 

• Envirothon will be keeping her busy June and July. 
• There will be summer work for school. 
• She will have daily dive practices during June and July
• She can start preparing for SAT. 
• I will need to set very clear expectations for her (and figure out consequences): helping out around the house, getting outside daily, 

4. Driving kids to/from camps and/or other activities

C has 2 weeks of camp in July. Drop off/pick up times are 9 am and 3 pm. Also, weekly cello lessons.

H has dive team and Envirothon until the end of July. In July, Envirothon team will probably be meeting every day to prepare for Nationals, which means someone will have to drive her to school and then pick her up a couple of hours later, during work hours. H also has weekly piano practice (same as during the year, so no changes there)

E has a job, daily cross country practices, weekly violin lessons,  and plans to have string quartet practices during the summer. 

Solutions: 

• One of the camps for C is in Philly, so she'll be commuting with my husband. 
• E drives - so he can help out with taking the girls to their activities and driving himself around.
• Cello, piano, and dive are in the evening, after work, so easier for my husband and me to split the driving.

How do you deal with transitions and changes in routine from school year to summer?

Last Weekend of May Report

 

Friday evening:

• Made Borsch
• Went to take prom pictures at a nearby college/garden
• It was a little crazy. Too many people. But E was having a good time. 
• I wasn't initially planning on going there - I just asked E to send me whatever photos he and his friends took. But then an acquaintance asked if I wanted to join her for the photo-taking, and it sounded like this was going to be a pretty big deal that should not be skipped.
• It was a big deal. So, so many parents and fancy-dressed kids.
• But it also wasn't. Because I am really not into taking photos. And I wanted to escape after about 15 minutes but couldn't.
• E was at first apprehensive when I showed up, but then seemed to appreciate it (because almost all the other kids had their parents there... and I'd like to think I was less mortifying than some other parents snapping photos non-stop... but probably not). And he definitely warmed up to posing for pictures with his friends and his date.

Saturday:

• Walk in the park with my husband
• Food-shopping
• Cleaning + laundry + random things around the house
• Cooking
• Went to visit kittens that C's friend is fostering
• Friends came over for dinner: they brought the main dishes and we made the sides (including Borsch); we ended the evening sitting around the fire and chatting while kids were roasting marshmallows.

Sunday:

• Yard work
• Read with C (Pride and Prejudice - we are making good progress; C said that the book was exciting because it was focused on interactions between people and did not have elaborate descriptions of scenary)
• Took C to classical music concert (her middle school orchestra teacher was performing)
• Took C and H out to dinner, while husband and E went to track banquet. 

Happy June!!! 

Nearing the Finish Line

May is almost over. School is almost over.

My older kids are a bit stressed out over all the end-of-school stuff. My youngest (6th grade) is bored in school, because they do even less than usual. 

E and H have a few upcoming tests and projects. E started a 2-month online course to satisfy next year's history requirement - and it is a lot more work than he anticipated. H's Envirothon team won the state competition and she is now studying for nationals. They want to be done - they want to rest and relax and sleep in. Ha. Welcome to the real world, babies.

E is also stressed about the upcoming graduation ceremony, where his strings group is going to be playing a bunch of music, including Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance". The senior class has an amazing group of musicians (very strong violins, violas, and cello) - and they are losing all of them (and they can't perform during their own graduation ceremony). The current group of kids are not as strong - and the worse part is, they don't practice. E is supposed to lead the group and he is getting frustrated about having to be encouraging while making sure that they are prepared (he can't go east-style "You are terrible!!! Work hard or you will FAIL!!!" - all the kids are American and only a couple have immigrant parents; he must do west-style "nice job, everyone, that sounded pretty good, but could use some improvement."). 

He is going to really miss his graduating musician friends.

School is officially over on June 12. 

In other news: I had an encounter with a box turtle on my morning hike! It was crossing the forest path. You got this, turtle!

Also, I saw a new-to-me merganser duck. The photo did not come out well, but the duck was really cool.

What are you looking forward to this summer? What were the memorable things that happened in May?

Memorial Day Weekend

Doesn't it seem like "Memorial Day Weekend" is somewhat of an oxymoron? I mean, it's either a "day" or a "weekend", but a weekend is not a day... and a day is not a weekend...

Or maybe this is just my morning brain fog making objects appear weirder than they actually are.

Anyway... we had a nice long weekend.

Friday:

• C went to a birthday party
• H had a few friends over after school
• The rest of us relaxed (except E - he had homework)

Saturday:

• Lots of cleaning (about time! with crazy work things, stuff has been really piling up all over the place)
• Some cooking
• Friends came over for dinner

Sunday

• Cirque du Soleil
• Resting/reading
• Watched Gilmore Girls with H and C

Monday:

• Cooking
• E's friends came over first thing in the morning (8am!!!) - they were planning their future trip across the country
• Shopping with the girls (swim suits)
• C's cello lesson
• Parents came over 
• Made ice cream using the ice cream machine we got mom for her birthday (she doesn't want it! which means I have to figure out something else for her)
• Mom usually loves all types of kitchen gadgets
• But not the ice cream maker, unfortunately