Countdown to Maine

 Kids are back home. Girls are playing with the neighbors. E is (sort of) practicing his violin.

They had a blast with their grandparents and cousins. There were adventures, lots of movies, and good food.

We have a couple of "quiet" days (not really... because appointments, music lessons, and packing) and then we are off to Maine.

School supplies for C are mostly in her backpack or have been ordered. School supplies for E and H - I have no idea. They can figure it out.

C has a playdate this afternoon with another friend - first "real" planned playdate since... oh I don't know. Spring?

I'm having a hard time focusing on my work... 

I just baked a loaf of sourdough bread - I think I'll go grab a piece... to help me concentrate...

We need to start packing... and look up a few hikes (H already did that but I need to look at what she sent me)... and find some pie places we could go to!

Weekend Report

All kids felt well and tested negative for Covid on Friday/Saturday, so we took them to their grandparents. We'll be picking them back up on Tuesday. That means Sunday, Monday, and most of Tuesday - no kids at home. It's weird, and relaxing, and a little sad, and confusing.

Saturday

• Quick blueberry pancake breakfast... then kids packed up their clothing for "Camp Grandma and Grandpa"
• Drove to the grandparents
• Spent the day with family: lots of good food, conversations, kids playing in the stream, kids playing soccer with their cousins, kids all but licking the neighbor's dog who decided to adopt our party (because all the lavish attention he was getting).
• Drove back home without kids...

Sunday:

• Bike ride with husband (it was painful... it's been a long while since I've gone biking in the local parks... ohhh the hills...)
• Our shower broke - water had to be shut off, the shower was in pieces
• Trip to Lowes to find parts to fix the shower and to buy paint for mudroom
• Painted 
• Dinner out - we sat outside and enjoyed the food, the weather, and the people-watching.

Random Stuff

• School! Big kids found out their "teams" and teachers. They are getting excited about going back to school (that would be after Labor Day)! They are figuring out which of their friends are in which classes with them...
• A few new teachers - including a new orchestra teacher (for E) and a new math teacher (for H). Hopefully they are good and tough...
• H is on the same team as E was last year.
• All kids took covid test today - all tested negative. H is convinced she still has covid and is feeling pretty anxious. She is loads better than she was a couple of days ago (back when she had super congestion and runny nose) but is complaining about sinus pain and is asking to go see the doctor. I am hoping it will all clear up... 
• I looked up Maine on Atlas Obscura (because we are going to Maine in a week)... and then looked up our own state... This reminded me that I really wanted to do day-trips to local destinations this summer and we never got around to it.
• H and C started taking piano lessons with my mom. Because their regular piano teacher was selling her house and cancelling lots of lessons and potentially moving far away... and then she took the house off the market and is now not moving anywhere... but I think we'll just stay with my mom for the time being. But we do need to make a nice card for the old piano teacher and give her some nice stuff... My kids really liked her and made good progress.
• Hebrew school may or may not happen this year... because they are having a hard time finding teachers...
• Work has been frustrating and stressful. Not the work itself - the set up... the lack of support... and sense that everyone is overworked and disgruntled. 

Again

 One of my kids tested positive for Covid on Monday. I tested negative on that same day - but it's probably only a matter of time.

The "positive" kid has had bad congestion and runny nose* for about a week. We did test her a couple of days after her symptoms started, and she was negative, so we all relaxed.

The kids were supposed to spend this week with the grandparents, so we figured "let's test H again, just to be on the safe side!" And - yeah. Everyone is staying home now.

I've had unpleasant cold symptoms* for the last 5 days (which was why I did the rapid test on Monday). I will test again tomorrow.

E has some congestion and sneezing. C is seemingly fine.

*We all had Covid at the end of May/beginning of June. It seems that this time around, H and I have milder symptoms than before. In May, she had a fever for a couple of days and really did not feel well. This time around, she actually feels fine - except for the annoyance of the stuffy runny nose.... Hopefully this is not spoken too soon, so knock on wood, etc, etc.

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Other than that, all is fine. Kids are disappointed they didn't get to do "camp grandma and grandpa", but they understand that we can't risk infecting the grandparents and great-grandparents.

They agreed to all contribute to buying a large Lego set (I'm contributing a chunk of money, too). We were planning to go to a Lego store, but with the covid that just never seems to happen, so Amazon to the rescue. They spent hours (HOURS!) selecting the set and arguing about the price they were willing to pay. It should be getting here today or tomorrow.

In the meantime, C is downstairs (first one awake), going through her school supply list and putting things into her backpack. I was hoping to do it with her, but she is set on doing it RIGHT NOW and I got to get going on work stuff. She is 8 and a half. She can figure it out... 

Last night, E and C (oldest and youngest) stayed up super late, talking. I was trying to sleep (it was after 10!), but they just kept talking... part of me was like, "kids! get to bed!", but another part of me was secretly enjoying this brother-sister bonding.

Weekend Report

 

Saturday:

• Husband took H rock-climbing. She loved it.
• I took the other kids to the Colonial Plantation.
• We petted the sheep, learned how to make linen, helped make butter and cheese, and stayed at the place much longer than anticipated! 
• The kids now want to get our own butter churner and cheese cloths so we can make butter and cheese.
• Yardwork... stupid bunny munched on our pea plants.

Sunday:

• Farmers market
• Had our own tomatoes (with store-bought mozzarella) with lunch. 
• Husband did a ton of yardwork. The rest of us went to the pool.
• Cooking: beef stew, sourdough bread.
• Reading: The It Girl by Ruth Ware

In other news: H and I both have horrible colds. I tested for covid this morning - negative.

Kids were supposed to go stay with their grandparents this week. Not sure if this is possible now... It's going to be a really tough week if it ends up as a combination of being sick, having tons of work, and kids having to stay home with no planned activities.

Ugh. Didn't sleep well last night, all congested, and work has been insane.

Board Games Crisis

The kids and I play board games sporadically. We don't have a designated "game night".  Every once in a while, when the mood strikes, we'll be looking through our shelf and saying "Hmm... what should we play?"

I think our game shelf needs some revisions. We have plenty of games - but I am usually not in the mood for any of them.

I haven't felt like playing Scotland Yard in ages. Not in the mood for card games, or Clue, or aggravation. I have been so tired in the evenings that I just can't handle anything that requires thinking or planning (so definitely no chess). 

We used to love "Ticket to Ride" but it's a pretty long game and I need something that can be finished in under half an hour.

Last couple of times, we ended up playing "4 in a Row". My 12-year old beat me every time... The 8-year old beat me once. (It's kind of neat when your kid surpasses* you at something but also just a little sad... ).

I don't like Monopoly (as in, it gives me huge anxiety... and also too long). I've never tried Risk but it doesn't seem appealing at all.

So I guess I need something (relatively) mindless but fun and that can be played with multiple players. Maybe Pictionary or charades? Honestly, I am totally drawing a blank.

*Speaking of being surpassed by kids... the violin music my son is currently playing - it is HARD. He is so beyond the point when I could offer any help.... 

The older daughter (the one who is 12) is very close to playing all the same music I like to play on the piano (she is not quite there yet but will surpass me in another two or three years if she sticks with piano).

Books and Movies

Recently finished reading: "Diamond Eye" by Kate Quinn. Very good. I have to say I usually avoid historic fiction, but I have liked every single book by Kate Quinn so far. I really like how she is able to take real events and real people (Lyudmila Pavlichenko, WWII sniper) and weave them into a story that's both sensitive and honest.

Currently reading: "Our Kind of Traitor" by John le Carre. I like it so far, but I haven't had the time to get too far into it.

Currently watching, sort of: Wayne. Really like it, but I don't know if I'll be watching the last 2 episodes.. there is just too much violence and I feel so bad for Wayne and Del.

Currently watching, sort of: Victoria. Kids and I started watching it a few weeks ago - we got through the first season. The girls like it - and it's a fun show to watch together and discuss the queen, how life was back then, etc. We'll be picking it up again once my work stuff gets settled down a bit.

Finished watching: Outer Range. It was... weird. And not necessarily in "this is so weird, I love it!" kind of way. I did like the scenery - the mountains, the fields... nicely done cinematography. The characters were either outright despicable or difficult to like.

Finished watching: Night Sky. It was weird, but I kind of liked it. Puzzle within a puzzle. Love the concept of secret doorways and null-transport. Hopefully 2nd season is coming.

July Report

July turned out to be a bit crazy. Because a) crazy work load; b) summer camps.

So summer camps are absolutely wonderful. The only problem with day camps is that you have to drive your kids to and from. When I was planning this, it seemed doable - and it was doable. Just stressful. We tried to "bunch" camps as much as possible, but at best, 2/3 kids were in 1 camp and the 3rd kid was either home or at another camp. So - lots of driving/shuttling kids means the work day is fragmented and it's hard to get work done. Normally, it wouldn't be too much of an issue, but we had an explosion of work in July and not enough people to do it. 

Kids did the following camps:

• Tennis camp (1 week, 1 kid)
• Soccer camp (1 week, 2 kids)
• Theater camp (3 weeks, 1 kid)
• Theater camp (same as above but for younger kids; 2 weeks, 1 kid)
• Occasional 2-5pm gymnastics practice that's about 25 min drive away (1 kid; she only did it twice and then decided competitive gymnastics was not her thing).

Tennis and theater camp overlapped.

It wasn't all on me - husband did a lot of driving on the days he was working from home. My parents helped with soccer camp pick up and took kids to the pool in the afternoons. It was just a combination of a ton of work and not being able to focus on it for long stretches of time - and I got somewhat stressed out.

We had 1 week in Ocean City, NJ, with husband's family. There were 16 of us (8 adults, 8 kids) in 1 house. It worked out fine. I planned to work 2.5 days - rode my bike to the library (much more comfortable and more quiet than in the house). Kids loved playing with their cousins. Grown-ups enjoyed walks and late-night conversations (no late-nights for me, though - I was absolutely exhausted by 9:30 and ready for bed). The ocean was fantastic - the water felt great and the waves weren't too rough. We all did lots of swimming. Our kids got a bit burned one day (sunscreen and all), when we met up with some friends on the beach and all got a little carried away and didn't get out of the sun in time. Nothing too bad - C probably got the worst of it and has a little bit of skin peeling on her nose.

How was your July?