Dear Kiddos,
This week, I felt like we rocked it. I feel like the teachers at school significantly reduced the amount of work that you guys have to do, so looking at the list of assignments, I asked if you guys wanted to try and knock it all out in the morning, leaving the rest of the day open for us to do fun stuff. Best. Move. Ever. So now, from about 8:15 - 9, we knock out as much work as we can while Daddy has some quality time with Hailey. We usually have to do about an hour more of work in the afternoon, but we can easily take care of it while Hailey is napping.
One overcast morning, we were able to sneak onto the school fields to go kite flying. As a precaution, I did tell you guys that if there were other people on the field, we would leave. You all understood.
The next day, I had planned on taking you all on your first official outing since this whole situation started. We were going to go splash in some creeks at Mayfield Park and so we put on our water shoes, brought towels and extra clothing - only to find that the park was closed to the public. We took the half mile hike up the steep "hill" to Mt. Bonnell.
We took the scenic route up, which was super fun since I had only gone up from the stairs. We decided to go down the same way, but on a different path.
When we got to the top, there were plenty of puddles for splashing. Hailey, you knew that our purpose was to go splash in water, and you were just fine with doing so in small puddles.
We basically had the whole place to ourselves. We did see a man and his son walk through another trail in front of us, but we saw them for 2 minutes and then never again.
The part you guys most enjoyed was climbing up and down the rocky "mountain" side.
You walked at Mt. Bonnell, but I basically carried you on my back to and from our parking spot.
You all have been keeping up with martial arts. Our dojo has been providing mini-lessons and challenges for you guys to do at home. Sometimes Hailey, you practice too!
We learned about crocodiles vs. alligators this week and even painted some alligators.
We harvested about 2 pounds of potatoes from our garden. We ate them all in one meal.
We were gifted loquats and we all tried loquats for the first time. Seems like this year was a good year for loquats because we see them everywhere in our neighborhood.
Of course, each day does not go by without some DDR action at the house.
And the weather was so nice earlier last week that we were able to eat our meals outside on the patio. This happens about 2 weeks in the year, so that was that.
Nathan, kind of as a joke, I said I would give you $5 if you ate an entire shishito pepper. For those of you who don't know what they are, they are generally a sweet pepper, but 1 out of 9 is fairly spicy. Thinking that you would probably get a non-spicy one, I followed through with the offer.
It was spicy.
You drank water, you gasped, but you were determined to eat that pepper for $5. Half way through the pepper, I took pity and traded you for half a non-spicy pepper. Boy, you are a determined boy!
On Friday, I decided to take the three of you to go strawberry picking. I figured it's an activity where we could stay relatively far away from people, plus you all (especially Hailey) ask every day to go find blackberries and currently all our normal spots have been overtaken with poison ivy, I decided that it is not worth it for a handful of tart berries.
Again, we went on a perfect day. When we arrived, we had about half of the patch to ourselves. When we left, more people were arriving, but we picked our berries
took some pictures with goats
had some strawberry popsicles and (Hannah had ice cream)
And then we left. On the way home, we stopped by McDonalds and had a car picnic before we headed home.
Saturday morning, we decided to go ride the new trail that opened up last year. With Hannah finally learning to ride without training wheels, we can now go on longer trips.
Hailey, you and I stuck together. Of the 3 kids, I think I like you as a passenger the best. Nathan used to always take his helmet off (you sometimes do), Hannah would always kick me and remove the bar off of the seat (and you don't), but the thing I enjoy the most is you bursting out with "This fun!" or "Oooh, look at dat!"
The trail was beautifully lined with wildflowers and we were easily able to stay 6 feet apart from other people.
We had to take a family pic...
On Sunday, we made signs for a drive-by birthday party for someone in Hannah's class.
It was fun, but short. We drove by, rang a few cowbells, yelled out "Happy Birthday" and then drove off with a box of cupcakes.
And then Daddy had the great idea of washing the cars. We usually wash the cars once a year, about this time, after Oak pollen season is over.
Today is May 4th. I've been binge watching all the Star Wars movies because I haven't seen them since I was younger and didn't really understand how everything went together. But now, after reading lots of Star Wars books with you guys, I feel like I'm now prepared. Nathan, you've seen episode 4,5 and today, we watched 6. You are fairly interested in the series and want to know more. During dinner tonight, you asked us all the questions and it was so hard for Daddy and I to not give it all away. Hannah, Episode 6 is your gateway movie because you've fallen in love with the Eewoks.
We created paintings of the death star. I had you all draw circles and while the 2 older kids did make Death Stars, Hailey, you drew a sun and colored it with swirls of different colors.
Tonight, Hannah helped me make egg rolls. I've never made them in my life, but I sure love to eat them. Whenever we go to an authentic restaurant, most places make them with peanut powder in the filling, so we err on the side of caution and don't order them. They were simple and delicious.
And I leave you with these 2 adorable pictures of you, Hailey, flying your baby shark kite. Daddy took you out one afternoon before your nap and you two spent a good 30 minutes flying.
Well, the workload looks light again this week, so I'm hoping that we can sneak in some outdoor adventures before it gets too hot.
Until next week,
Love,
Mommy
