Summer Time, When the Livin' is Easy.

Dear Kiddos, 

Whenever I see someone I know out in public, or over a zoom call people always ask, "How are you doing?" And I am just so thankful that I can truthfully say that we are doing pretty okay. We've finally gotten in a good groove. We are balancing family time, alone time, fun time, and down time. We have a good...rhythm. 

Most mornings we try to get out to do something active. This usually takes the form of a walk or a bike ride around the neighborhood. Sometimes we'll stop to climb something interesting or catch a few Pokemon.  

 Around 10:30 we come home for a quick snack and some days Hailey has a chinese class, but most days we log into our art class via Zoom. This past week we were learning about art composition and got to use watercolors as our main medium.

The assignment was to create a field of dandelions and then write the names of people that you miss. I thought that it was a very good and healing exercise to take a moment to think about the people who we don't get to be with right now.  

On Tuesday night, after you all went to bed, Daddy and I snuck across the street to try to catch the comet. I snapped a picture to remember our impromptu date night moment. 

On Tuesday, you guys created a cityscape collage with different materials. You guys tend not to enjoy creating collages as much, but according to Hannah, you say, "I love making collages" but then you quickly say, "Maybe I'll come back and finish it later." 

Uhh huh. 

Hailey, you look forward to attending the Chinese story time. You have been singing the songs that you've learned and you are so proud of the craft activities that you create during class. 

I've noticed that the 3 of you don't play well together. If the 3 of you are in a room, there will be crying, I can count on it. However, if I put 2 of you together in whatever combination, you all will find ways to play with each other. Nathan, you will read to Hailey, or play cars or legos with Hailey. 

Hannah, you and Hailey will play more pretend-role playing games or play legos. You also like spending time in bedrooms, playing on the beds, jumping, rolling, etc. 

Nathan and Hannah, you typically will play legos together, but will mostly act out  scenarios with the lego mini figures after you create things. 

You all have also been very interested in playing wii fit. You guys really love to challenge each other and beat each others' score. 

One of my friends sent me a care package with treats and facial masks. Hannah, you and I applied one this week. We are thinking about having a spa day soon. I'm looking forward to that! 

Hailey, you sorta give yourself a facial every time you eat fruit. Cherries and watermelons seem to be your treatment of choice. 

We went to the pool one time last week. It was completely empty and we had the whole place to ourselves. One of our friends let us have their puddle jumper and Hailey, you love the freedom that comes with wearing it, and I feel less anxious when I go to the pool. I was even able to swim a couple of laps! You are not completely comfortable wearing it and wading in the pool outside my arms reach, but we are able to give each other some space when we need it. 

Hannah, we finished reading the Sorcerer's stone together, so we had a movie night to watch the first Harry Potter movie. Auntie Momo surprised us with a visit and happened to have brought some Bertie Botts every flavor jelly beans along with some buttered popcorns one too. You guys had so much fun trying out the different flavors and even got Hailey involved too. Hailey, you would pop one into your mouth, say, "Yummy" and then a few moments later, you face would turn sour and you would signal that you are about to spit it out. Despite gross jelly bean after gross jelly bean, you continue to try them. 

This past weekend was a little crazy in that we were basically glued to our phones and walking around the neighborhood all day, trying to catch and battle rare Pokemon. The server for the game seemed to be lagging, so there were lots of problems with freezing and having to restart. There were also times when we were not able to catch the Pokemon that we worked so hard to free, so it was a weekend of learning to deal with disappointment. 

This morning, we took advantage of the cloudy morning due to Hurricane Hanna and we took Auntie Momo on a hike around the trails in our neighborhood. 

Afterwards, Nathan, you met up with your friend at the pool to catch Pokemon and Hannah, you met up with your friend by the school and you guys played potions. You all found persimmons and crushed them up to make magic potions. Hailey, you even got involved in the potion making! 

We did a make-up lesson from last week today and created a color wheel. I appreciate having the flexibility to take these art classes when we want to (and also having a live option) so that we can just have a more relaxed day. I think that's going to be what I'm looking forward to when we start homeschooling next month. 

This afternoon, we decorated coasters with a cool technique of nail polish marbling. Auntie momo brought a bunch of her nail polish and we went to town creating. 

I love how they turned out! They are so unique and so colorful! 

Auntie Momo will be here for a few more days, so I'm excited to see what else we will do before the month of July is over. I can't believe I'm typing this...July is almost over. 

Well, that's it for now. Until next week, 

Love, 

Mommy