Fruit

 Every night before a school/work day, I cut a bunch of fruit for bedtime snack and lunches the next day. Needless to say, we buy a ton of fruit when we go to the grocery store every four days.

Simon's prank

 Simon found a dead animal the cat brought in and put it in Alice's room with a rude note. (But look at me being proud of how much Simon wrote!) Alice took it all in stride, with much complaining.

The "rats along your back" is a reference to song lyrics from "We Don't Talk about Bruno" in the movie Encanto.

Fire pit party

 We have frequent get-togethers at our fire pit. It's a great covid-safe activity. Except the kids get bored quickly and go up to the house and watch dumb YouTube videos together. Oh well. At least it gives the grownups and break and enough peace to visit.

Chores

 The kids are getting better at doing their chores without pitching a fit. I think Alice secretly likes having a list of things to do.

Haw River Hike

 I love that we can still find new places to hike! Today we took a warm winter walk along the Haw River. It was a gorgeous day and a fun flat walk. Simon still cried half way through when he was hungry and we forced him to eat an apple before we'd keep going. He finally did, and was fine the rest of the time. The trail goes on a long way, but we probably just walked about 3 miles.

When they make their own meals...

 ...it can be a bit weird. But they each met the requirements of grain, fruit, protein in their own way.

Nap time