Reading

 We still read every night with our kids. We alternate nights. Since Alice reads so much on her own, we read aloud to her. Zac's been reading the Hunger Games series and I've been reading her Lord of the Flies.

Simon still never chooses to read on his own, so we read to him, but he also has to read out loud to us. Usually Zac and I do different books with him. Simon has been working for a long time to read My Sides of the Mountain with Zac, and finally finished the book.

Titans Swim Meets

 Alice has continued to do year-round swimming with the Triangle Aquatic Center (TAC) Titans.

She mostly seems to enjoy it and is progressing well, achieving BB times in several events. I spend the better part of a weekend approximately once a month at the swim meets. So far they've all been held at TAC, so at least we don't have to travel.  Her best events so far seem to be butterfly and IM.

Simon's creativity

 Simon does not spend much time drawing or painting, but his creativity has other outlets. For example, did you know you can make an "h" out of cranberry sauce?

He's been more interested in rocks and minerals since doing a unit on it at school.

He goes in phases with legos, sometimes ignoring them then coming back to them for a while. Currently he likes to build mansions.

Here's a portrait of him at the dentist, because he has bad teeth.