Eno River

 Today was another one of the many "asynchronous days" that the schools have instituted this year to give the kids a screen break and teachers more planning time. The reality is the kids have about every-other Wednesday off of school. They have some online work to do, but it doesn't take more than a couple of hours. Pity the parents with less flexible schedules always trying to coble together childcare with this erratic schedule! Our challenge this week is that the workers are here installing our kitchen floor, so having the kids running about would be a problem. So once they got their schoolwork done, Zac took them to Eno River for the rest of the day.

Simon's lima bean plant

 Simon came home from school the other day with a lima bean plant growing in a plastic cup. I'm so glad the kids are back in school so they can do all these little activities that just don't work with online instruction.  He transplanted it to a bigger pot himself, and then when it gets warmer we'll have him put it in his garden in the back yard.

Raven Rock State Park

 On Sunday, Jess drove me and Alice along with Anna out to Raven Rock State park for a hike. We spent many hours there, and I took only two pictures. But the kids had lots of fun and Jess and I enjoyed visiting, as always.

The fortune didn't lie: Schools open up

Alice will finally be going back to school full-time! I can't describe how good this is. The poor girl has been doing online classes at home by herself for about a year. She's gone to school at school for only about three weeks total, due to it being closed most of the time and one three-week rotations when it was open. She's in school this week, and now gets to stay for hopefully the rest of the year.

Snacks

 I continue to be impressed by the kids' choices for their snacks.

Can't imagine how much they'll be eating when they're teenagers! These are just snacks...

Beaver Dam Lake

 On Sunday I took the kids to a section of Falls Lake known as Beaver Dam Lake. After yesterday's hike, Simon didn't want to go hiking again (he loves playing in the woods by hates hiking). So I said we'd go to a lake and he could magnet fish while Alice and I read. The point was just for us to be out of the house so Zac could do the kitchen painting uninterrupted.

The actual fishing was entirely unsuccessful. But magnet fishing he caught a few bits of metal, some hooks, and once his line even got tangled up in a fish attractor! Another time he accidentally threw his whole rod in the lake while casting, but we managed to rescue it with the magnet rope. 

Pleasant Green hike at Eno River

 On Saturday, Zac was still tireless working on the kitchen painting project, so I took the kids out to Eno River for the day. This time we went to a new area: Pleasant Green. We found lots of fun places along the way to play, and ended up at the Cabe Lands & Eno Quarry (a 1.5 mile hike). Simon likes to get into small spaces and cling on trees and have me take his picture, as you'll notice.

Catching creatures

 

He caught a frog and a lizard. The kid can't just leave things alone. He still chases butterflies, too.

Simon's projects

A word search

A giant paper airplane

Word math

A list of 50+ types of utters (totally normal kid here)

Schoolwork

Basement Time

 During the dark evenings of winter, Zac and the kids developed some games they would play in the basement after supper while I cleaned up and prepared the bedtime snack. As far as I can tell, it mostly involves Zac trying to get them while they try not to be gotten. There's always lots of screaming. Sometimes they talk about gulls so I think the game has evolved a lot over time and now includes different characters. The current iteration involves a fort with lots of complex tunnels underneath that Zac rebuilds differently every evening, so they have to figure it out again the next night.  At any rate, the kids absolutely love it.

Clemmons Educational Forest

 We came here with our friends Rob and Kate about 4 years ago. I sort of forgot about the place for a while, but as parks continue to be crowded, I'm trying to find some more off-the-beaten-path places to go. So this weekend I took Simon and Alice and met Jess and Anna at the forest. They had loads of fun just playing in the forest in different spots. I doubt we even hiked two miles. But it was a nice way to get out of the house so Zac could work on painting the kitchen.

Alice four years ago...

We got Chinese food for takeout and I got this fortune. How nice!

Rey at the Library

Alice and I ran into Rey (Star Wars character) at the library today. I like how they put a mask on her.

 

Johnston Mill Nature Preserve

 A friend from work recommended Johnston Mill Nature preserve for a hike, so I took the kids there to check it out with Jess and Anna while Zac worked tirelessly on the kitchen remodeling project. It's always fun to still be able to find new places to explore. It was a great little hike, and we'll need to go back when it's warmer so we can play in the creeks. Although, technically the kids did get in today, even although it was chilly.

Simon's Solo Puzzle

 Simon got this puzzle for Valentine's Day and he did the entire 500 pieces all by himself! He was so proud.

After admiring the completed product for a few days, he was ready to crumble it up and start over, but was surprised to learn her could pick it and it stuck together.