Simon's other activities

Although Simon is still completely fixated on fishing, he does occasionally do other things. 

 He still likes to build forts in the basement. He calls them "grottos" now after Puffin Rock, his favorite show that he also watches obsessively.

He loves to pick wild fruits such as blackberries. He got all dressed in long sleeves and long pants to be better protected from the prickers.

He got a whole container of blackberries, ate a bowl full, then laid on the couch with a stomachache for an hour. He hasn't been very interested in blackberries ever since.

He's keeping a close eye on the ripening tomatoes in the garden.

He also evidently made a lot of plans for the month of June!

Alice's 10th Birthday

 It's so hard to believe my firstborn, the child that made me a mother, is today a decade old. Ten years.

After a great breakfast and opening the presents, the quiche for lunch, I took the kids to the pool all afternoon. Alice had a blast--the pool was crowded and she found many friends to play with. Meanwhile, back at home Zac was making the cake and grilled chicken thighs for supper. The design was based on a picture Alice drew of a dragon head.

Alice's Birthday Party

 I didn't want to have a birthday party for Alice because they are not my sort of thing, but we were talking about what she wanted to do for her birthday one day, and through the discussion we ended up planning her party. We decided to have it at our fire pit (she wanted the pool, but that's too complicated). So I made this invitation and she gave them to about 15 friends at school. But every day she'd come home asking me to print off another one or two because she thought of somebody else to invite. I was starting to get worried we'd have 20 kids that I'd never met before running around the backyard. It turns out about a dozen RSVPed yes, so that seemed like a good amount of friends.

On the morning of the party, we had swim practice like normal and I let her stay afterwards for a while to play with Riley and Lily.

Then we spent the afternoon getting ready for the party. A little before 5:00 the friends started arriving. They were all super excited once they saw our backyard, with the pond, swings, hammock, and fire pit,  it is pretty impressive these days. We didn't plan games or anything, figuring the kids would just hang out and cook hot dogs. It turns out, they were very interested in the s'mores and fruit salad, but not much of the rest of the food. We also had snacks, corn on the cob, and even chicken wings. They did a pretty good job entertaining themselves and we just stood around and tended to the food and fire.

Last day of 2nd & 4th grade

We made it to the end of this insane school year! I can't say they learned much this year in terms of school, but they learned to use technology and be more independent. I think they'll both appreciate being able to go to school every day a lot more from now on!

Camping at Izzy's

 It's good to see the old traditions coming back. We had our Memorial Day weekend campout at Izzy's. It's a bit of work packing up the tent and all the sleeping supplies just to camp in somebody's backyard, but it's always a lot of fun hanging around the fire while the kids run around and play, so it's worth it. Alice was so excited she made this picture in the morning and slid it under our door while we were still in bed.

A difference this year was that Simon brought his fishing rod to see what he could catch from their river. Turns out there are some fish in there!

Hard to believe this group of 4th graders started in the baby room at daycare together nearly 10 years ago!

Simon's May Fish

 

Simon's Crude Feasts

 Simon loves to pick things from nature to eat. He usually doesn't end up liking them very much, but that doesn't deter him from the process. He loves to call his snacks a "crude feast" because he thinks crude means large and we are unable to convince him otherwise.

He fixes most of his own snacks these days, and even when sourcing primarily from the fridge, there will often be a special touch, such a glass of pickle juice.

Homework

 Simon likes making us homework assignments to do. The good thing is he also likes helping us do our homework.

Mother's Day

 Every year, I dread Mother's Day. The day reminds me of what I should be and what I am not. But mostly, it's a hard day because I expect the kids to be on their best behavior and appreciate me, but of course they are incapable of that, and so it is just a normal day.  Well, this year we didn't plan a hike or anything special like that where we had to be together, so it was just a pretty normal day. It turns out that's the secret. I just need it to be a normal day where I don't need to focus on my ineptness as a mother.

Simon did pick a special boquet for me, which was very sweet.

Zac made angel food cake, which was pretty good. The only weird thing was he made it with honey, so it tasted a bit funny.

Alice and the drone

 We went to Grandpa Arcaro's house on Saturday, for the first time since the pandemic. It's weird to be doing some normal things again. You lose so much and then it's just suddenly restored and it seems to easy given all the loss and suffering.

We toured the new park that was put in near their house. Simon hunted fish and crawdad in the creek, while Alice learned to fly the drone. She did a great job. She is pretty good at picking up technology quickly.

Swim Team Begins

 This year I decided the kids would join the neighborhood swim team. They had their sign-up and assessment this morning. It was 55 degrees out.

I think Alice will be fine, and she's already friends with a couple of the kids on the team. I'm not sure if Simon will really do it or not.

The "assessment" was totally pointless and disorganized. And the water was freezing. I'm surprised Simon got in at all, honestly. They just had random groups of four kids swim, but no one was keeping track of names or making notes or anything. It wasn't even by age group.

Practices will be for 45 minutes on Saturday mornings, Monday evenings and Thursday evenings. Meets start in June and will be on Tuesday evenings. This is the lowest-stakes, easiest, most convenient sport we could put our kids in and I'm already annoyed that we have to wake up early on Saturdays. I'm so lazy.

Eno River

 For the first time this spring since the weather warmed up enough to go in the water we went to Eno River. Alice complained most of the time. She didn't like the spot I took them to, then she was mad Simon wouldn't swim with her, then she complained he wouldn't help her cross the river, and so on and so forth. Simon had a good time catching little fish with his net though. And Alice did love crossing the hanging bridge (she went over it a bunch of extra times for fun). I sat in my portable chair and tried to read.