Fri-yay

This is a post I started writing back on Friday, June 12, and didn't quite finish.  For the sake of posting our updates from early June, I finished it and am now publishing, since it's Fri-yay again today, albeit three weeks later.  Rest assured I'm working on our camping trip recap so enjoy this "old news" and look forward to a travel blog coming pretty soon.

Popping in here on a hot and sunny Friday afternoon to just say hello and give some updates.

(Friday afternoon treat!!)

Our penultimate week of school for the big girls has just wrapped up and I think I can safely say we're all pretty happy to be done soon.  My girls have really done quite well with public-school-from-home, and I think compared with a lot of moms I have it pretty easy in that they do their work very independently without any academic coaching from me and minimal complaining, but... I can tell that they're burned out and their teachers are too.  My main job is keeping track of everyone's Zoom meetings (we average 2-3 per day) and the ever-present juggling of devices (i.e. C needs a camera for this project and the laptop webcam is broken, so L you need to switch with her so she can use the iPad... or, this device didn't get plugged in last night and now it's dead and we have a Zoom meeting in exactly 35 seconds... you get the idea).  Plus keeping J entertained because she's been done with preschool for two weeks and as the youngest of four do you think she likes to be alone or without activity for even 20 seconds of her day?  Not a chance.  So....... yeah it's getting old.  Just having the freedom to leave the house a little more will be a welcome relief, and with some parks and public places re-opening on a limited basis, it looks like we'll have the opportunity to do so.  Very much looking forward to that!

Here are some bright spots in our week, since I last spoke with you!

Dance recital week!  It didn't happen as usual but I'm really happy the girls got to wear their costumes and makeup and do their dances on Zoom.  Their teacher recorded them and she's going to put together a video.

J especially has been looking forward to this ever since I told her about it so she was just about as excited as she could get when it was her turn.

She insisted on the full facial of makeup, just like her big sister.

Google made this side-by-side comparison for me of J four years ago, and just as Google always does, made me cry a little.  Baby's getting pretty grown up!

Post-recital mac and cheese dinner.

This girl wanted to run with me the other morning, so while the other girls were doing school she donned her tank top and unicorn leggings and we took off.  Her goal was to go to the cemetery nearby and we did get there, but upon arrival she decided that the lawn mowers were too loud and we turned right back.  She covered the distance with a remarkable amount of speed, and insisted that I "announce" the whole thing like a televised race.  We stopped to smell the flowers a few times, too!

M showed J some old Bob Ross videos a few weeks ago and she has been requesting them ever since.  He has been quite the inspiration to her and so painting creations have been prolific in our household lately!

It's nice to have such a fancy helper when making cookies!

Baby bunnies in the backyard!  Such excitement!

That's pretty much everything for now.  Back soon with more updates!