We went to Holdener Park for a hike. Just before the parking lot was a small farm with plenty of friendly goats. The kids loved on the animals so much. At first, I was antsy to get on the trail and start moving. Then a thought came into my mind that this time was for my kids as much as it was for me, and that if petting goats strengthened their mental health during this weird time, then it was what we should be doing. We stayed with the goats until everyone but Jack was ready to move on. He maybe never would have left.
The path we chose took us up and down some hills, past a little farmland, and up to a horse pasture. We said hello to the horses for a while, and then meandered back to the parking lot. I remember I had been feeling frustrated and pent-up before we headed out for this experience. Probably all the kids were, too. It was the perfect recharge. By the time we loaded back up in the van, we all felt calmer and happier. Slowing down the pace and spending time outdoors almost always works to heal me when I'm feeling stressed.
One of Hazel's 5th grade PE requirements was running a timed mile every week. We decided to keep that up during distance learning, so every Friday morning before breakfast, the kids and I biked over to the school track and I stood in the shade shouting things like, "Go! Go! Go!" and "Don't stop! You're doing awesome!" while they ran their hearts out. I got a little grief for not running with them, but I had to run the stopwatch!
We hiked Brushy Peak one day when the weather was just right. You have to plan around the weather with BP because there is zero shade. But it's ten minutes from our house, so you can't say no when it's not hot. Gemma brought a Barbie with her, which made things interesting because she got tossed in the air a lot. Jack brought his binoculars, which proved useful, especially at the end when we found a snake in the creek bed.
One of my neighbors posted on Facebook that they'd gone cherry picking in Brentwood, and I jumped on that, fast! I hadn't realized anything, anywhere near us, was open. It was our first outing in months where we drove more than 20 minutes in the car and did something where you had to interact with other people. The orchard was beautiful, the cherries were positively scrumptious, and we all found the experience to be most enjoyable. You should have heard us in the car on the drive home! We were wild with the feeling of freedom. Liberation! Also, we ate, like, a pound of cherries.
A mama bird made her nest in our front door wreath. It was fun to watch the process go from building, to little blue eggs, to baby chicks.
Teacher Appreciation Week was celebrated on a much smaller scale than usual. Gemma's teacher had a drive-by where we could wave at her and hand her the bag of cherries and thank you card we had put together for her. This is, sadly, the only picture I have of Gemma with her sweet teacher, Miss Ravizza.
We brought notes and cherries to Jack's and Hazel's teachers, as well. Mrs. Aguiar answered her door and we had a nice visit with her on her front lawn. Mrs. Valverde did not come to the door, so I don't have a single picture of Hazel with her teacher.
The official word was that we should only be on the beach if we could walk to it from our homes, adn that we should only be there if we were exercising. Craving the ocean and the chance to get a little further from home than we had been for months, we decided to hike a coastal trail. Spur of the moment, just before getting in the van, the kids grabbed swim suits "just in case," which I thought was overly optimistic, especially considering it would only be in the 60's when we were there.
We parked legally a few blocks away, and walked over to our trail. It was so beautiful. It was a lovely Saturday morning and the usually packed beaches were almost empty. There were just a handful of people on the sand. We soon ventured off the paved path and onto the sand. It wasn't too much longer before we stopped to dig in the sand, "for just a few minutes." We ended up staying for hours and the kids did, indeed, strip down to their suits and jump in the waves. It was a very enjoyable day. We even had beach cops drive past us and simply wave at us and the kids (who were busy building sand castles). Apparently we are not the only ones tired of following rules that don't make much sense.
Mother's Day was sweet and low-key. Everyone made me sweet homemade gifts and cards. We spent the day playing games and reading together, having home church and taking a walk to Marshland. As always, I was filled with gratitude for the gift of motherhood. It brings me my greatest joys and my biggest purpose and satisfaction.
I went for a solo walk early one morning and found a new-to-me trail that takes off from Marshland and snakes through the open space behind our neighborhood. I am, again and again, grateful for the access to open space we have near our home. It is a blessing that I enjoy very much.
At long last, one of our friends' families cracked and we got to have our first (illegal) play dates. We were thrilled to show James and Jonah the air hockey table that our neighbor Julie gifted us.
I brought my kids back to Holdener Park a couple more times. Once, we hiked up in the hills with Todd. The next time, the kids and I brought our scooters and rode them up and down the big hills along the vineyards. Honestly, we would have been a lot safer on bikes, but we don't have a way to transport them all. We need to get a bike trailer or something. Until then, we will have to be wild on our scooters! We had so much fun (especially going downhill).
Todd did a fly-by over our culdesac. He flew super low in circles a few times. The kids and our neighbors who knew who he was absolutely loved it.
He always causes a stir among the local forums when he flies low through town, which is kind of funny. I usually get a text or two from friends who see posts like this:
Our neighbor Julie has been especially generous to us during the shelter in place. She must have been cleaning out her garage. She has passed down to us the air hockey table I mentioned before, as well as two nice bikes and a pogo stick. All her gifts have been greatly appreciated and used voraciously by my kiddos.
Mid-May we decided to break some more rules and spent the day with our friends the George's. Todd helped Ryan update their house sprinklers, while Katie and I played games and took a walk, and all the kids ran around playing together like they hadn't seen another human being in years (totally felt like it!). They played better together than ever before.
Jack agonized for ages about what to spend his growing pile of allowance on. He researched multiple different pets, before veering off that idea and deciding he wanted a drone that could take nice pictures - so that if (fingers crossed) our scheduled trip to Maui in August actually gets to happen, he could take awesome pictures of waterfalls. He debated for probably a good solid week about whether or not he should buy it, before finally taking the plunge and spending the $75.
Then, Amazon shipping got delayed, and it took several extra days to get to us. I can't even count how many times Jack looked online at the UPS tracking data, frustrated that it hadn't arrived yet. He already was talking about how maybe it was a mistake that he had bought it.
Well, it came, and everyone was excited. Jack charged the batteries, read the manual, and enjoyed flying it around the living room. He and Todd set up an app so they could use the camera, and had some fun playing around with that feature. But that night, and pretty much every night afterwards, Jack had a hard time sleeping, worrying about whether or not the drone was worth it. He literally lost sleep and complained of a stomachache on multiple nights.
He had a month to decide if he would return it or not, and always sat on the edge of his seat, unwilling to commit to keeping it or returning it. He made lots of pro/con lists. It was disappointing that he wasn't completely satisfied with it.
Well, long story short, Fast Sunday came along and I asked if he had picked a purpose to focus on. He hadn't. I asked him if anything was on his mind that he needed an answer to, and he said he wanted to know if he should keep the drone or return it. I told him he could fast about it, but that he ought to make a decision first and then ask for confirmation. I gave him an example of what he could say in his prayer, something like, "I've decided to return the drone. I'm not satisfied with it, and it makes me feel unsettled. Please let me know if I'm making the right choice." Jack said he had never thought about praying like he was talking to somebody like that. It was a real breakthrough moment for him.
So he fasted about returning the drone, and felt his stomachache go away. He felt calm for the first time in a month. We printed the return label and took it to UPS the very next day. Jack said he felt peaceful and relieved. I am grateful he had such a memorable, positive experience with praying and fasting and getting an answer from God. I hope he never forgets it. I had him record it in his journal, but he hates to write, so his entry is about four sentences long.
Jack and Hazel entered the virtual school talent show playing Pachabel's Canon in D. Hazel also played "Never Enough" from The Greatest Showman on the piano. I love that they put so much effort into music.
Gemma had a big remote learning workload. She was a champ about working hard, but was definitely creative about how and where to get her work done. I sent her teacher this picture.
We went cherry picking again. It wasn't as magical the second time. They were still delicious, but it didn't have that liberating feel of breaking free from bondage like our first adventure did.
Jack earned over 450 Accelerated Reader points this year He was one of the top three readers for third grade.
Hazel earned over 1200 AR points and won highest reader in the school for the second year in a row. It was a close one, however, Rex Mullen, this third grade boy in our ward, does nothing but read and had over a thousand points. Hazel panicked a little, thinking he might beat her. Sweet relief to see that he didn't quite!
Hazel also won a Presidential Award of Excellence that is given to 5th graders who meet the test score, GPA, and teacher recommendation requirements. She definitely works hard on her schoolwork and was happy to receive recognition for it.
Our family watches The Great British Baking Show together. Todd and Jack were interested in trying one of the recipes the contestants made during a challenge called a Bakewell Tart. It was tricky, and far too sugary unfortunately, but they had a fun Sunday afternoon working on it.
Memorial Day was slated to be hot. We wanted to go to the beach again - it was going to be in the 70's there, which is rare - but we were worried there would be a stronger crackdown from the police than the last time we went. Finally, our worries were outweighed by our excitement, and we packed up for a day. We went to our secret beach in Half Moon Bay, which has always been nearly empty when we've gone before. It started out with not too many people there, but the crowds kept coming, and we didn't love our time as much as we wanted to. We had brought body boards, but realized too late that what we love about Martin's Beach is the breathtaking scenery. It's not actually that great of a beach to play at. The sand is very rough, the water is deep, and the waves break in a way that you can't really body board there. So all our attempts to play in the water or build sand castles were thwarted, and the masses of people there diminished our ability to enjoy the scenery.
Despite the No Parking signs, cars were everywhere. Evidently, the cars parked on the street were getting ticketed, while those in the parking lot were left alone, even with signs posted. It's so frustrating with all these pick and choose rules that don't make sense during the shelter in place.
Jack and Todd built us an herb garden box. With over thirty tomato plants this year, we're a'gonna need some basil! Hopefully it won't be too crazy and we'll be able to make a year's supply of tomato sauce. It's so much better homemade.
We've been checking in on Mrs. Allen, Hazel's and Jack's kindergarten teacher. Hazel painted her this lovely seascape. Hazel has got such an eye for beauty. I love her talent!
It's a shame that it took this long for us to realize that Todd could FaceTime us while he's in the helicopter, and we can see what he's flying over. It's been fun to see where he goes. I love this picture. He's so in his element.
The end of the school year finally came. All my kids wrote their teachers thank you notes. We had a day to drive by the school and pick up bags of the kids' artwork and awards and whatever else was in their desks, and to drop off school library books and things. We included our teacher notes in our return bag. I know several other schools did drive-by parties where the kids could see their teachers one last time, and I think it's a bummer that our school didn't do that. The last week of school was extremely anti-climactic. Technically, they were in school until June 4th, but I'm totally throwing this in here now. There ain't nothin' that happened with school worth mentioning in my June post!
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| I loved about your class was switching seats. I loved when you did read alouds. I don't think I could survive without you. |
Hazel asked her Young Women's president if we could swim at her pool. That was a sweet relief on a hot day!
The kids made and decorated cupcakes our first Sunday while Todd was gone for AT. His last EVER two week Army training!!! He retires in December, and we are definitely counting down!
