Tuesday: start 2

 I started classes today.  They went well.  The classes need to change slightly because I need to add 20 minutes to each class.  (It's a four credit class that in the past has only met for three hours.  It's always felt a bit weird to me but I wasn't going to complain!)  Most of that extra 20 minutes will be practice, but there are also a few things that have been skipped that I want to add.

Anyway, the extra material that I added was just about the right amount.  We finished a bit early, but it was also the first day.

We were also back in the "normal" classroom and it was wonderful!  I can see most of the student's screens, so I have a better idea if they're keeping up or not.  It's easier to walk around and see if there are any questions.  The students actually talked to each other.  In my second class they were even introducing themselves to each other before class; that doesn't happen a ton anymore.  (People that know each other will talk, but people that don't know each other tend to be on their phones.)

Monday: food

Ah ha!  Since it was the first day of school it seems like today's title should be "first day of school".  But the details are all about food.

We'll start with the first day of school pictures.

They got off to school perfectly fine.  I was a bit nervous for them throughout the day, but it was a normal nervous, not a freaking-out nervous.

I headed off to the grocery store.  The aisle that I needed the most from was completely empty.

I know in this weird COVID time there are random runs on things, but I really think they must be fixing/updating the cooler.  The rest of the store was normal.  It was just a bit annoying though.

I did get all the things on my "must do" list finished today: groceries, exercising, Hope-work, emails, cleaning the kitchen.  The other thing was to work on Operation: Clean the house, starting with the guest room.  The goal for today was to clean it enough to get an initial vacuum.  I not only did that, but did some additional cleaning in it and moved some of the furniture back to its original place.

I'm really surprised at how many pieces of crayon I keep finding.  I have a much better appreciation for why teachers ask for two boxes of crayons now...we were having a hard time at the end finding the colors we needed.

The cats at least joined me for a little bit.

Overall, the house wasn't as quiet as I was afraid of.  There was plenty to do and they quiet was nice.  However...expect a lot more cat pictures.

Both boys reported fine days.  Joshua said the best part was tech and the worst part was a leaking water bottle.  Isaac was excited because he got a cookie.  They didn't really have a good day because they didn't do anything...first days are a bit annoying like that.  Joshua did say that he had to write a lot.  Joshua also got home and ate two oreos and two small bowls of Rice Krispies.  I'm not sure I've seen him that hungry before.

Sunday: carnival

Isaac wanted to have a carnival today.  It wasn't high on my list of things I wanted to do, so I made the boys do most of the leg work and then it turned out a lot more fun. :)

There was fishing for treats.

And drink ring toss.  It was harder than expected, but that was rather nice.  It took them a while to finish it.

Saturday: exciting conclusion to summer

Since we didn't do anything exciting yesterday, we did something "exciting" today.  We went to the blueberry store.  They played on the playground and then we had some ice cream.

Joshua: 9 (It would have been a 10 but they took a few things away)

Isaac: 7

Amanda: 4

Friday: last day of summer

As the last official day of summer vacation, we didn't do anything all that special.  (I asked the boys in the morning if there was anything they wanted to do, and it was only play Joshua's game.  Then there were tears at night because they didn't get to do anything special.)

Anyway, we played Joshua's game.  The balance was pretty good, but it was a bit boring.

Then they played some game of their own that involved a lot of laughing.

We went for a walk in their new Minecraft shoes.  Isaac did a lot of explosions and Joshua filled in the holes with lava.  The park we went to was finally not flooded so we were able to explore some new places.

Then we had a brief visit with Grandma Hilldore.

Thursday: dark

 I went to put something away in the laundry room and found more eyes in the washing machine.  I don't think I've seen Tornado in there before.

Joshua suddenly decided to play the sleeping game.  All the lovies came to sleep with me.  I'm sure Joshua was angling for some extra screen time, because that's what normally happens when I want to play the sleeping game, so I gave in and let him have a bit.

It was also "Meet the teacher" night.  It was nice to see the teachers and the classrooms.  The teachers seem nice, although it was also rather hard to get a feel for them.  In the past it's been a short presentation to the families and this time it was just come and go as desired.  There's pros and cons to both.

Wednesday: outside

The boys scootered and I biked to the nearby stores...Lowes, Joanns, and Shoe Carnival.  Going on the bike with them on scooters was a good idea; it wasn't a fast bike ride by any means, but I wouldn't have been able to keep up walking.  As a whole it was a bit awkward dealing with everything in and between stores, but it worked ok.

We got some switch plates and installed the upstairs sensor in the bathroom.

Joshua developed a game that we played.  The balance ended up being ok, but only because of who chose what role.  Joshua, as the police, wasn't as strategic as Isaac, the bad guy.  Mom, the citizens, could only away and I laughed at the absurdity of my role.  Joshua, though, was very proud of the game and another one is in progress.  

We finally met up with a neighborhood kid and they played for a while.

I picked so many raspberries today.  They were picked yesterday mid-morning, so I was expecting about a container.   The container was full after about half the patch.