A daily structure finally emerged in May as the girls were assigned distance learning (DL) work five days a week, with virtual class check-ins on two or three of those days. Judging from the community Facebook group I am a member of, I was in the minority of parents who were actually pleased with how DL turned out for the end of the school year. Maybe the girls' particular teachers put in more effort than others, or maybe I just had my expectations set reasonably low for this unprecedented turn of events. In any event, aside from the firm Zoom class meeting times, I appreciated how organized the girls' Google Classrooms were and how we were able to set our own schedule to complete DL work. Our "school time" at home ended up being 10am to 1pm (sometimes running a bit later), with Avalon working mostly independently while I worked one-on-one with Eloise. As for Eddie, our little "TK Dropout" (lol), he enjoyed diligently completing some great learning worksheets I found online for "homeschool" time. Plenty of arts, crafts, cooking, backyard fun, walks in the park and other general silliness rounded out our days and the month of May seemed to fly by.
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Ellie in her usual spot for Zoom class meetings
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| Proud of his work! |
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| Eddie still loves building with his giant blocks |
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| Who doesn't love a dabbing dog on a hoverboard? |
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This is what a good sport looks like. Meet "Edna"!
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Eddie doesn't particularly enjoy it when his sisters dress him up like a girl, but he sure loves all the attention it gets him!
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May 3rd: Blank garden space at 10am...
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...and at 3pm, with the bed frames completed!
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Another shot of the completed garden beds the next morning
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Just passing the time with a little light reading
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And now for something completely different
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Eddie was the lucky recipient of some hand-me-down toys from Shaun's co-worker's son
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Garden soil delivery!
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Happy Birthday, Papa! Our first big outing post-lockdown was to Placerville to celebrate Papa's 66th birthday on May 6.
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| Posing on their hoverboards. Avalon used her birthday money and giftcards to buy one of her own. |
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Not really sure what was going on here, but it was photo-worthy. (Edit: Avalon says they were playing "blindfolded hide and seek")
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Avalon made me special cupcakes for Mothers Day! <3
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My amazing Mothers Day spread!
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...complete with DOUGHNUTS!
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Hovering around with a maple bar
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| On this day the kids did a "challenge" they saw on YouTube where they competed to see who could stay at the kitchen table the longest. As far as the kids can remember, Ellie won... after MANY hours at the table. I have to say, I kind of liked this game! At least all their usual messes were concentrated in one spot in the house! |
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| Hanging out at the park with the neighborhood ducks |
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We returned to the park with Dad...and more oats for the ducks... a few days later
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The park is so peaceful. It's so enormous that it never feels crowded.
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Another shot of a distance learning school day
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Next best thing to a trip to the beach
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While the kids were digging in the sand, Shaun dug into the dirt pile in our front yard and got our garden beds filled and prepped for planting
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First swim of the season
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Painting fun (more fun for the kids than it is for Mom-hehe)
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As of May 20th the garden was officially in the ground! Last year we didn't plant until mid-May due to our Transatlantic cruise and Europe trip, and still had one of our best garden years ever; some plants even produced into November! Considering how the garden is flourishing again this year (pics to come), we're pretty convinced that "late" planting is the way to go in our neck of the woods!
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Last day of school pic! We walked over to the girls' new school on the last official day to pick up a certificate from Ellie's teacher. The girls can't wait to be back to school on campus!...Someday... :(
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How perfect that surprise gifts from Oma arrived on the last day of school! Another reason to celebrate!
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Spa night! To celebrate the end of the school year, the girls asked to stay up late doing mud masks and watching a movie. If I look tired it's because we took this pic way past my bedtime! Lol!
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Peace out to the month of May!
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