Last weekend we made the four hour drive back home to visit family for Easter. The kids had their DVD players and were well behaved for the ride. I've been pretty strict about TV time now that spring break is over, so it was a treat for them to watch for so long. We enjoyed time with both of our families. The kids got to play with their cousins for awhile, which I know they've been missing a lot. There was a ton of food and especially candy. Sunday night after dinner we made the trek back to our apartment, and arrived a half hour or so before midnight. The kids slept most of the way, of course.
While it was really nice to be back home with family we love and in a comfortable environment, the time and hassle of packing us all up, unpacking, and driving is probably going to prevent us from making the trip as often as we'd like. The cost of gas is no joke, either.
Monday I woke up with a cold, the kids didn't sleep in at all, I had all the bags of candy and goodies to put away, and about 30 seconds after breakfast The Big One started with the "I'm boooorrrrred" thing. I was not in a good mood. Luckily, the weather was lovely, sunny with temperatures in the low 70s, so I decided to take a sick day from school and we went to the beach.
This is Buckroe Beach. The water is technically the Chesapeake Bay, but it's parallel to the little opening to the ocean between the tippy end of the Delmarva Penninsula and Virginia Beach. It wasn't anything tremendously special. The area around it seemed a little run-down, and there's no boardwalk or shops or anything like that, but it's a beach. It's less than 15 minutes drive from our place and it seemed like a relatively quiet, fairly clean beach where probably mostly locals go. There was also a park with a playground there, which the kids were excited about and ran straight for. The playground is all fenced in, which is good because there were a ton of kids everywhere, and I couldn't keep track of both of mine all the time. Then we walked out on the sand and the kids went down to feel the water. Big surprise - it was cold.
This week is spring break for most people, so there were a lot of people out in the nice weather. I'm learning that as soon as the temperature gets to mid-60s around here, sandals and shorts become acceptable. There were people out in their swimsuits, laying in the sun. The first day of April! As you can see, The Little One, who insists on dressing herself with no outside suggestions or interference, fit right in.
By Tuesday my cold was worse - just typical springtime cold with a runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing, sore throat, and cough. The temperature outside went back down to the 50s. We spent the day indoors, in pajamas, catching up on school. I even let the kids watch TV for about a half hour so I could take a nap.
Despite all the lemon-echinacea tea and Emergen-C I was drinking, I only felt mildly better by Wednesday. Again, we didn't do much of anything special. The Big One has been quite entertained by a "Brain Games for Kids" book I found on his bookshelf. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when he completes it all, as he's been spending most of his non-school time working on it. The Little One has been busying herself with whatever, as always, but has been enjoying color-by-numbers I print from online. She begs me to do "school time" with her, but refuses to do any of the activities I suggest and won't write her name with lower case letters, despite knowing how.
Thursday is homeschool park day, and we visited a new place called Bethel Park. I forgot to take pictures. It is the most "off the road" of the playgrounds we've been to so far, though I could still see the main road off in the distance. There were a lot of fighter jets flying around, but I'm learning that is the norm around here. I guess I'm still new because I still look up at them rather than try to talk over the noise. This park was in the trees and shady, so it was quite chilly, at least it was for me standing still. There was a lake with people fishing, and a big paintball field across the way. I believe the other moms said the park is military affiliated.
There were more kids at the playground this week, despite it being cold, and my kids seemed to play more easily with everyone. They were sad when it was time to leave, rosy cheeks and all. I enjoy that at this group the parents can sit and talk while the kids run around, and though we are keeping an eye on them, no one is hovering over their kids or judgmental about letting the kids do their thing. I'm looking forward to getting more involved with the homeschool activities in the area.
Last night The Little One decided to cash in the rewards pins she'd been earning and saving (a whole post on that coming soon) to bake cookies. She was pretty delighted with her "special recipe", which is chocolate chip cookies with assorted chocolate Easter candies stuck in the top. The Big One said they were the best cookies he'd ever had and that The Little One will be allowed to work at his restaurant one day.
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