when it's warm:

It's time to walk to the river for wading and minnow catch-and-release.  I drew the line at swimming (though I'm contemplating some sort of floating, human-powered craft in our future).

~
p.s.  A newly-discovered favorite on-line game of ours has just been the subject of an xkcd web-comic, which probably means it will be over-run and slower, but I thought I'd tell you we like it too, and it wastes waaaay too much time.  But it's "educational"  I'm sure!  (my personal high-score, with absolutely no outside use of the internet, is 23,565.)

Don't say I didn't warn you:  GeoGuessr.com.

this week in books

Although we mostly max out our library account every couple weeks (the 30 book limit was obviously not set by homeschoolers;  we really must get Kaatje her own card and up our limit to 60), the books we've been recently reading are all our own.

Kaatje just received "Hildafolk" by Luke Pearson as her "finished her math book" prize this spring.  I'd read about one of Pearson's newer Hilda books, thought it sounded great, so we got this one to start.  It's a fun story and drawn wonderfully, but quite a short paperback (which we knew).  I especially like the matter-of-fact-strange world Hilda inhabits (with her mom, who acts so like a mom), just like our world:  a bit strange, a bit scary, but more safe and fun than we think sometimes.  This is a book for any ages, but there is one minor curse word (spoken by a monster, not Hilda).

Greta, who finished her math book a bit longer ago, also chose a book and picked another Tintin.  Although she does read "Calvin and Hobbes," she devours Tintin like Kaatje did Calvin so many years ago.  I'm not sure how much of it she actually word-by-word reads (she reads well, but not quickly yet, and sometimes skips long or hard words) but she always has one with her in the house, and Tintin is the breakfast and lunch reading of choice.  They are fun, exciting, fast-paced books, introduced to us by my dad who read them as a kid.  We're building quite the collection of them.  This weekend, one scene in Tintin spurred a game of battleship, taught to us by Dad (Grandpa);  I didn't even know the game battleship played on paper!  (everyone over 50 is rolling their eyes at me)  This will be a new car game for us, I'm sure.

I'm just finishing "Bella Tuscany," Frances Mayes' kind-of-travel, kind-of-journal book on her life part-time-living in the home they own in Italy.  I really liked her book "Under the Tuscan Sun," (is that a movie, too?  Never saw it.) and found "Bella Tuscany" at the thrift store.  I enjoy it, perhaps not as much as her first book, but it works well how I read it:  in small bits before bed.  I think it would become tired in large doses, but reading passages about her life and travels in Italy are perfect at the end of the day.  Even without the library distractions (I've been coming home with stacks of magazine back issues) I have books waiting in a line for my attention here at home.  I'm hoping to spend more time with them this season.  (With a cold drink, sitting in the sun, hopefully soon!)

with the fishes.

(last two photos by Kaatje)

Once again, we enjoyed our annual visit to the basement aquarium in the giant mall.  This is pretty much the only time we get to the mall, which is on the other side of this large town, and this year we had fun going with Grandpa and Grandma, and even Dad, all of us as a homeschool family on the discounted day. 

~
We (or at least Dad and I) probably shouldn't have walked so much, because the next day we ran our seventeenth annual Spring half-marathon.  I've probably said before, but we've done these through the years around weddings and babies (I did two pregnant, and two with a baby waiting for me at the finish), different races depending on life's timing.  Since I mostly run solo, I really enjoy doing these.  This year we did the very hilly Maple Grove race again, in a very chilly strong wind, but we made it.  And we were glad to be finished!

early spring, weeks late.

The local gardening people have said we are six weeks behind schedule with regard to plants.  It's been said we are too far behind to grow early season crops, that the weather will be too hot before they're ready.  (I might go poke some pea seeds in anyway, just to see what happens.  Who knows?)

Leaves are just beginning to unfurl on the trees.  The earliest of early Prairie Smoke is showing its buds, the Pussy Toes not far behind.  Many of the trees in our yard sport fairie houses of some sort or another.  The other day the building of tiny wooden swings was of the utmost importance (I pulled out the drill), now they swing in the lilac bushes (which display miniscule purple buds).

This will be a cool weekend, but the days of warm and sun are upon us!

around 1 pm.

(Just a peek;  this is the dining table of a homeschool family, in the midst.)