in which I chat about things here and there.

So, despite what it seems like around here, I don't just dump my girls off in pseudo-educational places then sit around in coffee shops reading and knitting every day.  Of course, a very high percentage of my waking day is spent with these girls, and many of our days are spent simply being at home and going out here and there.

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We've started back up with some Science Museum homeschool afternoons (that's when I get to go out on my own!), but on our way there last time we stopped by an orchard to grab more bushels of apples (3, but only 2 for us).  The girls love to climb the hill in this funny tiny orchard in the 'burbs, even if we don't have much time.  They carefully choose their "children's apple" which they hold in their laps for the rest of the drive downtown.

(Back at the museum.  Upon picking up the girls, I learn that, apparently, in the future, our buildings will be make more earthquake-proof by constructing them with toothpicks -or straws- and marshmallows.)

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At home much time is spent drawing and painting by Greta, and reading by Kaatje.  Piano practice is urged (encouraged, cajoled, forced, depending on the day or time), and all things yarn, fabric, lego, book, and crafty are supported.

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By accident, I end up at the Mall of America.  I don't recommend it from about October to January, and never on the weekend.  I will also never again buy from a store I can't exchange-due-to-manufacturer-defect via mail.  Greta gets to play at Legoland, because I cannot bear the thought of going out in traffic again so soon.  (Quite readily, however, I cannot bear the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds and look forward to the sanity of gridlock traffic.)

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We go to the library regularly, exchanging our bulging bags of books ("can we get fewer this time, girls?" as if I'm not just as much to blame) for equally bulging bags of new books.

(then we bring the books to the coffee shop, and while away the afternoon.  rarely, but hopefully more as winter sets in.  truly, sometimes a few dollars a month from the budget are best spent on frivolity...)