Just beachy...

Yesterday was the end-of-the-academic-year party with the kids' charter school class. Like last year, it was held at the beach. Like last year, it was overcast most of the day, but not too cold. And like last year, we had a lot of fun! Elf was drawn straight to the water, and spent much of his day standing about knee deep in (gentle) waves. Fairy decided she was scared of the water this year, and so spent a lot of time playing in the sand. We took a loooong walk by the water's edge (the kids, my mom and I), looking at shells and sand dollars, identifying footprints in the sand... really kind of relaxing. I chatted briefly with a couple of the other parents, but then many of them got into a very political discussion, which I didn't feel like even trying to be part of.

Fairy also spent a fair amount of time burying, and being buried by, other kids from the charter school. And some kids dug a giant hole, so Elf had to dig small tunnels going into the giant hole. Then most of the families left, and there was only us, another mom, and her daughter. So they played in the hole some more (sliding into on their bellies being penguins), made sand angels, and climbed on a giant driftwood log. Finally, we were worn out, and headed home. Not worn out enough though to miss our town's Wednesday Night Market, where we got some great fresh bread, tasted about 6 kinds of honey (Tupelo honey, while not local, has a really good flavor), bought beets, and generally wandered around for an hour. Both kids really enjoyed the variety of live music. I talked to the lady at the honey booth we checked out, and got advice on using honey as an allergy preventative, which we've tried with a little success. Apparently, we should use honeys seasonally - fall wildflower honey in the fall, spring wildflower honey in the spring - to help more, plus she said the fall wildflower honey has been known to help strengthen immunities to poison oak. Alway worth a try!

Today we are a bit sunburned, and needing to sit down for a little school work. Our last "official" week of the academic year is next week - how did it get here so fast? We're going to finish up a few light things over the summer, enjoy some good books (see my book list in the side bar), and learn a little more about Ancient Greece, but nothing too academic until September. The long lazy days of summer are almost here....