Summer days...

It has been really hot the last few days! Thankfully it seems cooler today, at least so far. The kids have weathered the heat by spending lots of time on the Slip-n-Slide Double, and by devouring homemade popsicles. We also spent some time watching movies to stay out of the heat - namely the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Inkheart. We've been reading (well, I have been reading) a lot too - we're wrapping up Gone Away Lake, and in the car The Reptile Room - as well as history read-alouds, in which we're finishing up cave people and getting ready to start the Gilgamesh trilogy. Elf has been doing bits of his summer math book with no trouble, and is researching dinosaurs, while Fairy plays around with Starfall and math games. Still haven't opened the giant tub of phonics activities we were given, but we'll get to that eventually! I can't get Elf to do much writing though, and I am trying so that he'll be more prepared for 3rd grade, in which yes, I will expect him to do a fair amount of writing.

I was having personal debates as to grammar for him. Writing Tales 1 does cover some, but I wanted to make sure he really "gets" it, so I spent hours researching, looking at samples, etc., before it hit me... let him choose! I pulled up a bunch of samples on the internet, showed them to him, and he chose G.U.M. by Zaner Bloser. It looks very simple and straightforward. And it's relatively inexpensive, always a nice bonus! I already have a copy of First Language Lessons someone gave me, so I may use that with Fairy, or I may not - I need to finish looking through it.

By the way, our backpacking/camping trip was fantastic! We were out at Point Reyes National Seashore for 4 days, 3 nights. The hike into camp was about a mile and a half, and the kids did it, with packs, without too much complaining. During the remainder of our time there, we hiked a lot. Up to the mountain peak, down to the coast, around on various trails... about 45 miles total during the time we were there. And the weather was perfect. Sunny, but not too hot, and not too cold. We saw all kinds of animals, ranging from hawks to deer to chipmunks, visited a Miwok village (reconstruction), and in general had loads of fun. I'll have to upload pics off my camera.

A couple of recommendations from recent reading and purchasing...
Siblings Without Rivalry - I am rereading this after skimming it last week, and I think it has a LOT of valuable info in it. Mostly common sense stuff that makes me say, well why didn't I do that already? But still a good read

And these dresses from Land's End. I have been looking at these for some time, and finally just bought Fairy one, and she loves it, plus it's just roomy enough that she'll wear it for quite some time without it being too big now. I was quite horrified that I had to shop the "big girls" section for her, as she's between a size 6 and size 7, so I went with 7 to be on the safe side. I may buy her a few more by fall for her fall/winter wardrobe. I figure in cold weather she can layer them over tights and long-sleeved t-shirts!