Mother's Daybook - August 18th

Recovering - From camping. Despite our last trip not going so well, we tried again. Apparently we have bad luck because the weather this time was not great either. This particular campsite fills fast so we had to book it way in advance and didn't really have an option to reschedule so we just went for it and figured it we had to leave again, it wouldn't be the end of the world. And there was a bit of rain, some thunder before we even added in the kid's and their vomiting, fever and blood to the mix. But despite it all, we had a fun evening and a good morning playing in the shut-ins. We did did have to go home early because of Jonah's fever and worsening weather but that ended up being good because by that evening, we all realized that something had attacked us the night before. I think it might have been chiggers. The boys got it the worst and we currently have bug bite lotions and potions on every flat surface of this house, or at least it seems that way. So I'm not sure it was a overwhelming success but we survived and made a few good memories.

Reading - All the light and fluffy! I'd been working on Villette for quite a while and finally finished it last week. I was slow to warm up to it but by the end I was very much immersed in the story. And then it ended. The way it ended. I'll try not to spoil it but it was intense. I'm still not over it.  I needed something on the more frivolous end of the scale so I went with Mary Rinehart's The Window at the White Cat. It's one of those good clean cozy mysteries that just hit the spot.  And while I try not to read two books by the same author in a row, I think I'll break that rule (okay, I break it a lot, but I still try to mix things up) and go with The Amazing Interlude. At least until I'm ready to enter back into some of my deeper fiction reads. I've also just started Minds More Awake for a little Charlotte Mason inspiration as we plug away on school. I'm only a few chapters in but so far its been very inspiring. I'm really enjoying how her style is casual and conversational yet she's talking about some big ideas. Perfect for when you need a bit of a pick me up for back-to-school time without a huge brain workout.

Rejoicing - In all the emptiness that back to school brings. Should I feel guilty saying that? But it's so nice to go to parks and play places and not have it be crowded. We went to a creek to play two weeks ago and the parking lot was full and there were kids everywhere. Today we meet some fellow homeschoolers for more creek fun, albeit at a different one but actually closer to the city so more likely to be crowded, and this was the sight that awaited us. Ah, bliss!

The kid's played and then they discovered these big chunks of clay so they all gathered together to dig it up and play in it. The kids didn't all know each other and mine especially are on the shy side but this really brought them all together and it was super cute. We brought some home to play with but now I've got to go research clay because they have all sorts of questions about where it came from and what it is made from. I think it will keep our outdoor time fun (and messy) for the next little while.