We had a productive week. We worked in the blueberry patch one morning, finished planting the garden another morning, went to the bookmobile and park, fixed a broken pipe, mowed many acres, and did several other projects. We also had a lot of fun just playing outside after school and chores. I try to take my kids on mommy dates every so often so I did that with Samuel one day too. Can’t complain about this week!
Mommy date bike ride with Samuel
Tuesday Samuel and I went on a bike ride on the New River Trail, a 57 mile old rail trail along the New River. We only biked for a couple of hours but we still had a great time. It was a warm day and we had the trail to ourselves. We sat by the river for a long snack break and enjoyed watching wild ducks swim and waddle around. It was fun for me to catch up on things Samuel is interested in and what’s on his mind these days. He’s 10 and growing up fast. He’s a great kid, always cheerful and eager to help. He gets along with everyone and is very obedient.
Burying Emerald rooster in the sand
The kids had a fun time burying Emerald in the sand. He’s the most patient rooster ever. He just sat there and let them. I love that the kids have free afternoons to hang out outside and come up with ideas like this. Often Kaitlyn reads the book she’s writing to the 4 younger kids while they play in the sandbox. I hope they remember these relaxing afternoons when they’re old.
Samuel in a tree
Samuel found a fun new hiding spot. This week he enjoyed “sitting” up in this tree and watching the family walk by. We’re always coming in and out of the house all day, so it was probably pretty entertaining.
Working in the garden
The kids are so cheerful about working in the garden. Each child has their own box to plant, weed, mulch, and take care of. I’ll be making a garden video soon and post it. Afterward the kids ate popsicles they made from this book they got at the bookmobile. I love the picture of Makenna and Samuel just hanging out talking one afternoon.
Wagon ride
After the bookmobile we went to the park. The kids always pack bikes, scooters, skates, and hoverboards. This day when I opened the trunk there was also a wagon in there in addition to all the other toys. I didn’t know why we needed a wagon at the park but they ended up playing with it a lot. I took some videos I’ll make into a youtube video and post it. It’s pretty thrilling to hop in and roll down the hill with no break. It’s so good for kids to take good risks like this and make good and bad judgement calls about how steep is too steep. Fortunately we had no spills or crashes, just a lot of fun.
Thomas’s first time donating blood. He looked like he was on the beach drinking a pina colada. 🙂 Talea sitting on the porch swing happily reading while we were getting a warm spring rain.
