What we are looking forward to...a glimpse in our summer

OH MY GOD!!

I am done.  My results are sent in, and this crazy semester is finally OVER.
Let us celebrate.  And celebration is almost what we did yesterday, as we enjoyed a day of summer in spring.  The timing was perfect as it was a national holiday, and so we really had a true glimpse of what our upcoming summer will look like!

I am sorry, I am SO behind on email, comments, replies and such.  I am sorry about this, and I should be able to get caught up in the next few days.


I had promised Kylie a while ago I would do this, so let us begin, a look at our days (or should I say upcoming summer days... only 30 days to go!)

Warning, it will be a picture fest...

5:30 am:When I am lucky, my days starts a little earlier then the rest of the bunch.  That is usually the only minutes of calm that I get to have before it is time to go to bed... (yes, you read that well :)

The birthdays are coming, all the birthdays are at the same time here, and for the last few days, I have been starting some preparations...THis morning, I took the time to put into words all the things that have gone through my mind about theses upcoming celebrations.

6:30 am And soon enough, the day started...

Breakfast:

On a school day, we are too busy to really enjoy breakfast.  But on weekend and holidays, breakfast is a slow thing that is usually enjoyed thoroughly.  The kids love to take the time to write or do something else to start their day at the same time they are eating.

Once daddy left, it was time to get going...tooth were brushed, clothes were put on, and dolls were tended to.

8 am:  Finally, out we all go:

First, we had to deal with our work in progress: the bird sanctuary for our planned bird observation activities

9:00 After sweating a lot, and some good physical work, we left for our favourite spot, a swamp that is near of the house, and that the kids LOVES to explore.  It was E's first time (while walking anyways...)  We brought our identification cards and binoculars to explore our environment.

We always get to see interesting animals of some sort, this time birds ( a lot)  frogs, bugs, and yes turtles!

What I love of this place is that we get to see many different types of ecosystem all in one spot. Swamp, forest, flatland, it is fantastic

Swamp:

forest:

Flatland

11:00 We come back, and the oldest spontaneously went for some art activities that are store in our outdoor art shelves

I have to admit that they weren't much into it, I think they were just too tired...

E got the best idea of all IMO, he went straight for his preprepared veggie bowl in the fridge...

walk across the yard and started cooking lunch in our mud kitchen, a wonderful SHADED area of the backyard. (did I say it was REALLY hot)

11:30am:   the oldest are starting to be hungry too, M prepares a snack to share with all of us while I am fixing lunch

12:00 we have lunch together.

13:00: lunch is over, and everything has been picked up in the kitchen.  Our usual quiet time is hard to respect today.
The kids really wanted to go back outside, even though they know after lunch is quiet time.  After a few minutes of thoughts, I came up with this idea

They were thrilled!

DH and I have been talking for a while about starting to go camping again now.  We miss it dearly.  So I thought this was the perfect opportunity to practice camping...right in our backyard

and yes, we all got our quiet time, mom included

13:30: E go to bed for a nap, and gets up at around 3.  He was tired!  The rest of the bunch stays in the tent and read or relax in some way

about 15:00 pm:  it is HOT, and the oldest have a case of wiggles...

... plus we were in dire need of refreshment.  I have to admit the water was not that hot...

E gets up and go play in the sand.  The others come and join him.  That was a fantastic time during which all of us played together,

16:00 Daddy comes home early, and he is hot too!!  Everybody gets back to the bathing suits...

and tries cool themselves by all means possible (even the most unusual ones...)

and that was the beginning of the end of a long but full day.
after that came the usual things, dinner, bath, books, and such...

That was a typical summer day.  Following the children, making sure meaningful activities are planned, and yet, letting them choose what they really want to do.

Although school is not yet over, I didn't want to post about these days.  This schoolyear days are so unbalanced this year, too much commuting, not enough time with each other to nurture meaningful relationships.  I feel like I've grown apart from X this year, that some connections were not only not created, but also were broken. I'm not happy with how this year went, and big changes are ahead of us.

So here it was a glimpse of our life, but then again,  I can see how this is only representative of so much.  Many days are like this, but many days are not like this.
This was a good one, one that was worth recording, and is worth remembering