We have been back from Germany for a week or so. The first week back was a bit rough with jet lag waking us up early and needing to nap in the afternoon …. which dragged into the evening. It was great to see Bryan for a while and we tried not to wake him; especially when I found myself wanting to do laundry at 3am a couple mornings.
Trying to keep busy we have delved into school and had friends over quite often. We have gotten into the school routine pretty quickly, which is nice. Zoe was able to finish out a chapter while we were on our trip, so we returned to begin a fun new section on fractions! She is so excited about this and has grasped the concepts so quickly. For example, she nearly intuitively understood to reduce 5/10th or 3/6th to 1/2. It was shocking me….she even reduced to quarters and is able to add simple fractions with common denominators; all which seemed to be simply obvious to her. Bryan stumped her with 3/2nds though.
One thing we weren’t able to do in earnest while on our trip was science class! Getting home we finished up our Earth Science book. This final week was all about weather….which we experienced in a crazy way during our trip (snow in PA, storms in Germany, and that sleet in Maine). Anyway, our final lesson was about storms – hurricanes and tornadoes. Next week we move on to Astronomy!
The best part about being back home for school, though, is art! We did a super messy melted crayon craft that I don’t recommend ever trying. I accidentally spilled melted crayon on the floor and had to scrape it up and iron paper towels to get it all up. yuck. But the results were pretty.
Our next project was more tame: we enjoyed another episode of Art Through the Year. A free art video series we have done previously. This episode was focused on impressionism, with the projects using pastels to create a cat and a dog. It’s was fun!
Another amazing thing about being home is the weather! It’s been beautifully sunny and in the 70’s all week. The cherry blossoms finished up as we arrived and now the gorgeous azaleas are everywhere. They just cover this country!! The are in the park, along the roads, growing wild on trails, and even in vacant lots. Everywhere!!
Of course, the tough part is that Bryan headed to the Phillippines on TDY last Sunday. We lucked out with an extra day since his flight was delayed. Still. I think I’m getting a little too much kid time lately. We miss him. I’ve been busy going through stuff to prepare for our big move to Spain, and have been in contact with the International school Zoe will attend. Zoe is excited for some more independence. At first she was quite resistant to the idea of attending a school, and wanted to homeschool in Spain. But, after visiting Aunt Bethany and seeing a super nice international school, comparing that to American-style school, and seeing all the fun stuff on their website, she is on board and ready to try it. She has started walking down the road to Harmony mart for me; it’s up over the park hill, not far. So, we are hoping to keep up that walking/biking lifestyle in Spain. It’s been fun looking at houses; we’ve decided to live in town, trading off a giant house and yard for the fun and convenience of continuing to walk to school and shopping. I’m so excited for this move! Can’t wait for Bryan to return next week.
