zooming with Roxy

Of all the consequences of a global pandemic and stay home order, Liesl growing closer to her cousin Roxy in California is the most wonderful, sweet, and unexpected. But with hours at home, they have turned to each other for entertainment and play. They have 4-hour long Zoom calls on some days, where they talk, play games, pretend play, make up stories, eat lunch, and just hang out. It's amazing to see how comfortable they are, how they navigate the technology, and how much genuine connection there is despite the limitations. I love hearing their voices chattering away upstairs.

In the past week, they have played with playdough and slime - had a tea party - made potions together - got dressed up and pretended to be vampires - made up a whole storyline and acted it out - ate lunch together - did math homework together - showed off cat's cradle - and probably a hundred other things. (Edited to add: this week, they drew pictures together, and filled whole sketchbooks with various drawings - they watched YouTube videos for some of the subjects, but other things they just free-hand drew.)

old and new

We have been exploring some very old games, and some very new methods of entertaining ourselves.

Old: cat's cradle!! Liesl got a book and string and had a great few hours testing things out.

Old: pickup sticks! This particular set is over 30 years old. Maybe 40. It was ours when I was a child.

Old: cribbage! I managed to interest both children in learning. Not pictured: Seb playing solitaire.

Old: crocheting! We started this craft project a few years ago when Liesl was too little to manage it. She can do it on her own now, but it's still daunting to look at all those squares.

Bocce! We got a set and have been playing on the school field.

New: Fortnite! Yes indeed, we finally let Seb start playing Fortnite with his friends. He loves it, especially because he gets to play with and talk to friends while he's in the game. In the shot above, he's watching a live concert (by a real musician) that was hosted in the game app - pretty cool.

Also new: Liesl's Zoom playdates with Roxy, but that deserves its own blog post.

 

Planks over dog.

Reading outside, with dog for company. :)

FPE teacher parade

The sweet teachers and staff at FPE drove around the entire neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon, hanging out of their (decorated) car windows and sunroofs and waving at all of us standing on the streets waving back. It was really joyful and fun, and made the kids really happy (and also sad, to see so many friends, and to miss everyone yet again).

outdoor activities

We've been playing lots of sports together - basketball, baseball, soccer, frisbee -- as well as walking, biking, and running. Last weekend we drove over to the Catlin Gabel school track to do some sprints (I am by far the slowest sprinter in the family ... over any distance that qualifies as a sprint) and also discovered some very low basketball hoops. Low enough for dunking!! It was pretty fun.

Jasper and I have gone on some nice forest runs together. We got a little muddy on this one --

Liesl collected some roly-polys (pill bugs) and made a habitat for them in a glass cup.

Bike riding on the street, complete with a ramp for jumping --

More baking - bran muffins with apples and raisins, and a mixed berry crisp.

Liesl's poetry

Liesl's class is having a poetry week, writing a different kind of poem every day. Here are her wonderfully inventive and fun creations. (Updated to add: it was actually poetry month! I added four more poems.)

Favorite Things

Softball, music,

Elementary schools,

My birthday, games,

Swimming pools,

Climbing, candy,

Reading books,

Like Fablehaven, 

In cozy nooks,

Presents, flowers,

Always there's pets,

TV shows, movies,

French baguettes,

Birthdays, friends, and

Fantasy kings

These are some of

my favorite things!

Guinea Pigs (acrostic poem)

Grand little thing 

Unbearably cute 

Its chubby body 

Nosing around

Exclaiming such noise 

At audio cues

Prancing about 

In cage and out

Greatly their loved

In all due honor to...

Starlight and Chewy!

Cinquain poems (like a haiku, but 2, 4, 6, 8, 2)

Jasper

Jasper.
He is my dog!
I love him very much.
He is furry and quite fluffy
Big too!

Freckle
Freckle.

It is better
Than Dreambox learning is!
I like it because it is math,
FUN math!

My Great Grandma

I had
A great grandma.
She was good at painting
And built many great doll houses
So cool!

(Onomatopeia poems)

Our House

The toaster goes squeak

The stairs go creak

The microwave goes beep

I woke up late! My brother said “That’s cheap”

The french toast goes splat

The silverware goes clat

OOhh!! French Toast, Mmmmmmm!!!!

Slurp, slurp,

Burp. excuse me! Schooltime!!!

A dog

A companion, a friend, sometimes offends

Ruff ruff 

Won’t let you down

Woof woof

I want a crown!

Swooshing down a snowy hill?

Bark, bark, bark

Belly on the ground “that dog’s got skill”!!

Sloup sloup 

Back inside warm and cosy

Doggie’s being a little nosy!

Poem by

Liesl Raab

(Alliteration poem)

My Family

I have a Dog,

He’s really cute but
He’s also kind of a hog!
I love my Dad
He tells the best stories
Even when we’re bad.
My brother likes a good Dare
So I thought he would
Like a bad scare!
I am the Daughter
And Bri is the mother
P.S. She drinks way too much water!
(Color Poem)
What Is Teal?

Teal is the color of my jacket
And I imagine
If it was alive it would cook up quite a racket!
Teal is a brave color
A bold one too!
Teal is a great painting,
Of a dolphin leaping in the sky!
Trust me you shouldn’t be complaining!

(Repetition Poem)
My dog Jasper

I have a dog Jasper
  Yes, of course you do
I have a dog Jasper
  Yes, I bought him for you
I have a dog Jasper
  Yes, he’s not too lean
I have a dog Jasper

  Yes, his nose is very keen
I have a dog Jasper
  Yes, nothing will keep him from sleep
I have a dog Jasper
  No, he’ll never hear a peep!

(Exaggeration Poem)

My Potion in Motion

I had a nice potion,

But mind you
I had a plan in motion!
I poured three cups of water
And out came an otter
That was sure to slaughter,
So I told it to go on its way!
You see the potion was a trick
For my brother's friend Nick.
I poured the cups into the potion 

And my plan was in motion
I poured it over Nick and
Nick was quick
But not quick enough
For that was the end of my brother’s friend Nick.

Starlight and Chewy

We got to take care of the Sterlings' guinea pigs, Starlight and Chewy, for an extended weekend. Liesl and Jasper were thrilled.

Nose to nose. Jasper is so curious and friendly with the guineas, and they are remarkably, surprisingly tolerant and interested back.

Bathtime for Starlight!!

home offices

Liesl at her little desk, set up in her closet.

Seb sprawled across the old comfy Lazyboy chair in his room.

And Steve on the couch. There's no cute photo, but I am at the dining table most days -- although my derriere grows tired of that chair and today I migrated to the couch.

 And in other news, spring continues to spring. The cherry trees have arrived.