Snowmobiles And Other Happenings

This morning I woke up to a light layer of snow outside - not enough to hinder driving in any way, but enough to sparkle on the trees and wash everything clean.  

When I was a kid I lived about thirty minutes away from where I live now, another thousand feet or so in elevation, on the shady side of a valley.  We used to get feet of snow piled up by midwinter, and it wouldn't start to melt until March.  We had a little dachshund, and he used to go out in the snow - looking at him from the window, all you would see is a little dog bounding up and disappearing beneath the drifts.  

In the last 10-15 years we've been in a dry period, and there hasn't been as much snow, even at my parents' house on the shady side of the valley.  But if the Farmer's Almanacs from the last couple years are to be believed, we are trending back toward snowier winters again.  I hope it's true, because I love a snowy winter, and it makes for more beautiful summers.

This last weekend we went to my parents' house for Sunday dinner.  I don't know if they have feet of snow, but they have several inches coating the ground at least, and even more exciting, they have brand-new snowmobiles!  I always heard stories growing up about how my mom fell off a snowmobile when she was pregnant, and I have vague memories of riding with my dad and uncle around the house we lived in when I was a baby.  

I am really happy that my mom and dad get to create new memories on snowmobiles now.  There is something really satisfying about seeing your parents enjoying their empty nest years, hanging out together, and doing something fun just because.

Of course, when we visited they let us ride the snowmobiles too, which is an added bonus!

Slow Motion Racing

Aside from snowmobiling on Sunday, this has been a fairly quiet, but fun, week.  Before Christmas break, as we finished up our Botany science curriculum, Clyde asked if we could learn about cars for science in the spring.  I really had no idea where to go with that, but I determined to try to put together a car-related science study.  One of the ideas I came up with is to learn about the concepts of motion and energy, and on Monday I pulled out the new science curriculum (this one, in case you are interested).  We had races and timed and calculated everyone's speed, but the most entertaining part of the whole day was when I filmed a slow-motion video to determine who won the races.  The kids gathered around my phone to watch, and they laughed so hard seeing themselves in slow motion.  I captured a hilarious video of their slow-motion running faces, and Derek and I have watched it several times as a pick-me-up.  They are just so funny and cute!

Friends, Family, And Awana

On Tuesday we met our friends at the park, which is something that we have not been able to do for a while, and it was much-needed refreshment!  The kids played, the littler ones got some good practice at coming when called, and it was a gorgeous day out.  I had been in winter mode prior to Tuesday, but now I admit I'm starting to itch for signs of spring!  I'll still take all the snow though.  My feelings are right in the middle.

Wednesday was neon night for Awana, so we picked up some tie dye on the way home from the park and made shirts Tuesday night.  However, too late I realized that I forgot to get the shirts wet before applying the dye, so it didn't spread well at all.  Back down to town I went on Wednesday morning to get more dye, and the second attempt worked a little better.  

I hope the third time is the charm, because some friends and I decided to give tie dye a try for ourselves during a little craft brunch later this month!  In case you didn't notice, tie dye seems to be the trend this spring.  Try counting the number of tie dye items you spot next time you go to Target and you'll see what I mean.

Every year my mom takes each of her grandkids out for a shopping day and sleepover for their birthday, and Wyatt's birthday is coming up this month.  The boy cousins will be at the sleepover tomorrow night, so we decided to do a game night with my sister's family since we'll both only have our girls.  We are going to play this game that we got a couple years ago - it's a very multi-faceted, complicated strategy game, if you also like that sort of thing! 

That's All, Folks

All that to say, this was our busiest week of 2021 so far.  Maybe I'm getting old, because I'm tired just thinking about it, but also very happy.  I'm so glad to be able to see friends and family and make memories - it's not something we don't take for granted anymore, is it?

I'm typing this up on Thursday night, and Derek and I decided earlier that he would go do his workout this evening while I watch a documentary about World War 1 called "They Shall not Grow Old".  I'm a big documentary fan, and Derek is a little more picky in his documentary tastes, so we always have a conundrum when I have one that I want to watch.  This seemed like a good solution.

My blog buddy Brittney recommended this one to me last year around this time (when I wrote about doing a World War 1 study project), and I'm just now getting around to watching it.  Do you see why I'll probably need two years to properly go through all my World War 1 resources? Maybe it's taking so long because of procrastination, but I will eventually read and watch everything on my list.  I am thinking about writing a post with my favorite World War 1 resources so far.

(Update: The documentary was really good - it was exclusively quotes from WW1 veterans played over actual footage from the war that had been colorized.  It was so interesting!)

Also on the blog docket...and update about how it is going without social media, since I've been without all social media for about a month now (except very light use of MeWe).  Spoiler: it's going really well, and I have a lot of thoughts about it I'd like to share as they have a chance to settle a bit.

It's almost the kids' bedtime, and Clarice and Georgie have been running in and out of the room as I'm typing this, telling me very mundane bits of information, such as "Guess what, Mom?  Dad already fed us dinner!".  So I'm going to go give them some attention before we tuck them in.

What have you been up to this week?