Things are feeling very summerish around here these days. The girls are spending their evenings with a neighborhood friend blowing bubbles, playing with the parachute and attempting to jump rope. We head out each morning for swim class. We've even been trying to get an electric smoker working on our patio so we can have something resembling cookouts (the electrical element, unfortunately, has not cooperated, so we are awaiting a replacement from the company). Summer is here.
The question that always arises for us is what do you do on a July afternoon in Virginia. It is seriously hot and I simply can't send my fair-skinned girls out to play in the sun during the middle of the day. Last summer we watched quite a few movies in the afternoon. I was pregnant and constantly tired, so, at some point each afternoon, we would all find a comfy place in the family room and put on an agreed upon movie. I would then promptly fall asleep for the duration of the movie.
This summer we've returned to the Little House books. I wish I could say this was some great plan I came up with, but I think the credit really belongs to Meg. One afternoon, when everyone was tired and didn't know what to do with themselves, Meg brought me On the Banks of Plum Creek and asked if we could read it. Meg and Clare rested on the sofa while Baby Anne played on the floor and I read chapter after chapter of the book. Since then, we have repeated this scene each afternoon.
While reading today Clare finally told me why she objected to reading chapter books at night. "I'm always afraid I'll fall asleep," she explained. Well, that makes sense. For now, we can read chapter books in the afternoon and stay with picture books for bedtime. And for now, we have a solution to our what to do on a hot summer afternoon dilemma.
The question that always arises for us is what do you do on a July afternoon in Virginia. It is seriously hot and I simply can't send my fair-skinned girls out to play in the sun during the middle of the day. Last summer we watched quite a few movies in the afternoon. I was pregnant and constantly tired, so, at some point each afternoon, we would all find a comfy place in the family room and put on an agreed upon movie. I would then promptly fall asleep for the duration of the movie.
This summer we've returned to the Little House books. I wish I could say this was some great plan I came up with, but I think the credit really belongs to Meg. One afternoon, when everyone was tired and didn't know what to do with themselves, Meg brought me On the Banks of Plum Creek and asked if we could read it. Meg and Clare rested on the sofa while Baby Anne played on the floor and I read chapter after chapter of the book. Since then, we have repeated this scene each afternoon.
While reading today Clare finally told me why she objected to reading chapter books at night. "I'm always afraid I'll fall asleep," she explained. Well, that makes sense. For now, we can read chapter books in the afternoon and stay with picture books for bedtime. And for now, we have a solution to our what to do on a hot summer afternoon dilemma.
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