This winter was somehow short, although of course it is not over yet and maybe after a short spring break it will snow again. But at least it snowed and the children were in the garden at every opportunity, building a house with a tunnel, which was nice and big in the end. Too bad that it melted so quickly. We did home learning much better than during the last lock down in April.
Olivia wanted warm and sunny weather for her birthday because she wanted to celebrate in the garden. This year, her wish miraculously came true. Spring came somehow earlier and we suddenly had 17 degrees for a week. We uncovered the trampoline, picked up scooters and inline skates, and we went to watch the birds. The birthday cake was a chocolate one in the shape of a heart and with butterflies exactly as Olivia wished.
Our front yard is covered with snow and our children plays there everyday. First, they built a snowman. Then they enthusiastically shoveled snow into the garden so they could build a house. We helped with shoveling a little bit, but they built it by themselves. Breaking the ice also seems to be a fun activity. And last week we spent several afternoons sledding on the local hills.
The Christmas holidays started a little bit earlier in a very good mood, because Olivia’s quarantine ended and she could go out again (it’s really great to have a garden). The children picked a wonderfull tree and they also decorated it beautifully. We “caught” carps and a pair of trouts for dinner at a local fishmonger. And a bit at the last minute, but I still managed to bake waffles. We spent Christmas building houses and tracks for balls, and we eagerly read new books.
Except for one quarantine at the end and the earlier Christmas holidays, the beginning of the school year was ordinary (well, without considering wearing the face masks). Activities for children also started, except for the swimming course, so we were going swimming on our own until they closed the city swimming pool. At home we did some gardening. We also did a lot of trips on bicycles to the villages around to get to know our surroundings better.
This summer, our kids went on vacation as soon as the holidays began. First to one grandparents, where they conserved everything the garden had given them and also celebrated Dominik’s name day and Olivia decorated a delicious cake for him. After a long time, they swam in the swimming pool and continued swimming in a lake with their another grandmother and grandfather. They played on all the playgrounds, Olivia learned to travel across a horizontal ladder hand over hand great.
And the end of the school year is here. We spent a big part of it at home, but every time it was possible to go to the school, Olivia was very happy to go. At the end, children received a bunch of colorful awards and a four-page evaluation of the work during the year. And they also got homework for holidays, which Olivia was very happy about - to breakfast an ice cream, to climb a tree, to build something from the sand, to stay up until sunset and so on.
We came up with a new project with our kids. We drew together, calculated how much wood we need and went to buy it together. Then Andrej sawed it and cut it and the children helped to drill holes and to assemble it. And finally, house beds were created, well actually only house frames, but the joy was great. We will also sew some walls and windows for them, so that there is something to do while we are at home :)
Dominik grows and grows. He talks non-stop from morning till evening. He knows everything the best and he is able to explain how the things work although he has no clue. He is still such a cuddle bear, he likes hugging and kissing but on other hand he can be very unapproachable and stubborn and won’t do anything what someone else wants. He wanted a skateboard a lot for his birthday.
Olivia goes to school this week. So I dusted off my sewing machine and sewed some children mouth masks. Somehow, time is changing, it is no longer “I have to go to school again” but rather “Hooray I can go to school!”. Half of the class had a school last week, half now and only three school hours per day, but it is so much better than nothing. They don’t have time to do everything, they have to do the rest at home, but Olivia somehow doesn’t mind at all and does everything without complaining.