A New School Year

After what seems like just a flash, our summer has come to an end with Norah's first day of school this week. I was a little nervous back in the beginning of June about keeping her busy during her break, but we all fell into our summer routine (that is, lack of routine) quite nicely. Norah's "Box of Summer Fun" provided fifty days of activities and outings... and even a little bit of learning. We started with the ABC's, but at Norah's request added some number projects and more "Daddy Activities," bringing us all the way from the Monday after school got out to the Saturday before school started. I'm glad she was so enthusiastic about our projects. Thanks to Pinterest and some mommy blogs for some great ideas. So here's a quick recap of some of the favorite activities not mentioned in past posts...

For "E" day, we did an "E"xperiment with "E"ggs. We tried the classic dissolving eggshell test, where an egg + vinegar + eleven days = a egg that will bounce (at least a little bit). Norah had fun making her observations every day or so and was amazed (and a little grossed out) by the end result. The egg did, in fact bounce... but only if dropped from a low height. Dropped from too high, the egg splatted into a gooey, vinegary mess. (Luckily we tried this part of the experiment outside!)

"B's" activity involved making our own butter. This usually easy (but very time-consuming) project took a turn for the worse when Norah sustained a butter-making injury. She was so excited about shaking the jar (at least for 30 second bursts during the 15-20 minutes of shaking required for butter to form) that she hit herself in the face with the jar. She started crying, which made Maddie start crying, which made for a big teary mess. Everyone recovered, and we finished the butter. We even added some fresh herbs from the garden... so delicious. But please note: butter-making is more dangerous than it first appears!

While some days involved somewhat elaborate activities (as in "E" above), others were pretty simple - but still much enjoyed. "Q" brought Norah the chance to be queen for the day. Her royal proclamation: an extra dessert at dinner. For "S" day, we went to the park and counted how many things we could find that begin with "S." "W's" activity was a water-balloon fight.

We even took our projects on the road. During a long weekend in Aptos, we did a few days of "Beach Activities." We went berry picking at a local farm, and then headed to the local cage-free egg ranch to buy eggs from a vending machine and watch the dancing chickens. (Yes, it was a little hippie dippy, but it's Santa Cruz, after all.)

Back in Fresno, we took a field trip to the San Joaquin River parkway to learn about the wildlife...

...and then ended the whole thing with a final Daddy Activity. After Dan's backpacking trip a couple of weeks ago, Norah wanted to try sleeping in a tent, so she and Dan spent the night out in the backyard. They cooked hot dogs and s'mores on the grill, then enjoyed sleeping under the stars.

Maddie wanted to get in on the fun the next morning. Norah made it through the night with no problems and was ready to do it all over again the next night. (Dan decided one night was enough for now!)

So that was our summer of fun. This is the first year we've had a true summer off with Norah - since I always worked through the summer before - and I do have to say we were all a little sorry to see it end. Norah was, however, also VERY excited to go back to school this week. She is a Prayerful Panda this year, and her class has about half of her friends from last year plus a lot of new kids. We're looking forward to another great year!