Home school science

I didn't send the kids back to school when it finally re-opened since there was only a couple months left of the school year.  I decided to finish out our home school year.  It's been a pretty good year - I hope the kids learned some things and had fun.  They did get a lot of play time they wouldn't have had at school, but they also did some fun learning at home.  For our recent science unit on water, we talked one day about capillary action, surface tension, and adhesion.  They had fun trying to see how much water they could drop on a penny or other surface.   

 

Easter 2021

 We got to try out our new fire pit in April.  It was fun to sit around it with my brother and his family on Easter weekend.  We had BBQ dinner on Saturday night and meals with them on Sunday, including some yummy favorites such as crumb cake, hard-boiled eggs, roast and chicken, scalloped potatoes, green beans, salad, rolls, pie, and cake.  Hunting for Easter eggs was a little more exciting this year, since Mike and Carrie put money in some of the eggs.  Eggs with a $20 bill in it are pretty good motivation for the older kids!  Savannah was the only one who looked cute this year for Easter.  I curled her hair and she put on a pretty dress.  The rest of us were more casually dressed since it was General Conference weekend.  We enjoyed watching that at home in the comfort of our living room.  It was fun to have cousins around, and Kai also had a buddy, since they brought their dog Benny.      

The kids got My Pillows and a pillow case of snacks from the Easter bunny.  A few of the kids colored Easter eggs.  It was a fun weekend!      

Haircuts... or the lack thereof

Everyone got haircuts in the spring except for Weston! He doesn't want to cut it yet.  It's been growing out since April of 2020.  I didn't realize how full and curly it was - I'm jealous of his volume.  He said I could cut it if I gave him $20.  I haven't caved yet, but maybe soon, because it's started to rat up, and he chews on it and messes with it all the time.

Savannah's hair was also getting lots of rats, and she is extremely sensitive to brushing it out, so I'm glad she wanted to get it cut.  After I cut hers, I decided to get mine cut.  I hadn't cut mine for a couple of years, so I went to the salon.  I didn't like the result very much, but I came home and cut a little bit more off and fixed it up.  I like it now.    

Soda Lake

 Alex and I took a long drive to see wildflowers at Carrizo Plain.  It was supposed to be filled with wildflowers, but either it's an off season or we were too early.  I took a picture of the ONE flower we saw.  Soda lake was pretty cool though.  Here is what the sign said about it:  "The large basin before you is all that remains of a prehistoric sea.  One of the largest undisturbed alkali wetlands in the state, the 3,000 acre lake provides important habitat for migratory birds.  With no outlet, the water evaporates, leaving behind a glistening expanse of sodium sulfate and carbonate salts that appear to ripple and sway in the heat waves of summer."