Family time

It's Midwinter Break, which means we've had Friday and Monday off school. Since mom works for a church, the family didn't really get a long weekend - we couldn't actually go anywhere (although the low-attendance at church yesterday showed me plenty of people Did get to go out of town). So what to do?

Mostly the usual. I took Friday off work and we had Pajama Day (I was hoping to sanctify laziness and idling about as a special day). Lots of netflix instant watch, lots of computer games, some board games, some reading aloud. More sibling squabbling than I would have liked. When my husband got home from work, he brought carry-out for dinner and we all watched Despicable Me together.

Saturday was gorgeous weather, but the family scattered. I had a scheduled Crafty Mamas and Papas meeting at church, where I took Hypatia and my sewing machine. While a sweet youth from the church watched the little kids, five mamas all got their craft on. Meanwhile, Carbon and his dad went down to the YMCA for the chess club practice tournament. Saturday afternoon, Hypatia got her first motorcycle ride with Daddy (around the block and through the school parking lot), Carbon went off on a playdate with a friend, and we got some gardening done.

Sunday we packed in a friend's birthday party after church, then we went over to my sister-in-law's and feasted on the clams that she had gone digging for on Saturday. Clam fry and champagne - yum.

Today we've taken the kids across town to explore a new (to us) playground that was recently remodeled at one of our city parks. Then we went and did mini-golf (I won). The kids have been playing in the rain in our hot tub, and soon the rest of the family will be leaving to go to a big crab-feast fundraiser for the local democratic party. I have to teach a class at church tonight, so I'll have to skip the crab.

Despite squabbling and working (and this weird shoulder pain that won't go away), it still felt like a nice break. It seems like the kids need a few days together before they really find a rhythm with each other for playing well together, so the break was good for them. Tomorrow it's back to school and work for us all.