Tennis Take Two

The kids had tennis lessons three weeks ago, and this week they are having their second week of lessons. Oliver really wanted to do another week of lessons, Ian was ambivalent, and Nadia really did not want to take any more lessons. I was leaning toward signing them up after I found out that Tab had signed her boys up for lessons this week. I left the decision up to Paul, and he was adamant that all three should take another week of tennis lessons. The first week of May my three kids were the only ones at some of the lessons. Another boy (Hugh) joined them one day that week. This week there have been five or six kids at each lesson as Hugh came twice this week. The Coach is fully vaccinated so he didn't mind it if my kids didn't wear masks. Micah and Isaiah haven't been wearing masks during tennis lessons either. Hugh has been the only one wearing a mask. On Monday the temperature was in the low 60's, on Tuesday it was in the low 70's, and today it was in the high 80's. 

On Monday Tab met a friend for lunch. I walked around the park with Milo for two hours while listening to A Girl of the Limberlost. I've really enjoyed two

of Gene Stratton-Porter's books recently so I am planning on listening to five more of her books this summer. I want the kids to listen to Freckles at some point in the future. On Tuesday I walked with just Milo for part of the time while Tab ran some errands, and then she walked with us. Because of the heat, Tab didn't feel up to walking today. I chatted with her in her vehicle (with the AC on) for part of the time and walked around the park with Milo part of the time. Today Tab met us at Walmart prior to the tennis lessons so that they could do a tire rotation on the van during tennis lessons. It took me 7.5 months to drive 5,000 miles due to COVID. Last October the Walmart Auto center wasn't even open due to COVID. I am grateful they have reopened because tire rotations are free because I bought the tires there. Tomorrow I'm planning to treat the kids at sweetFrog to celebrate the completion of their tennis lessons for this summer. It's over priced frozen yogurt in my opinion, but the kids really enjoy picking out their toppings so I like to take them there at least once a year. 

Can you find Nadia on this ride?

For years Nadia has been asking for us to join a co-op again. We participated in two different co-ops several years ago. Neither of them met all year. I had contemplated joining two others that did meet all year long, but for a variety of reasons I hadn't done so. As is normally the case, Ian would prefer to stay home. One of the co-ops put on a production of The Sound of Music earlier this month. Because Nadia can't try out to be in Tuck Everlasting because we'll be away for 3+ weeks in September, she really wanted to be in this co-ops productions during the next school year. Students in grades 5-8 will put on a Christmas production in December, and students in grades 8-12 will be on another (TBD) production next May. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say. This past school year would have been the ideal year to give this co-op a whirl. This school year is not idea in light of our lengthy vacation in September, but I've decided to show up on registration day on June 15 to see if there will be room in the classes that the kids selected. The co-op meets on Tuesdays. During the fall semester we would be there from 12:00-4:45. It's held at a church 25 minutes from our house. Since Ian will turn 12 in December, I will consider him old enough to babysit Oliver at that point. Unless they add more courses for spring, I think Nadia will just have drama from 3:30-4:45 on Tuesdays starting in January and the boys can stay at home. 

Oliver selected three courses for the fall: art, baking, and one that will involve discussing character traits after listening to a true story. Ideally I would have signed him up for music, art, and some type of physical education, but the colored bells (music) is being offered at the same time as art, and they aren't offering a gym class for grades 4-5. Nadia and Ian are planning to take three classes together this fall - painting (grades 6-12), drama (grades 5-8), and a foam sword fighting gym class similar to Dagorhir, Belegarth, and Darkon. Nadia hopes to take a fourth class - Home Economics (sewing, calligraphy, setting a proper table, cooking, etc.). This co-op has a homeschool graduation at Camp Susque each May, and Nadia would like to participate in that. So we shall see how it goes whether this ends up being a one and done experience or if we keep participating in this co-op for years to come. They offer courses in history, science, math, etc., but I wasn't interested in signing up for any of those. I plan to homeschool the kids in the morning at home on Tuesdays and then spend our afternoons at the co-op in the fall. The past few years (prior to COVID) Nadia and Ian had taken classes at MCS (art and chorus) as well as participated in a homeschool gym class at our church. I would be open to signing them up for a homeschool gym class that started in January, but I said if we do this co-op, I am not signing them up for classes at MCS this year. She still wanted to do the co-op this year. Our vacation would have caused the kids to miss four weeks of co-op, so I decided to shorten our vacation by one day so that they would be able to attend the first session and "only" miss three weeks of co-op.