No more pencils, lots of books!

Schools out!

The backpacks are washed, and stored away.  The long pants and the long sleeved shirts are put on high shelves where hopefully they will stay for a couple days before they get pulled down and spread across the floor. 

So how did we spend our first few days of freedom? 

We went to the library and signed up for summer reading 2007.  We checked out way more books than would be prudent.  And we are reading, reading, reading.  The 15 minute clock has been well used (you get one milestone for each 15 minutes of reading, and then you get prizes for the hours of reading).  I read Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant, which was well written and intriguing.  Andra is reading My Sister is So Bossy She Says You Can’t Read This Book, which she appears to be enjoying, and the attitude is just up her alley.  Grace has read books on Bears, and the Solar System, and Katie Kazoo Switcheroo.  I hope we can keep the obsession up – I loved reading as a girl, and don’t always feel my girls have ample opportunity to lie around and fight off boredom with far away literary places.   

We went to an archery tournament, where we had a good time.  The weather was lovely, and Phil and the girls shot all targets.  Andra, was a girl possessed.  She was having trouble until we figured out about half way through the first 30 targets that Hello!  She is left eye dominant!  Which would explain why every arrow was consistently 2 feet left of the target.  So once we got her shutting her eye?  She shot.  And when we finished the courses, she spent an hour and a half at the practice targets flinging arrow after arrow at the 20 yard target.  I sometimes underestimate the ferocity of her determination because she isn’t always yelling it, as the rest of our family seems to do, but she was going after the target.  When we got back to the cabin we were staying at, she shot bows and arrows for another hour, and then asked Phil for the Red Ryder BB Gun, which she shot for another hour.  Determination?  Pass it on.

We learned that Grace and Andra are competitive.  They swap back and forth between fierce competition “How many points do I have?   How many points does Andra have?”  and supportive camaraderie “Way to go Grace!  High five!”  “Good shot Andra!”  It was very interesting to watch as kind of a new budding dynamic emerged.

Books, Archery and Healthy Sibling Rivalry (the kind where only egos get bruised). I think we are ready for summer! 

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