Planets are Cool. And Hot.

As is our usual custom, my family has dinner together and breaks down the day. This week both of our kids were looking forward to being back at school after a long Easter weekend. Lucy has been out for over a week due to strep throat and high fever; Adam was just getting a little stir crazy! Adam shared about meal worms and caterpillars joining their classroom, the upcoming Open House at school, his great lunch, and the book fair in the library. Then Lucy started sharing what she was doing at preschool. Oh boy. Keep in mind she is 4 years old....

"We are learning about space this week!  Did you know that there are planets that look like circles in the space? There are 9 planets. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9. See? I can count them on my hands! There are 3 cold planets because they are far, far away from the Sun. There are 3 hot planets because they are very close to the Sun. WE live on the planet called Earth. ALL of the planets are "coooooool" though! (thumbs up) Did you know that stars are not planets? Did you know that the Sun is a star? There is even a planet called Pluto, like Mickey's dog, and it's a cold planet because it's far, far away from the sun. Can I have pudding now?"

I'm pretty sure the rocket ship she made today will not last as long as my memory of her face lighting up as she told me this story. Amazing!

Spring Break

We are back to school on Monday after a week of spring break. Thinking back, spring break has never meant crazy, summer-like beach vacations for me. Traditionally, I always spent spring break working...even in college! Part of me had hoped to be able to go away for a few days with my family, maybe taking in a hotel pool or waterpark, but that was not to be. What WAS to be? Home projects, cleaning and sorting, reorganizing (which means first tearing everything apart), and hanging out. The hanging out part was not totally sitting around really. The kids and I explored Naperville (and Downer's Grove accidentally) and found some great cupcakes at Sugar Monkeys. We spent some time with  my grandma who is about to be 92 years old in May. We baked cookies together and colored. Mark also took a day off to spend with us and we took in Brookfield Zoo. What a great day there! I half expected it to be packed with kids off of school, but it was pleasantly empty and a sunny day. It was a perfect, perfect family day. The last of these days have been spent getting haircuts, scheduling doctor and dentist appointments, and grocery shopping. After all, we're back to school on Monday and that means no more restuarants....spring break is over and it's time to pack lunches and eat dinners at home again!