The End of School Year Scoop

The school year is winding down around here.

Joy came home from the freshman awards assembly with a bunch of certificates. 

There was one from her math teacher, one from her English teacher,

and even one from the school librarian

(Joy says it's because she's the only student who checks books out).

The framed certificate is for getting a perfect score 

on the National Latin Exam.

Joy: "Uh, what do I do with all of these?"

In other news, I volunteered to help with

the second grade ice cream social at Todd's school today.

I was in charge of scooping cookie dough ice cream.

Since three quarters of the kids asked for that flavor,

I had to scoop really fast!

It was a lot of work, but the smiles were worth it.

Cheesy Date

Daddy and I went on a cheesy date this week.

Our first cheese board is wearing out, so we bought a new one

and headed to The Concord Cheese Shop (after confirming that it was actually open)

to choose a few cheeses for our new board's maiden voyage.

Half the fun of the cheese shop is reading the descriptive name tags.

If I was encouraging a fellow human to try something new,

I doubt I'd gush about it having the "flavor of hay,"

but maybe that's a selling point for some people.

After reading this tag, I just had to go look up cheese crystallization.

Apparently, well-aged cheese sometimes forms little crystals

as lactic acid molecules bind together.

This cheese did indeed have tiny little crunchy spots in it.

They were kind of fun to find, but I probably wouldn't have even noticed them

if I hadn't been paying attention.

This Italian cheese's tag proudly proclaims it to be "The Parade Cheese."

Me: What parade?

Google: Every December, this cheese shop hosts a small parade 

celebrating the arrival of a 400-pound cheese wheel they buy from Italy.

 The tenth year they did it, they imported a half-ton cheese wheel.

Tasty morsels + cheese-nerd trivia =

a really fun date!

Daniel's Staff

Why, you may ask . . .

. . . is this young man with a spoiled prune face 

holding a yard stick in our living room?

He's found it to be a very effective tool 

for helping his younger brother 

keep his wrists straight while he practices the piano.

Daniel calls it "The Staff of Posturization."

Bat Bird Talk

 Here are a few more parakeet conversations:

Tia: I can stand on one foot.

Cici: Cool!  I can do yoga on one foot!

Tia: Hmph.

Cici: Hey Tia, you're upside down!  Are you a bat?

Tia: Of course not!  Bats don't have feathers!

Cici: If you say so. (She's totally a bat.)

COVID Isolation Party

It was Todd's turn to test positive for COVID this week.

In fact, he was so positive

that T line appeared

before the test strip even finished soaking through.

His symptoms were pretty mild though.

He spent his first day off doing some light reading . . .

. . . and bouncing on the trampoline with Daddy,

who's also still in COVID quarantine.

Joy tested positive the next day . . .

. . . so it's basically been a COVID isolation party around here this week.

To help Joy and Todd pass the time,

I checked out Scrabble from the library.

Wait--is "maths" an actual word?

Playing at the Lake

Our friends the Lamberts . . .

. . . invited us to their relative's lake house today.

The kids had a great time splashing in the water . . .

. . . except for Todd, who preferred to watch the proceedings from dry land.

I'm not sure whether that was because he's still getting the hang of swimming,

or just because he didn't feel like getting wet.

 After lunch, Daniel the Game Master

led the boys in a make believe video game.

Or maybe it was imaginary D&D?

Whatever it was, they had fun. :)

Bunnies and Birds

Springtime is in full swing these days,

and it's fun to see the wildlife that has woken up

or returned to town.

Bunnies munching the clover in our lawn

(I wish we could convince them to eat all of the 

mouse-eared hawkweed instead) . . .

 

. . . and birds building nests to start families.

One pair decided to build their nest in our expertly painted garage lamps.

While I admired their good taste,

I figured I'd better turn the light on all day

so they could see how hot it can get in there.

They took the hint and relocated.