Summer: Wednesday 7-3-24

I had to work half a day today. Greta read and Lucia worked on geometry. After lunch, we read in hammocks, my favorite activity, then went to pick up some groceries. Andrew then went on his annual long run (6.5 miles) while the girls and I went to the pond.

The turtle made an immediate appearance, and then just kept appearing. The girls stayed mostly on the dock but did venture off to float around on inflatables, occasionally falling off into the turtle-infested water. At one point, when they were both on the dock, the turtle sidled right up next to them--and they both REACHED INTO THE WATER TO TOUCH ITS SHELL, like they were at the touch-tank at a children's zoo. Meanwhile, just moments prior, they'd watched the turtle snap out and devour a tadpole. "My feet were in the water when it did that!" Greta said excitedly. Wow. Anyway, they said touching the turtle felt like "touching a rock." The turtle did not seem to be aware of what was happening. 

The girls and I played Rummikub, and when Andrew came back we had leftovers for dinner. We sat outside as always, a fire in the firepit keeping the bugs away. Then the drone came out, miraculously functional after Lucia DROPPED IT when she was bringing it outside. She somehow fell in the kitchen and scraped up her knees. I don't have a firm grasp of the details. But we took some fun videos of us in the yard and walking on the road.

Farrah is absolutely terrified of the drone. She disappeared before we could let her into the house, and there were a few scary moments when we couldn't find her and were calling for her in the woods. We did find her, at the back of the house, cowering. Poor baby.

This is always a melancholy day--tomorrow is July 4, which means the end of our stay is near. It's gone so fast. The girls' one hope for tomorrow is that there is, like last year, a sale of haunted dolls. I can't imagine this occurring two years in a row, but we can hope.

What We're Reading:

Margo: The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan

Andrew: Proust

Lucia: A Court of Mist and Fury

Greta: King of Scars by Leah Burdugo