So Long September

More than six weeks of virtual school, and it's going pretty well. We're supposed to decide this week on whether we're switching to in-person instruction or continuing with online for the next 9-week grading period. We're on the fence because I know they would benefit from socializing and physically being with their teachers (plus my day would be freed up!), but Owen doesn't want to wear a mask all day (who can blame him?) and Hadley thinks it will be safer after another 9 weeks (based on what, I don't know). To their credit, the school hasn't had any major outbreaks, and local numbers seem to be flattening. In the meantime, the kids have been meeting up with some other online students from the neighborhood for socially distant lunch and recess at a park. It's been a great way to get in some socializing and lunch packing. (Owen wanted me to pack his lunch on the first day of school even though he was at home!)

Once a week, we're even getting the 5th graders together to run a mile for their PE credit. They usually have a school club called Read, Deed, Run where they run a mile every week, read books, and do good deeds. It's so sad that these kind of activities are all on hold, but this will have to do for now.

Thank goodness that college/pro sports figured out a way to continue. I'm on the local Texas Exes' chapter board this year, so we went to a game watching party for the Longhorns' first football game of the year. It was on a channel we don't have, so the whole family came.

Football games are long, but luckily this place had some free diversions for the kids, like cornhole and shuffleboard. I even taught them how to play pool. Needless to say, I didn't see much of the game after the first quarter, and we headed home at half time because it was a night game and nearing bed time for some of us.

We've been trying to figure out how to get the kids involved in an athletic activity after such a long, lazy summer, but indoor gymnastics still seems a little questionable. Hadley said that she'd like to swim, and at least you are doused in chlorine in the pool. Unfortunately, most of the swim teams in the area use the school district's pools, and those are not available for public use under the current restrictions. So, H went to a swim evaluation, but we are waiting to find out the status of the pools before we can see what their schedule would look like. In the meantime, our neighbor let us use their pool to practice and play. If the pandemic stretches until next summer, I will be figuring out a way to get one of these in our own backyard...

For the boy, flag football fell through after we were a little late to get him signed up. Before our first practice, the coach basically said their team had already been practicing together for a month, and that the league needed to create a new team instead of just taking people's money, and Owen shouldn't expect to get much playing time. While we appreciated his honesty, we didn't really get warm fuzzies from the experience, so we cancelled. Anyway, I did come across a free lacrosse clinic, so we tried that out. Owen said he had fun, although it was too hot. So there's still a bit of a question mark beside his fall activity, but maybe between the weekly mile and some informal tennis practice, we'll be okay.