Vacation Christmas School

             I love Christmas, I just didn’t know how long the season lasted, or how early it was appropriate to start celebrating.  The second answer is about 1000 days early, because I’m sure (without naming names) that one of our tiny planners claimed what presents she wanted way back when.  And while the ecclesiastical advent is 3 ½ weeks, and the commercial season is a solid 60 days, the Joseph household has been singing carols almost every night before bed for as long as I can remember.  Starting in September, Elia began asking our robot (Alexa’s noun of choice) to play Christmas carol playlists daily.  But I can’t lie, Christmas is the GOAT.

            Not to short-change our summer vacations, we have numerous warm sunny memories to share that seemed to have happened ages ago but ‘twas only a few months.  To our great pleasure we visited two new vacation locales with family.  In July we retreated to North Myrtle Beach at a brand-new house called Blue Skies and Family Tides, complete with a short jaunt to the beach, local amenities, and a hot tub & pool.  Crescent Beach turned out to be beautiful, shallow, wide and fraught with playful tide pools for the cautious kiddos.  Despite passing around Covid, we had an excellent week at Mimi’s beach house with board games, Aunt Courtney and her surf (paddle) board, a wealth of pool floaties, and an evening with the Shumate/Piazza clan.

Sleeping Queens and various dental poses

Getting our feet wet

South of the border with the locals

            Then in August, we traveled just over halfway down the same vacation trail and alighted at Claytor Lake for a Kauffman+ family reunion.  Our rental cabin sat right beside the lake with gorgeous mountain lake views and ample rocking chairs, the hallmarks of a wonderful southern experience in my book.  We spent a few days at Graham Cracker Crumb beach and many evenings watching the sunset and the moon rise over the lake.  A trip to disc golf, a kayak day at Aunt Sarah’s house across the pond, and the rest of the time was spent climbing down the rocks into the lakeshore by the cabin, fishing with Uncle Travis, or drawing pictures in the gravel of the backyard picnic area.  And ingesting watermelon.

"...Why did you let him go? Because he bit my finger so..."

Dimmy's I-want-the-Oma-lap deathglare

The Last of the Watermelons

            Ah yes, that was about the same time that tradition insisted upon the start of the school year, but first we had saunas to build, Iowas to visit, and a homeschooling convention in Cincinnati for Mom and Dad to hone in their educational philosophy, then the start to the school year.  Ezra is back in the Orange Room at the North Canton Early Childhood Center with our neighbor as his teacher!  Elia and Sophia also have the same homeroom as last year--they and their teacher are loving it.  Referencing their favorite Dad show, Elia is a Math Bender and Sophia is a Book Bender.  Ezra says he’s a Truck Bender (great) and so Dim is probably the Avatar.  The girls also enlisted in dance, and piano lessons have picked up with more regularity.

Gettin' work done

This must be a study hall

First day of topiary carving school

            Elia is looking forward to every part of Christmas, including frost and winter.  She has a love for the mud, rain, snow and any kind of inclement weather, one thing we don’t share.  Yet she also was elated with swimming and water of all sorts this summer and looks forward to more swim lessons and pool opportunities next year.  I suppose Olaf at the beach, or a hot spring in the tundra, would be her happy place.  She loves all animals, I Spy books, puzzles, art, listening to audiobooks or parent-books (lately My Side of the Mountain and The Hobbit with Dad and hundreds more with Mom), and playing in her secret hideout and mudhole in the backyard. 

I'M AT THE BEEEEEEEEEEEEECH! Day 1

            Sophia has a tender heart and soul, and even tender skin and tender leg muscles.  Tender all around, but gradually taking on greater challenges.  She is a keen reader and skilled at Sudoku, plus a brave training-wheel rider and competent life-jacket floater.  Our Halloween queen, she tries to keep up with her older sis in her own way.  Always keen to help in the kitchen (especially with baking), she is a connoisseur of sweets—a prize which she can overcome any tenderness to win.  

Waffle House with Dad

            Ezra turns out to be a strong leader.  Who knew, whilst being parented by older sisters so often?  Turns out he’s the playmaker/class clown in church nursery and preschool alike, bringing together all his colleagues for make believe.  Cherishes his nursery rhymes show on Netflix, and special requests “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” each night before bed.  He climbs up in the cab of every truck or tractor he can and plays with his own fleet frequently (which for most part means aligning them in perfect lines or rows, in color order).  Terrified of water, less terrified of bikes…straight from our ever-changing list of joys and fears for each child.  He’s progressing wonderfully in school and may not go back next fall.  TBD!

"Go ducks go!"

Hey ladies

            Dimmy marches to the beat of her own feet, never quite knowing how fast that is or where it’s taking her.  She is eating much better (more variety) though still a bit pokey, but she’s on Mom’s side of the table so goodness knows what she’s really up to.  Still relishes in nap time but not so much in a timely night sleep, which may result in splitting up the current “girl’s room” soon so we can stagger bedtimes.  She’s close to potty trained, but we aren’t rushing kids anymore.  Diapers are a core-competency and we don’t have the assets and resources in place at the moment for unfettered bottoms. 

Ehwefan!

Pondering the fathoms of celestial realms

Pretending to be tickled

            Fall fell into our laps slowly, with time enough to enjoy another round at Ramseyer Farms, a great day at Maize Valley (nearby fall fest for kids), and a few tricks and treats.  Poor Dim missed Halloween this weekend since she was sick with her eleventeenth ear infection—she’s gunning for tubes soon.  She still dressed up as Snow White while watching nursery rhymes and eating pizza and grapes with Dad.

Trick or Treat #1 of 3

Queen Bay and her pet subjects

Faster than fall was our decision to sell our house and buy one down the road, so we’ve had quite the season of change.  Quick fixes and pics of the house, then boxes boxes boxes, which the girls have enjoyed helping to pack.  Many people have asked how our kids are coping with the move and, props to their chill and even excited attitudes, we never even considered how traumatic moves can be for some kids (thank goodness for that).  Two weeks from now we’ll be “settled in” at our new home on Whiteridge Circle, a great house in a great location at a great price that I can almost guarantee we’ll live in for the next 3 years.

Ezra's face dance

Back in our day, before playgrounds had seatbelts