Family Time

I asked Gemma last night at dinner if she liked being at home so much, or if she'd rather be at school and her activities all the time. She told me she likes being home and spending time with the family, but that she's excited about getting back to her activities when she can.

I think we all echo the same sentiment.

We were a busy, busy family. School, theater, dance, gymnastics, Girl Scouts, clubs and work had us going sometimes in five different directions in the afternoons. Jason and I were like ships that passed in the night, working on logistics of who would get who where when. We love the joy that our kids get from their accomplishments, but we also love slowing down and just enjoying our kids.

We have had more game nights than we can count in the past seven weeks. We've played two different kinds of Disney Trivial Pursuit, the Disney Meme Game, Guesstures (my game that hadn't been used in about 20 years), Set, and Catchphrase, and the kids have a list of other games they want to try.

Catchphrase is the current favorite, although I did have to hunt down a Junior version since the adult version had a number of things that the kids just didn't know. This is one we play a few rounds of after Gemma goes to bed, and it's usually Jason and me each teamed up with one of the kids. Sunday night, they said they wanted to be on the same team. Wow, can they work together when they want to! And the twin telepathy was pretty amazing. At one point, Karyssa pointed to her wrist and Kyran's first response was "time," which was the word she was going for. Later, Karyssa said, "Peacocks are very..." and Kyran immediately and correctly guessed the word "Elegant." There were a few other instances of this that I can't recall, but I just loved watching them work together and capitalize on their biological bond!

We have had lots of movie nights. Yesterday, we watched half of The Last Jedi, so we only have another movie and a half before they are done with all nine. Kyran and Karyssa tried to watch them when they were younger, but never got into them. We sat down one of the first days of our social distancing and they've been hooked since then. We've also been able to introduce Kyran and Karyssa to Jurassic Park and have several other "big kid" movies we want them to watch.

The kids have spent a lot of time playing together. It has become pretty obvious that personality-wise, Kyran and Gemma are more alike, but interest-wise, Gemma is more like Karyssa. This makes her equally interested in spending time with each of their siblings. Although she does sometimes feel slightly left out when they're doing big kid things together, they make such an effort to include her.

We finally completed our addition with a deck on the back of the house (more on that later), and with the extra wood, Jason built a couple of planters and Karyssa is growing some fruits and vegetables. This weekend, Karyssa, Jason, and Gemma went on a worm hunt around the yard and found not only worms and lizards, but a baby snake, which Karyssa and Gemma were so excited about holding!

Gemma made Jason go out the next day and they found lots of worms and lizards and also a caterpillar, but no more snakes.

We have spent a lot of time outside, enjoying the beautiful weather. The kids love to climb trees and play all sorts of different games, while I'm getting a decent tan. We know the hot summer weather is coming, so we're taking advantage of the cool breezes while we can.

One rainy day, when both cars were gone, they set up "Kids Club" where they played music, skated and rode tricycles and scooters for hours.

Yes, there are a lot of frustrations and sad things that have happened in the past two months, but when we look back at this time, I know we will look back at the happy memories, and I know that one day I will crave this time with my sweet children.