Yesterday, we decided to go into DC today, to take the kids to the Smithsonian, walk around, and try out a vegetarian deli Darren’s been raving about near his work. Well, on the way in, we went the wrong way, never found the metro station we were looking for (a different one than usual), and ended up driving all the way into the city. There was a big peace march protesting the war in Iraq, and there were cops everywhere and roads were blocked off. All the parking garages were full or reserved for official use, so we literally drove around for an hour, and never found a place to park. This is a real lesson in city transportation. The metro and walking are far more efficient, not to mention less frustrating. At this point, the kids are screaming, we’re all hungry, so we just ended up heading back out of the city to Rockville, where we know our way around quite well, and had lunch and walked around a bit, before heading home. So, our day of culture and walking turned into a day of sitting in the car and eating. But, we were spending quality time together, and besides the fact that we probably spent $35 in gas just driving there, we can't complain.
Today we went to church, then out for coffee, or in the kid's case, smoothies. After that I came home and cleaned the house for a couple hours, and made a huge pot of lentil soup for our first vegetarian society potluck that we hosted. Five adults, and a couple little kids came, and we enjoyed a really great meal in good company. Next month I'll make a little more effort with putting up flyers, and hopefully attract some more people, but this was a great start and it's nice to meet some new people.
Tomorrow is our "do nothing day," meaning we have no activities or classes, though, I may go to the YMCA with the kids if I get motivated. They enjoy the daycare for an hour or so, and it's often a welcome break for me. Besides that, I'm looking forward to a little down-time. I'm pooped.
I started the SchoolZone First Grade workbook with Flo last week, and I'm amazed at the things she knows, despite never really following any formal curriculum for kindergarten. Her reading abilities seem to be steadily developing, and she enjoys the colorful pages of this workbook. We have a fairly informal approach to homeschooling, but I thought comprehensive curriculum workbook might be a good way to guage her progress, as well as, simplify a bit. We're also continuing with the Funnix Reading Program, though the CD doesn't work well on our new computer, so I have to figure out why. It's annoying when the narrator's voice skips all over. I know it's the computer, because the CD works fine on our laptop. Weird. Just something else to try to fix. Fun.
Joe fell asleep on my yoga mat, which he brought up from the basement and put in front of the TV. Then he proceeded to put in the Baby Einstein video and start it all by himself. Ahhh… when did that happen? I guess I have to hide all the videos or move the little TV elsewhere. Oh well, at least he's asleep, Flo's in bed, and I've got at least an hour before I have completely no energy. So, I better go make use of this limited time. Good night!