Tag: books

Summer 2018- Part 1

This summer we created a list of 18 things to do. I do this list so that we have something to do other than not melt in the Texas heat. We did not get to everything on the list, but here are the ones that we did!

1: Learn to ride a bike!

All decked out in safety gear to practice.

Mr. Z got a bike for Christmas last year, and getting him to learn to ride it has not been easy. We did get a few practice sessions in.

2: Ride a pony.

A mom’s group that we are in, has a summer trip out to one of the members home, where she has horses and a pony. She leads the kids around for a ride on the pony. We went, but Mr. Z was scared of the large animals and wouldn’t ride or touch it. I am hopeful, that one year he will ride the pony!

3: Vacation Bible School!

He loved the sport themed VBS.

Mr. Z did two weeks of VBS. IT WAS AMAZING, for us at least! Both were evening sessions and so we got to have time with just Baby Hercules. Mr. Z did enjoy VBS and loved having fun crafts to learn about bible stories.

4: Finish Summer Reading

Summer reading logs

Our library does the national summer reading program, but it is very different from our old library in Pullman. Most of the prizes here are coupons for discounted or free kids meals. But we do summer reading, more for the fun of making sure we read every day in the summer. This summer we read The BFG and James and the Giant Peach. Mr. Z loved them and I think reading at lunch will be a summer tradition for us.

5: One Week of NO TV!

This was one that Mr. Z was not excited for at all. But I knew we needed it. The first few days were hard, but by Wednesday, TV time wasn’t even asked for. We have also carried over no TV Sundays, from this.

6: Visit the 3 Splash Pads.

Mr. Z is great at making friends with everyone at the parks.

This one is one of my favorite things to do in the summer, plus, with Baby Hercules getting more mobile over the summer, he also enjoyed the splash pads. We have 3 splash pads at different city parks. One is our favorite and one we don’t really like, but I don’t like going to the same place every time. So I wanted to make sure we went to each one this year.

7: Find a 4-leaf Clover.

Mr. Z was unsuccessful in his search.

8: Read The BFG!

It only took us 10 days to read.

Like I said in 4, we did read it. It was so fun to read at lunch in the summer. Mr. Z just loved it and if I could, I think he would have wanted me to read it in one sitting!

9: Make Popsicles.

One of our favorite things, we have a couple different molds, and we like coming up with fun fruit and juice mixes. Mr. Z’s favorite this summer was strawberries and blueberries with orange juice.

 

Next week I’ll post the other 9 things on our 2018 Summer list.

What Am I Reading: The Poldark Saga

A couple of years ago, I saw an ad on our Amazon Fire TV for a new show called Poldark. It is a historical fiction in post American revolution England. I really enjoyed it and looked anxiously forward to the next season. About the time Baby Hercules was born season three was out and if you have not seen it, I will just say the ending left me wanting to know what happened.

I didn’t not want to wait, so I did some research and learned that it is based off a 12 book series by, Winston Graham. I was able to get the first book from my local library’s overdrive ebook system.

Having already seen the first three seasons the first 6 books were slow reading as I knew what was going to happen. As with all screen adaptations there were little details missing. Which as added to the story.

Demelza is by far my favorite character. The development of her transformation from miner’s daughter to a squire’s wife is fascinating. The internal battles she has with some of the choices she makes or how she is going to react to a choice Ross has made are relatable, even though the novels take place centuries ago.

One thing about the saga that I don’t enjoy is how about book five the tone changes. The main reason is probably because there is a 20 year gap between when Winston Graham wrote and published the books. New characters are brought in and the focus changes from Ross and Francis Poldark and their quarreling with George Warleggan to the siblings of Demelza and the now feud between everyone not a Warleggan.

I am about half was through book seven and I have about a 8 week weight for book eight. (At one point is was 18 weeks!) I hope that my wait is not that long and I am desperately wanting to know why George hates Ross Poldark so much that he must destroy everything.