Have Tooth, Will Travel

We have been summer-vacationing it at a little beach cabin with plenty of sand and sun to go around. Yesterday Natalie pulled out one of her baby teeth and although I was willing to write a note to the TF to let her know we were staying in a different house, the girls and I ended up back at home simply to be in the air conditioning. The humidity and heat were so bad that Leah began to have some trouble breathing. I guess the dust mites were multiplying. We are now back home for several weeks to pack and then we will move to our new house July 1st. F is for Family was really helpful to my girls as we talked about how no matter what changes happen in our lives and how things seem to be really different, we all love each other and always will. (By the way, the only thing the Tooth Fairy had on hand was Granny's House, a cooperative board game. It was a big hit.)

Since it's vacation we are doing a kind of thing called Kid Wish List where the children get to request things they would like to do and we try to work them into our schedule if at all possible. Leah really wants to try Putt-Putt, of all things! :-) Natalie is firmly sticking to beach walks and visiting the pool. Rebecca I think is going through a growth spurt because she seems to be quite out of sorts and is constantly tripping over her own feet or bawling about something. Today we had to go back and search the beach for her shoes and she got herself so worked up about losing them that even when we had found them she couldn't stop crying. I know that all the changes in our lives are stressful. We also just made it through a series of tornadoes in Southern Maryland and the girls were very worried about that. We kept having to go down into the basement so they were pretty aware of what was going on. All in all I think that Kid Wish List puts some power back in their hands and gives us all a chance to relax and have a little fun!

Summer camps begin next week so I have completed planning for Farming & Gardening and added it to the members-only section of the waldorfcurriculum.com website. Next I have to hash out the fine print on Housebuilding. I need to order ladybug larvae and 20 cubic feet of sharp gravel and our lumber for the Glass House project. I am excited that one benefit of our moving to a new house (in a community that doesn't allow outbuildings) is giving our old wooden playhouse to the Tidewater School to use as their henhouse! See useful -- and funny! -- photos of how successful this can be: Guinea Fowl Housing Ideas. If you want to build one from scratch here are some nice plans.