Two Days Off From School

One of the few things that has not changed over the years when it comes to schooling is the tradition of an Easter or "Spring" break. For the girls and Mom, that meant a solid four days off from classes - and six overall if you count the weekend in between.

Meanwhile, the weather continued its awful trend of being cold. Could it be that Dad jinxed us by spending nearly three weeks in California in February? Temperatures there were in the 60s or 70s nearly every day, with so much sun that he has already has a mid-summer tan.

Despite the chilly and windy conditions, Dad has been taking the girls to the park nearly every afternoon after school. The two requirements are to have changed out of your school uniform and to have all of your homework done.

We go to the park that's pretty much down the street. The girls have requested to go to other ones (Elmwood has been mentioned), but Dad says as long as the price of gas remains high, he's not operating a recreational shuttle. This means that if we go to the park too early (before 4:30 p.m.) we often run into the Mercy High School tennis team. And, since the girls like to play tennis, we often don't leave the house until close to 5. (Plus, Dad has work to do, too.)

In addition to tennis, there's plenty of play equipment to enjoy. Veronica gets a lot of help from her older sisters when she wants to swing or climb up to go down the slide. It's one of the few times when they're not bugging each other.