saturday rain

We've had a rainy weekend. Which keeps things cool, and who can complain about that? Well, besides the kids that crave the sun and cry to swim.



We deep cleaned the kitchen as a fun family project. Then we cleaned the bathrooms. I read with J in her summer reading book. She has to read "Life of Pi" and "To Kill A Mockingbird". S has to read two books I have not heard of, which annoyed me. Number one thing that annoys me is that many of the girl's friends, although equally bright and capable as my girls, are not in honors English...why? Because they don't want to do the summer reading. Which is two books. Two books in almost 3 months. Frankly this is appalling. The lack of reading, of satisfying natural curiosity, of delving into the words of great minds and letting them influence and expand our own, of getting to know characters and stories that enrich us individually and collectively is criminal. Second, if the kids are only going to read two books why pick something obscure? Something that will not contribute to their cultural literacy? Now, at the same time that I am being annoyed I realize that the two books on the list, just because I have never heard of them, could be perfectly wonderful books and of great value to read. I will read them myself and of course S will and I hope that they are. I am just sad that more is not expected of our young people. And that our education system has broken down to the lowest common denominator to such a point that a high school diploma is almost meaningless.

Last night we took brother on a date with us. He always cries and wants to come so we told him one day we would take him. Last night was his lucky day. We went to see Pirates 3, which I had very low expectations for and I happily found that I enjoyed. It was long, and I didn't like the end but over all I liked it a lot more than the second and was glad we went. E loved it.