Way easier to create an entry since I changed languages

So it's simpler to blog, especially for the first time, when the blog site it magically transformed into English from Spanish.  I mean, I got most of it, but extended help menus make a lot more sense to me in English.
Summer break with the kids means that we're (ok, I'm....) trying to balance family and friend visits-which we love!- with keeping their school skills alive until next term.  Truthfully, because they're the youngest in their grades, I wouldn't be opposed to their skills actually improving over the next few months.  To that end, we're doing a little bit of what I'm calling "camp" stuff over the next few weeks. 
While their cousins were here, we did one journal entry...which was fine, because I think that the end of term flurry (no....not snow) of WORK they were doing at school was bordering on wiping them out!  I love that the school has high standards; but I cringe a little when I see my kids getting stressed.  I just wish that it were a little more evenly distributed throughout.  Yeah...I know they need to learn to manage their time, tasks and energies...buuuuut--too much was too much, so I slacked off.  I also think slacking off is a great skill--just accessing the return to "doing" can be a little tricky!  Momentum, and entropy, and all that (which reminds me--I hope The Big Bang Theory cranks out some new stuff soon).
So back to the work...It's time for an essay, a journal entry, and a story response now, so I'm nearly done.  Today's weather is supportive of baking, so we might do that too.  I'm really enjoying the fresh cool air this morning.
Ha...something else I'm putting in so I don't forget, is that I waxed the front patio this morning.  Yes, there's a lot of domestic help here, and it's part of the culture, so I'm happily participating in that.  And yes, I'm worried for when I leave...guess I'll just have to go back in my memories to recall how to do laundry after not doing much for nearly a year now... But hey--Canadian super- capacity washers and dryers are truly fab.  And now, back to the front step...I washed, washed again, rinsed four times...elegantly throwing my dishbucket full of hot water over it...multiple times, and then let it dry.  There's a thing here "cera"; it's like a wax/polish--this particular one was a crema (yeah-cream form).  I applied by hand, and let dry.  It was pretty much like car wax, but for stone tile.  Then I got three towels...intentionally equal to the number of kids--because I always thought waxing the car was cool when I was a kid.
I only wish I had taken video of the buffing.  Maybe next time, because it was a great laugh (and one moment of "huh?!!).  
"Does Andrea do this all the time."  
"Yes she does."
"It's a lot of work hey?!"
"Yes"
And with that, I hope that they have a new look at what it takes to keep a house shining clean...my greatest hesitation with having help at home is that the kids won't be as capable--but I brush that aside, and think of all the extra stuff they're gaining during our time here.  I mean--the school work alone!  The learning Spanish...the challenge of new friends... I'm sure they're going to come through well--but I think a little buff now and then is still good.
Chao!