Boquete, Panama; Day 15

We have mentioned in a prior post or two how our weather in Central America at this time of year seems to provide morning sunshine and afternoon showers. Also mentioned is that we have oriented our school days so that we are indoors and focused on studies in the afternoon so the weather doesn’t interfere with our plans.

The downside to this strategy emerges during our group reading segment of the curriculum – we’re currently doing Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Everyone has a copy of the book to look at and we rotate reading it aloud (the kids voice Alice with an English accent which is adorable) Today, for the second time, the combination of a corrugated steel roof, a torrential thunderstorm and the need to read aloud creates the following scene:

Mom (listening to the rain fall harder, thinking): Here we go again…(out loud) “OK, CREEPERKITTY. TAKE THE NEXT FEW PARAGRAPHS.”

CreeperKitty (relishing the chance to use his outdoor voice during school hours): “IN THAT DIRECTION”, THE CAT SAID, WAIVING ITS RIGHT PAW ROUND, “LIVES A HATTER: AND IN THAT DIRECTION,” WAVING THE OTHER PAW, “LIVES A MARCH HARE. VISIT EITHER YOU LIKE: THEY ARE BOTH MAD.”

Dad (thinking): I’ll be happy to cede the balance of my read-aloud time to the senior son from California while this storm persists.

Suaram (thinking): Why does it always rain during our group reading?

CreeperPuppy (noticing no parental correction for outsized volume, thinking): I hope it rains loud when it’s my turn!

After shouting at each other for a couple chapters and a follow up discussion we had a break. During breaks we usually have a snack and today we shared a bag of chips. This bag is Rold Gold Pretzels, mini Sun Chips, Cheetos, and mini Doritos all mixed together in a single bag. It is a Frito-Lay product and all of the components taste like the US version but we have never seen a combo package like this at home. We first bought it at the Va&Ven back on Day 1 in Boquete but it is sold several places. It seemed a strange combination but it had pretzels in it so was deemed the healthiest snack food available. Turns out it’s pretty good so we got it again.

After school but prior to dinner, the Adventurers found a board game called Scene-It which is sub-titled The family trivia game with magical Disney clips. It originally came with a DVD but without a player (or the disc we might add) we made up our own rules. The kids expected to mop the floor with their old parents.

What they didn’t realize is the game was released in 2004 (before they were born) so some of their favorites weren’t covered and they aren’t quite as fluent in the older Disney catalogue. Mom steamed ahead at the end and won with 7 correct answers in a row. The kids were both impressed and distressed at her feat. What a day!