Hey there,

August is here, and with it comes something rare: a full week where nobody in your house has to think about school. No backpacks by the door, no last-minute permission slips, no "did you finish your homework" conversations. Iowa schools are closed this week, and honestly? Your kids earned this pause just as much as you did.

This weekend (and the days around it), the only assignment is rest. Let's make it a good one.

Skip the actual road trip and bring the campout home instead. Pitch a tent in the backyard (or build a blanket fort in the living room if the weather doesn't cooperate), grab flashlights, and let the kids help plan a simple "menu" — hot dogs, s'mores, whatever feels festive. Once it's dark, tell stories, spot constellations if you can see them, and let bedtime slide a little later than usual. It doesn't need to be fancy. The goal is just togetherness with zero agenda.

Since there's no school to prep for, treat this week's "planning" a little differently. One small tip: set a no-screen hour each evening — maybe right after dinner — where the whole family does something else together, even if it's just sitting outside or playing a game. It's a small structure in an otherwise unstructured week, and it tends to make the rest of the day feel calmer for everyone.

If your family hasn't played Clue in a while (or ever), this is a great week to pull it out. It's got just enough strategy to keep older kids engaged, and younger kids can tag along as junior detectives. Bonus: it's a great rainy-afternoon option if the August heat sends everyone inside.

If your kid says something is "sus," they mean it seems suspicious or a little off — like when they eat the last cookie and swear they have no idea what happened to it. It comes from the game Among Us, where players try to spot who's secretly sabotaging the group. It's stuck around because, honestly, it's just a useful word.

Younger: What's the largest bird in the world that can't fly?

Older: What is the tallest mountain in the world?

(Answers below — no peeking!)

Science: A group of pandas is called an "embarrassment." Nobody's entirely sure why, but it's been the official term for centuries.

Language Arts: The longest place name in the world belongs to a hill in New Zealand — it has 85 letters and roughly translates to a very long story about a local chief.

A week with no school can actually feel harder to plan than a regular one — there's no built-in rhythm to lean on. If your days this week looked like a mix of boredom, screen time, and one good outing, that still counts as a successful holiday week. You don't need a packed schedule to make it meaningful.

Whether your family spent the week traveling, staying local, or mostly just recovering from the school year, you're doing exactly what this pause is for. September will bring its own structure back soon enough.

Wishing your family a holiday that feels like a real breath before September.

Younger — Largest flightless bird: The ostrich. Native to Africa, it can grow over 9 feet tall and run up to 45 miles per hour — faster than most animals could ever hope to catch it.

Older — Tallest mountain: Mount Everest, standing at 29,032 feet on the border of Nepal and Tibet. Fun twist: if you measure from base to peak instead of sea level, Hawaii's Mauna Kea is actually taller — most of it is just underwater.