Memorial Day 2020 (Week 10)

This year Memorial Day looked a bit different.  We didn't go downtown for a parade or go to a park to hear a speech.  We also didn't have any family in town.  We often have Brandon's parents and  sister and family here for the long weekend.  It is a weekend we all really look forward to.  It was sad to be alone on this holiday weekend.  

I decided on Sunday that Memorial Day was going to be a screen free day.  I didn't even respond to texts unless they were urgent.  I didn't check my email or read new articles.  It was a full day, but lovely in many different ways than usual.  

We were anticipating a rainy day, but were surprised that it really didn't rain at all.  We had plenty of outside time.  

The kids and I went on a morning bike ride to the creek while Brandon prepped the sermon.  

Beautiful kids and views

The creek looks more like a river right now, and T insisted I take a picture of just the creek so everyone could see.

Wow, right? :) 

We decided to check out the skate/bike park after the creek.  They have several areas to try out.  Most of the jumps were really high, but they have this awesome roller coaster looking thing to bike on.  T tried it first and convinced M to try too.  T enjoyed it more than M and did it many times.

A human powered roller coaster. 

There is an additional area of jumps and ramps made just for bikes.  It is such a cool area and we were the only ones there.  Big kids usually use it, but they were probably all sleeping in so it was available for us!

T: I love the ramps.  M: It is fun, but a little dangerous. 

Both kids took some falls, but neither were hurt very badly.  They convinced me to take the long way home.  We went up a big hill that we call "library hill."  We stopped half way up to check out some hillside damage that happened from the big rain storms.

After our ride we headed over to the neighbors to chat and play.  We all love spending time with their family.  S and brother T have learned some team yoga poses.  They taught them to M and T and did some competing.  It was fun to watch M and T figure it out!

M:  I think we nailed this pose!

T:  This one was very tricky!

M: I could be a firefighter!

S found their hula hoops so I ran over to church and found a few for us to use.  S and her brother T have done a lot more practicing than our family, so hopefully it will be something my kids want to keep practicing during this season.

My view of the playdate. 

My good friend X took this pic of all of us hula hooping at the same time.  

We came home and ate and the kids had a rest time.  I prepped some lentils for dinner.  We are trying more vegan dishes.  It is amazing to me how much more prep these dishes have been (so far), but overall we are enjoying them.

This girl was spent!

After nap time I read the kids some funny quotes and sayings books.  Sometimes we were all laughing so hard that it was hard to breathe.  We loved the church bulletin mishaps the best.  The lighting is poor in these pictures, but I wanted to include them because it was such a special time.

So funny!

Catching my breath so I could continue to read. 

After doing some reading we decided to water the garden before heading out on an adventure.  Brandon taught T how to water things and she enjoyed being a part of it.

T: I hope I get the right amount. 

After watering we headed out on a bike adventure.  All four of us biked across town to check out some park space for potential outdoor services.  We ran into a big problem though, the green space is near a beautiful park.  T really wanted to play and could not understand why it wasn't OK.  There were so many kids at the park and we were just not comfortable.  We eventually convinced her to bike to a different area but a family showed up just as we did, so she was sad again.  Thankfully, the third park we tried was free from kids and had lots of good climbing options.  I am so impressed with our city.  They have hand sanitizing stations near playgrounds and guidelines for safety.

T: I missed hanging from things at parks!

T:  And spinning... I really missed spinning. 

Just as we were about to leave, we spotted some kids heading toward the park.  It turns out it was one of M's favorite buddies from his grade.  He and his sister talked to M and T for quite a while.  I am so thankful that their family also understood social distancing and it wasn't a big deal at all.  It was such a sweet blessing that they had this time together.

M: This was a great surprise!

After time at the park we had to bike up a big hill to get home.  The kids and Brandon played a game while I finished prepping dinner.  After dinner they finished the game and it was bedtime.  I fell asleep putting M to bed and woke up and went back to sleep in our bed.  It was a very full and fun screen free day. 

Badminton! (Week 10)

We played a lot Badminton last week before Brandon's surgery.  We usually do girls vs. boys.  There is no score kept, we are just trying to have a volley.  It is a fun family activity and it will be interesting to see how we all improve as the summer progresses! 

The girls!

Brandon giving M some serving tips. 

A common sight! 

On the roof! (Week 10)

Last Wednesday (the 20th) I introduced M and T to badminton.  We didn't have a net up and in all honesty, we are working hard to make initial contact with the birdie, so no net is needed. Because we are still growing grass, we don't really have a yard to play in.  The patio gives us space to practice, but with the roof so close, it is hard to keep the birdies off of the roof.  

After all the birdies landed on the roof I sent M up there to toss them down.  This of course made T jealous, so pretty soon we were all on the roof.  We have a roof walk out door upstairs, so we may have opened pandora's box by letting them go out on the roof.  So far, they have been very responsible. 

A proud son and a worried mama!

T: This is a great place to enjoy the sun!

M:  I like the shade!

The kids decided they wanted to wave to Brandon. He is working from home in our bedroom.

Sneaking around the corner!

Surprise!

Brandon was very surprised!  He took a pic from the inside.  They look so cute.  I was not able to fully enjoy the adventure until we were off the roof and on solid ground, but I think they both felt very grown up.

Hi Dad!

Safer at home Week 10

Week 10 of our time at home ran from May 18th-May 24th.  We had a pretty ordinary week with a few surprises.  

Monday, May 18th:

On Monday Brandon caught M and I watching an ambulance out of our window.  He wanted to get a picture of us actually gawking like we were when he entered the room. I had a hard time holding it together to recreate the photo. 

It was just too embarrassing. 

We pretty much looked like this haha!

Tuesday, May 19th:

On Tuesday T did a science experiment where you attempt to fold an egg.  The first thing you have to do is blow out the egg.  We had never done this before, so it was quite a sight to see. 

T: It was very strange to blow out the egg. 

I actually made a real dinner on Tuesday.  For the first time ever I followed many recipes and perfected a roast chicken with rosemary.  Yum!  We had roasted veggies and baked potatoes.  The gross looking bowl is the chicken dripping which made for good gravy but not a pretty pic.  We had "Jello cake" for dessert, which is a recipe that Grandma Judy makes and the kids love.

Yummy!

Last week I wrote dessert ideas on slips of paper and put them in a bowl.  The kids get to draw a dessert every other day.  It keeps things fun during this season of sameness.  M thinks about it first thing in the morning on the days when they get to draw for a dessert.

Wednesday, May 20th: 

On Wednesday afternoon I introduced the kids to badminton.  They really enjoyed it, but hit many birdies on the roof.  This led to a roof field trip (see future post).  One Wednesday night we finished off the Jello cake and we I made "crumb cakes" to finish the pan.  I grew up with crumb cakes and my kids can't understand how anyone wouldn't make them.  I formed the cakes with my hands and there were precious crumbs on my hands so the kids both licked my fingers.  Strange, but hilarious! 

In the background of this pic I can see the box for T's party bus.  I am not sure if we posted the finished pic, but she did finish the LEGO bus which she earned from not sucking her thumb.  

M: We can't waste a bit of this. 

Buddies. 

Thursday, May 21st

While we were out biking around we spotted a tree coming down. M became three again and couldn't wait to watch.  It was so sweet to watch him get excited.  

M: I still love watching tree crews at work!

Both kids enjoying the view. 

After biking we came home to do some puzzling and ate our homemade graham crackers.  They turned out amazingly well and didn't last long.

A fun afternoon!

We received a care package from my parents with a new puzzle and several cloth masks.  T's is quite big on her, but mine fits well.  We went on a bike ride after this pic and T insisted on wearing her mask while biking.  The kids were excited to see school friends outside to say hi to!

2020 Fashion!

Earlier in the day T spotted a real baby cradle on the curb across the street.  We told her she could have it if it was still there at 5:00pm.  She counted down the minutes and was super excited to add it to her room collection.  She actually found a nice spot for it and her room looks pretty good after I did some organizing the following day.  The question of how long it will stay organized remains to be answered.

Friday, May 22nd:

On Friday morning we spent 3.5 hours in the car driving to and from Brandon's eye appointment.  Morale was LOW!  It was a rough time in the car.  Brandon's appointment went well, but it was discovered that some of the oil was leaking from his eye and that it would be best for surgery to happen sooner rather than later.  In fact, they decided to do surgery Tuesday the 26th (a couple days ago)!  This meant a lot of childcare things needed to be figured out, therapies and zoom meetings changed, church stuff prepped etc.  Part of Brandon's prep was a required pre-surgical COVID test. He scheduled it for Saturday. 

The picture below is what led to the organization mentioned above.  She tore everything out of places and needed a restart.  

T: UGH! My room needs help! (Not many would think to empty that cube from above!)

Another week, another finished puzzle! This was another tricky Thomas Kinkade one.  We have all learned many puzzling skills over our time at home.  A dear friend dropped off many more puzzles this week, so we are set for months! Continuing our odd puzzle trend, the pieces didn't line up again.  This time we had an extra piece haha!  We think it went to the previous puzzle we put together.

M: Mom and I worked hard on this one!

Saturday, May 23rd:

I had another parking lot support group on Saturday morning.  The mamas helped me come up with a good surgery day plan that meant lots of driving, but no time for the kids to be unattended. The kids had fun doing LEGO and games with Brandon. 

Now this is a restaurant I would want to eat at!  Yum!

In the afternoon I made a cake that flopped.  It didn't rise properly.  It tasted fine, but there were still complaints.  I remedied the situation by getting out a frosting pastry bag.  The kids found ways to make tasty treats with the frosting.

M: This is so big I had to put it over my shoulder.  

T: Daddy and I like this tasty dessert.  

Brandon worked through the weekend to prep and record a message for next Sunday (the 31st) so he wouldn't have to worry about that during recovery.  The kids and I spent some afternoon time at the neighbors having more socially distant playdates.  While we were there, Brandon did his drive through COVID test.  It was quite interesting to talk with him about it after the test.  The nurse told him to sit on his hands during the procedure. She stuck a very long swab up each of his nostrils.  It was very uncomfortable.  It took Brandon about an hour to stop jumping around after the test.  He still felt nasal trauma on Tuesday on the way to surgery. Basically, the things you hear about the test are true.  Poor guy.

After a long day of playing these two were quite exhausted.

Totally spent!

Sunday, May 24th: 

On Sunday we had church in the morning.  We played Badminton outside quite a bit (see future post) and enjoyed time in the sun.  T set up some biking obstacles and Brandon grilled. Brandon got good sermon work done, the kids and I biked, and the kids watched a movie.  

T: Sometimes I trade my color pencils for getting to ride M's bike!

We had a very full screen free Memorial Day, so I will make that it's own post coming up soon!

7 inches of rain in one day (Week 9)

Sunday was a very rainy day.  We got over 7 inches of rain in 24 hours.  It also rained/misted most of the day on Monday and Tuesday(18-19th).  So much rain!

On Sunday afternoon I was noticing how much the new grass was growing.  It is actually showing up on photos now.  

Green grass coming in!

After looking at the grass I noticed that parts of our backyard looked like a lake.  Then I noticed some major drainage issues on the church roof.  

This is a bad pic, but you can see the water gushing over the gutter.  

I told Brandon I was just going to take a quick look in the church basement to make sure there was no flooding.  It didn't take long before I was calling him details about water in various places.  It was mainly just tiny areas, but we found six places.  Brandon did some vacuuming and fans were found and a man from church put some boards over a window.  We are projected to get 7 days of rain in the coming days so hopefully we won't have more leaking.

A tiny bit of standing water. 

Water was running in the window in the "baby nursery"

Gardening (Week 9)

On Saturday (May 16th) we decided that it would be a good time to get things planted in the garden.  We found many seeds from previous years, so we decided to plant the seeds and then buy some tomato plants this week.  We have yet to actually buy the tomato plants, so I guess we will see if that happens.  We also needed to do a lot of weeding and some trimming.  We didn't have access to our landscaping last summer and it was full of grass and weeds. T still loves to weed, just like she did as a very little girl. 

We lost our previous garden with the renovations, so we have a very small garden next to the church and then some garden spots next to our house which were previously bushes and flowers.  It might not be the prettiest, but it is practical and allows us to plant what we want.  

T: I picked a lot of weeds. 

We let both kids do some bush trimming.  They really got into it.

T: I like giving a plant a haircut!

M: I really wanted to do this, but it was harder than I thought. 

M: Trimming the bush was much more fun.