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.