The Accidental Boilermaker

On Friday we made soft pretzels. They were pretty quick and easy to make and tasted really good. Nate, Evelyn and Jameson are in a band together.  On Saturday I got stuck under two sleeping children.  I also made hamburger buns. Really big ones.  Today we went on a nature walk at a county park we’ve never visited before. It was somewhat busy but we didn’t have the share the trails too often.  Evelyn and Jameson each found a painted rock that we can reside later for someone new to find. 

We made it! Summer is officially here. I made sourdough donuts for a special breakfast treat. They turned out pretty good.  Evelyn finished her last seesaw assignment, a kindergarten memory book.  Here’s a few sample pages.  I don’t know if her teacher will get us a hardcopy so I took a screenshot of each page.  Evelyn told me not that long ago when she grows up she wants to be an ordinary mom like me.  Jameson fell asleep on the floor around 530. I don’t know why. We didn’t do anything today since it rained most of the morning.  Evelyn had her last zoom tonight. It was beach themed. She said in first grade she wants to learn multiplication. Better keep working on our addition and subtraction. 

It’s the last week of school!  Evelyn did have online activities yesterday despite the holiday. Today she did some reading and workbook pages all on her own. Jameson practiced his letters. We went for a bike ride and then got the sprinkler out.  After the sprinkler they played water tag which was just me with the hose spraying them as they ran around trying (unsuccessfully) not to get wet All the heat wore Jameson out and he took a nap on the couch. Evelyn’s teacher stopped by the house around 5:00. She was out delivering pinwheels and a coupon for a free happy meal to her students. Evelyn was excited to see her.  I made sourdough rolls for dinner. One pan for tonight and one pan for tomorrow. Everyone liked them. 

Sunday was another great day to be outside. Nate ran an errand and the rest of us went on a bike ride. We officially made our 10 mile goal for our virtual spring cycle. Then Evelyn and Jameson put their swim suits on and played with the water squirters. If Jameson got a letter right he got to wash it off the driveway.  Today was a work outside day. Nate finished up the steps on the deck and did some general lawn care. I transplanted hostas from weird places in the backyard to actual flower beds. Evelyn and Jameson helped me clean the hot tub cover so then they got to play in the hot tub, always a favorite with them. 

It was a day for working outside.  I went to Menards which was very busy and bought some plants. We have a small vegetable and herb garden going in our front yard. We have green beans and snow peas growing along with container lettuce. Today we planted basil and mint. We had a flower bed that was in need of some TLC. It’s in a spot that you don’t really notice, you can’t see it from inside or even from the deck so we didn’t want to spend a lot of money on plants.  But it also doesn’t get much sun, so just trying to grow grass probably wouldn’t work. I bought two hostas and some coleus plants to try.

The days are all kinda the same, but Evelyn only has one week of school left.  Thursday night she did yoga with her class.  Penny joined in at the end. Our movie was ready at the library so we picked that up today.  One of our favorite librarians was working curbside pickup so that was exciting. When she brought our movie to the car, she was almost  in tears! She confessed that the car before was us was extremely rude (what! Everyone knows librarians are like the nicest people ever). Well we told her how excited we were to see her and how much we miss everyone at the library. As we drove to school to get lunch, it was a good opportunity to talk to Evelyn and Jameson about the power of words. I think they got it.  Evelyn’s gym teacher has shared a few exercise videos so today we did a couple different Avenger workouts. 

Tuesday was rainy again.  We tried out the library’s new curbside pick up for items placed on hold. It worked pretty well; well enough that I put a movie on hold to pick up when ready. Today it didn’t rain but it was very windy. We went for a run in the morning but didn’t get as far as usual since  the trail was flooded.  We also went for bike ride to keep working toward our 10 mile goal. We’ve had some silly hair styles. Evelyn wanted a picture because she looked like Violet from the Incredibles.  Then yesterday I put Jameson’s hair in a ponytail.  Today I did a topknot more in front to help with all the hair in his eyes. He says he likes it up.  Durning dinner a beautiful goldfinch came to visit the bird feeder. 

So.much.rain.  It rained basically all day. We got out for a short walk after lunch while it was just drizzling.  Evelyn finished all her school work before lunch so I let her open a new Lego set. I made sourdough crackers that everyone enjoyed. I also made a few more masks for some furry friends.

Saturday was a very nice day. We met up with Bella and Millie for a picnic lunch back at Foster Park. We probably could have tried harder at social distancing but it’s hard with kids. We also started our virtual Fort 4 Fitness spring cycle. Me and the kids signed up to ride between 10-25 miles in two weeks; Nate registered for the advanced 50+ miles. While Nate mowed the grass, we went for a mile ride around the subdivision. Today Nate played guitar at church but we stayed home and watched online. I made my first loaf of sourdough bread. I started my sourdough starter a few weeks back and have made biscuits, muffins, and pizza crust.  Later in the afternoon we decided that the essential stuffed animals needed face masks too. 

Thursday and Friday were pretty standard days. On Thursday it was our day to return materials to school and pick up supplies. We stopped at the church drive-up coffee shop beforehand. From school, Evelyn got a whole bunch of worksheets, a plant, and a goodie bag from her teacher. Next week we do the same thing just at Jameson’s school. Friday was a rainy day but we were able to play outside first thing in the morning. The rest of the day was spent doing just normal stuff. The rain was all done after dinner so we were able to go on a walk/bike ride. 

Today we went to Eagle Marsh with my friend Victoria and her kids Addie, Freddie, and Lucas. We spent a lot of time on the floating dock looking for tadpoles but finding mostly water mites. We went for a short hike and then had a picnic lunch. Victoria actually caught a leopard frog for the kids to see and then as we were walking back to the car, I got a picture of another one.  The rest of the day was JJ napping, Evelyn doing school, some tv time and a bike ride with Nate after dinner. 

Yesterday our big adventure was taking Penny to the vet for a weight check. They are only allowing one person per pet in the office, so the three of us waited in the car while Penny was inside. I just dropped her off inside the vestibule of the office and never spoke to anyone in person, it was all done over the phone. But the good news is Penny hasn’t lost any more weight. One of Evelyn’s school assignments was to make something out of different materials instead of throwing them away. She wanted to make a person out of a cereal box. Her name is Pearl. I did most of the cutting but Evelyn did the tapping and decorating. We went for a nice bike ride in the afternoon and then Jameson fell asleep on the couch.