Back To School, and more!

 Woof, the last three weeks or so have been a sprint, but we wouldn't have it any other way!

We started our end of summer plans with a quick jaunt back to Wisconsin, to see Grandma Rosie. When we planned our travel, everyone was rushing to get vaccinated and it seemed like it would be smooth sailing, but as the COVID variants and anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers rear their ugly heads, it felt like we just narrowly slipped in it. I'll take it though! Grandma Rosie is 92, and has been hit hard by the imposed isolation of COVID protocols, so any time we get with her is a gift. She was in good spirits, if not always totally sound of mind.

We did manage to get a picture of her with all her great grandchildren, from fourteen year old Hailee to nine month old Alli May. And yes, Adam is the only brunette.

We really managed to cram a lot into a few days - we rode on the La Crosse Queen and had a lovely tour of the Mississippi River (saw several bald eagles), we went to the Sweet Shop in La Crosse, which recently celebrated its 100th birthday (so the only thing in town older than Grandma), we went up to the top of Granddad Bluff with Leah and Alli, and John and Betty very sweetly turned our last dinner night at Hillview into a little early birthday party for me. I feel so fortunate to get to celebrate my 40th birthday with my Grandma, just like when I was a little kid!

The only downside were the huge storms that ripped through the Midwest on the way out - we ended up getting stranded in Chicago overnight on Monday, but thank goodness for Becca, who hauled out to the airport to pick us up, put us up in her house, and took me on a Target run so I could buy everyone a clean shirt and fresh undies, since our luggage never made it out of the baggage area. Also, thank goodness for Dad and his Admirals Club membership, so we could sit in comfy chairs, eat free cookies and in my case, drink free G&Ts. Downside of the Admirals Club/turning 40 is that TWICE they asked me if Sara was my minor child. Congrats to her for looking under 18, and sad for me that at 40, I'm already been asked if I'm her mom.

Then the rest of the week was prepping for the beginning of school, and my actual 40th birthday, on Friday the 13th! (so spooky!) Becca came out for it, and we spent Friday afternoon at the spa, and then came home, gussied up, and had a small-ish family party that night. Don and Eileen very generously contracted with world famous close up magician Jonny Ace Palmer ot come and do a show for all of us. He did walking magic around the house while we had appetizers, and then after pizza, he did a whole show, and it was AMAZING!

This is right before he pulled an actual rabbit out of his hat.

Here you can see Snowball chilling in the back ground. The dove was one of two that appeared out of a flaming bowl, for his final trick. It was seriously awesome - and so fun to hear everyone else in the room be amazed and laughing at the tricks. Such a treat for everyone!

Saturday morning a couple of us went down to the Chakra Shack in Laguna Beach and had our auras read. I had hoped it would be some sort of real great hippie dippy experience, but it was being photographed and then having a description read to us by a 20-something who didn't even smell like patchouli. How can I believe what you're telling me if you're not even wearing prayer beads?! Saturday night was the big friend party - when we were thinking about it, Tim and I decided to go big and invite basically everyone we knew to our home. Again, when we planned it, it seemed like it would be a celebration worthy of the fact that we'd gotten COVID under control, and instead it was like "better get this done before the numbers get so bad that we can't have friends over in the yard anymore!" 

It was even better than I'd hoped for - we had a taco truck, a bartender, and a giant charcuterie set up. Friends from all parts of our lives - my college roommates, former coworkers, parent-friends, neighbors who have become like family, other parents from the kids' school - mingling together. I was talking to friends of ours with kids the same age and heard my senior year roommate laugh her amazing laugh, and was so happy to turn around and smile at her. It was awesome. We ate, we drank, we got on the trampoline, I did a bunch of outfit changes into various caftans, and the party gifts were polished rocks. We were up until nearly 3am chatting, so thank goodness Gigi took the kids overnight (also thank goodness for the kids, because we were LOUD.) It was definitely one for the ages.

And then, unbelievably, summer was over! Sunday afternoon I got out the box of school supplies and we started filling pencil cases and charging Chromebooks for the year ahead. Neither kid has any of their real besties in their classes, but it'll be nice to get to know some new faces, and their teachers seem great, from everything I heard. 

It's definitely an adjustment to get back into a routine, but my goodness, it was so nice to have a real "first day" this year. Parents aren't allowed on campus, but the district made an exception so that parents could walk their students to their doors on the first day. Both kids were excited and nervous, and have been pretty happy thus far with how everything is going. They're definitely tired, and crabby about being sent to bed earlier at night, but I'm ready to have a schedule, play some fall little league, get back into piano and hopefully get them vaccinated sooner rather than later so we can feel just that much safer about them being back in a crowd, on campus.

July Recap!

 Oh wow, lots to say about all that we've done! Last year, a calendar full of beach days and trying to stay sane. This year, a calendar full of activities, and also trying to stay sane (and rested, and hydrated, and not sunburnt.)

The kids had the return to Camp Ford, always a favorite. They did so many great activities with Mimi and Poppy and assistant counselor Jake, including a trip to the water park.

Can you believe Captain Safety let his grandkids go down this slide?!?

Another nearly unbelievable thing - Bob and Nancy came down for a Southern California tour and I went with my kids to Disneyland! I am not a huge fan of Disneyland itself, let alone on a hot July day with kids. But we had a really great day - fourteen hours of riding rides and wandering around. The kids hung in like champs, other than some whining in the various lines (I swear, if I had a dollar for every time I told a kid to leave someone alone, stop touching the lane lines, or climb down from someplace where they weren't supposed to be, I would have had enough money to buy admission, food and parking for all nine of our party.) We brought our Camelbaks and went through almost nine liters of water, for our family of four. We also got totally soaked during our post-lunch Splash Mountain trip, and that cool down I think really helped us make it though (I had to go and wring my shirt out in the bathroom afterwards.) One of the best parts of the day was riding Space Mountain after 9pm, getting off and getting right back into the singles line so that we could go twice in a row. I'm glad I waited until the kids were big enough to want to ride on all of the big coasters, and let Tim, the Disney-lover and more patient parent, take them years ago when they could only do dinky things.

This photo is from when we were waiting in line for the newest Star Wars ride, and I'd told them to get their hands off each other. Ellie told me that Disneyland is where you go to be mad at your family, and Adam told me I make everything worse. And then I laaaaaaaaughed at them. 

We've had some beach days and some good pool days. Ellie and her friend Zoe went to Marine Mammal Camp in Laguna Beach, which they both loved. Monday I brought Amelia with me for pick up, and we had some delicious ice cream and bought great rocks at the Chakra Shack. Then we had a very loud singalong to Olivia Rodrigo in the car. 

We've also turned into the neighborhood house where kids just seem to show up and ask to play, which is fine. Never thought I'd be that mom, or run that house, but it turns out, I'm more maternal than I knew. 

And then the last two weeks of July have been the much anticipated camp weeks. Adam is back at the day camp where both kids have gone for several years, but Ellie aged out and so it was time for SLEEP AWAY CAMP up near Bass Lake/Yosemite. There was a lot of stress and some tears in the lead up to us getting her dropped off, but overall, she was a really brave little doobie. I also think it helps that she and Lexi were going together - I don't know if she would have hung in if sent alone. Leading up to it, she was very concerned about sleeping in a cabin "with strangers" and she wasn't super hot on the church aspects of it all, but when we picked the girls up yesterday they spent the first hour of the drive regaling us with all of the fun they'd had (but when asked, Ellie said that camp was "fine" and that "maybe" she'd go back next year. Okay kid, way to be too cool for school forevermore.)

I mean, looks like an okay time, am I right? Camp allows them to send you whatever snail mail they want, and you can send them either snail mail or little emails, but there's no calls or texts home, so every day was like forensic science, checking the photo albums to catch sight of her and wonder if she was having a good time. Jeff and I drove up together to drop the girls off on the 19th (and then drove back home the same day) but to pick them up, Tim and I drove up on Friday, stayed overnight at Bass Lake to celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary, and then got the girls and drove home in the morning. I'm glad we were there for drop off the first year, but I've already informed them that they're riding the bus next year. 

Adam had two of his best buddies in his pod with him this year, and they all loved Pronto, their counselor. 

They do a lot of the same activities - rock wall climbing, horseback riding, skateboarding, archery, and two beach days. The only downside is that then instead of my exhausted kid being some teenager's problem in the evening, he's my problem. One day he threw a fit about having to drop off his friends after camp instead of having an extended hang out, and then he fell asleep on the car ride home. Most afternoons, Adam was like this:

So now we have two weeks left in our summer. This week we're heading back to Wisconsin, this time to see Grandma Rosie in La Crosse. With all the changes with the Delta variant, there is part of me that feels like we're just slipping in and out before the world is made to lock down again. I cannot wait until the kids are able to get their vaccinations, and I can stop worrying so much about their safety. I'm glad the kids had a summer of relative normalcy, getting to do their activities, see their friends, have new adventures, before we go back to being in our masks and avoiding others. 

Vacation, all we ever wanted!

 

The pandemic may not be over, but it was still such a relief to be able to do our traditional summer vacation to Door County.

We flew into Chicago and stayed the weekend with Brian and Becca, and Benjy and Hazel.

And then on Father's Day, we got to spend the day at John and Alicia's lake house, with the olde pater familias. The kids loved getting to ride on the Seadoo and float around off the side of the boat - they were undeterred by the weather, and happy to get an ice cream from the ice cream truck.

Then on Monday, up to Door County to reunited with all of our awesome Thiel cousins, including Alli May, the newest little friend.

It felt so good to be back with everyone, having some fun adventures. The weather left a little to be desired, raining about half the time, but we were able to have two nice dinners at the local parks, and the house we rented with Brian and Becca had a beautiful screened in porch - which we locked ourselves out on the very first evening. All four kids were sleeping downstairs in the finished basement (aka the kid cave) and Becca went and banged on the casement window to get Ellie to come and let us back in. Local idiots go out of town!

The dads got a golf day and a bowling day, and Becca and I went and spent Thursday making art glass at Hands On, and then shopping our way back to the house. Tim spent that day laying in bed, after throwing up in the early morning hours. I had thought that with Adam wearing a mask and not sucking his thumb I was done dealing with a sick family member on every single trip, but Tim had to go and foul it up for all of us!

He shouldn't have licked those goats. That's how they get you.

We also had a fun day where we took the kids up to Peninsula state park to check out the new Eagle tower. The kids ran up all the stairs twice, and then enjoying strolling back down the ramp.

After that we headed over to Hands On and the kids all painted pottery (and ate snacks - I'm no fool, we walked in and got snacks and milk for the kids and wine for the moms.)

It's just such beautiful scenery - I'm so thankful we were able to go and unplug and soak up all the green spaces and the lake views.

Summertime!

 This catch up is much overdue! The kids finished out the 2020-2021 school year, and what a year it was. After countless zooms, a million outdoor PE walks, and three different "first days," they completed second and fourth grade. Good grades, good remarks from their teachers, and it feels like we can only go onwards and upwards. They both said they were going to miss school, so I feel like I must have done something right as Mean Teacher Mommy. 

We've had two weeks between the end of school and our trip to Door County, which is the quietest time we've got going all summer - it's so nice to have camps and trips to look forward to this summer! Mostly, they're fending for themselves these days, but I'm trying to make sure we all get some sunshine and some time away from screens, and we had a nice adventure up to LA to see college friends. 

Plus there's always chores to be done around the house. 

They each got a shopping and lunch date with Mimi, and the Resort and Spa has reopened for the year, so we've done some good floating and splashing with Gigi and Sara.

The biggest change of the summer is Ellie, who was continually telling me she wanted to cut her hair short. So, yesterday I called the kids salon and they told me they could fit her in right away, and so before she had a chance to change her mind, we went in and changed her whole lewk.

Before

After!

I think she looks absolutely adorable, though I'm surprised she was ready to do something so drastic. Even a month ago, I asked if I could trim the raggedy ends off her hair and she told me absolutely not. I was sort of dreading what she was going to look like after two weeks of sleep away camp - would she come home with one enormous, swampy dreadlock in the back, like when a sheep escapes the flock and is found a year later with 80 extra pounds of wool? Now she'll be easy breezy for summer - will only have to worry about making sure her neck gets suncreened. I think she looks absolutely darling.

Mother's Day

 

I am so lucky to have these little nut jobs as my babies! We had a really lovely weekend - Saturday we went down to the beach with Gigi and did some good jumping in the waves. We walked all the way down to the edge of Salt Creek Beach, and on the rocks mom found a discarded frisbee, and so on the way back our towels, Ellie tossed the disc for her little puppy dog Adam to fetch and bring back to her.

Sunday we had a great day with Mimi and Poppy, going on a duffy boat ride around the lake and hanging out in the back yard. It's so nice to get back to normal in small ways after such a long year. 

 See? Normal! 

In hopes of being able to entertain in our home again this summer, we had some painting work done this week. We had some work done with moving speakers and installing CAT6 cable in the house over the summer, and were left with a couple of holes in the walls. I told the kids that when we had the Pretty Room and living room repainted, we could look into changing the colors of their bedroom walls, if they wanted. Adam's room, which was painted yellow back when we moved into the house and hoping it would someday become a nursery, is now a green that makes me feel like I'm in Kermit the Frog's armpit (but he's pleased, and that's what matters.) Ellie no longer wanted her purple "Princess Elsa" room, and went with a gray blue, and is proudly displaying the beautiful triple tiger painting that I bought at a yard sale over the weekend.