This past weekend, the first full weekend in June, the boys and I went camping with Dawn and Mason. This was a 'hey, what are you doing this weekend...nothing...want to go camping...where...etc...' and next you know the cars are packed and we headed ninety minutes west to Mendota Campground.
We had a site where it was wide open, no one around us (or closely that is), it was quiet from humans. Cant say it was quiet from nature. Between the frogs, the birds and the cicadas, it was quite loud.
Most of the amenities were closed due to Covid-19, but the bathrooms were open and clean (uber important!), and the beach ... you were allowed to play but no swimming.
Friday night after we got settled, and dark came upon us for only a few minutes because when the moon made its appearance it was bright as a streetlight. Simply amazing. Max found the big dipper right away. Makes my heart sing a little when he mentions things like that, shows what his brain was thinking.
We were able to fish and you know catch frogs, if one likes to do that, ahem Max. Then we found some water balloons at the store and used those to keep cool. I am so grateful the boys love camping and being outside. I hope they will remember these times fondly, some day.
One weekend in May, I took a walk-a-bout in my yard. I think I do it every day to watch the progress of all the work I have put into this yard, to see the flowers bloom. I was surprised to find the oh-so-petite pink geraniums. Those are brand new this year, and I did not plant those, so my guess is that they were once planted by a previous owner and with all the trees and weeds taking over they went dormant. Now that I am clearing things out, they have a chance to bloom. Oh so pretty.
My wildflowers are coming back this year. So happy about that. I keep watching each and every day to see what will appear, so far its only these pretty orange ones. I am happy.
My neighbor next door is who I call, Old Man. He is never outside, and when we do see him he grunts at us. I noticed last summer his peony shrubs. I also noticed he is NEVER in his backyard. So this one particular walk-a-bout, I launched Max over the fence with clippers and voila! A beautiful bouquet for me.
Right after we committed the crime, we had to line up for a birthday parade. So fun! Wish I did something like this for the boys. Next year. We put out our sign, drove slowly past Owen's house, Theo was hanging out the window, I was beeping the horn and yelling Happy Birthday!
And Max kept saying, I hope I dont get recognized. Oh the joys of a pre-pubescent pre-pre-teen.
Theo! Happy Birthday! 8!! I cant believe it. You and your brother are growing so fast, and becoming the most amazing boys. I love you so so much.
I have more pictures of Theo's birthday celebration because it was later in the month, and with that came some relaxing of isolation and quarantine rules. I had the family over and our close friends. Before I knew it I had six boys in the backyard. So fun. And of course, Theo's introvertedness was shinning. Dont touch this, dont touch that, stop doing that...all familiar sayings.
And yet, he is my goofball. Look at the facial expressions.
When the doctor said I would have another boy, and expect the second to keep me on my toes, I didnt really register that. Today, SO. TRUE. Both boys are their own unique person, and both amazing. How did I get so lucky, so blessed with these two.
This year it was a nice quiet Mother's Day around here. We had a lazy morning, and then had a nice lunch with my mother and step-father. We practiced social distancing, but its the good-bye hugs and kisses that are missing.
On Saturday, the boys were willingly participants in digging up the yard to make the garden plot. They especially loved the part where they could use the shovel and hoe. I have to remind myself to allow them to use these tools, as they will need to know how one day and they are old enough now to do the work. It is a small area of the yard, but starting from scratch makes it seem like a big project. Having the boys with me and helping sure made it seem so much easier. (i know this isnt a new concept at all, but its been only me for so long that I forget what teamwork is like.)
The gift I had ordered for Grandma didnt arrive in time so I had to come up with something else to give her, and trying to stick to my budget, I got creative. I made mini bundt cakes - lemon with cream cheese glaze frosting. I am pretty proud of myself at how they turned out. (ive had those little bee candies in the house probably for year ... just had to have them!)
I packaged them up nicely and delivered them to my Mom Village, you know those moms you rely on for picking up kids, watching kids, schoolwork bitching, etc. A simple thank you gesture for them.
The creativity resurgence during the quarantine has been a bit surprising. But I am embracing it. And I am pleased with the results.
This is my first ever yarn along, or link to another blogger. Not sure why I am compelled to do this now, when I've been knitting and reading for years. Maybe its the quarantine. Maybe its I am finally challenging myself to do things that I've always said I would do, and of course somehow never do them.
I am knitting the Lovely Leaf Shawl, in a deep navy and cream, with the border in green. All yarn is from Knit Picks. I wish I had resources locally for handspun yarn. I might have to drive into Wisconsin or Michigan one of these days.
I have started reading A Man Called Ove. I have no recommendations on it because I literally just opened the book last night. My sister-in-law gave it to me when cleaning out her recently read books, said it was really good.
I am starting to appreciate this time at home. I know its not without stress, I can attest to that, but we had such a full schedule before the pandemic. We are all adjusting. And my knitting is helping quite nicely.
Happy 10th Birthday Max!
A whole decade! Ten years! I cant believe it, its gone by so fast and yet so slow at the same time. I know this kid will be super successful in life, but man getting him there has been and is, hard. I am so thankful for him. I am SUPER blessed he's my son. He is super smart, funny, kind, adventurous and so, so inquisitive. Is always wanting to try new things, especially with tools and how things work.
And what the suckiest time to have a birthday too... during quarantine. Everyone is having these parades with the police and fire department, but we just had my brother and his family over, along with my mother and step-father. We celebrated outside, of course. Boys got dirty, ate the entire cake and ran around for two hours. It was simple and so nice.
Let's hope the next ten years do fly by in a minute. Go Max Go!!