Sorry I’ve been MIA lately. My brother and sister in-law from Denver have been here since Wednesday and we’ve been soaking up extra family time. For a million reasons, it feels even more necessary and special this year. This weekend’s adventure was a trip to the hunting cabin. The weather was perfect. The bonfire was excessive. And boys (both young and old) were living their best lives.
Robbe has been helping Great Grandma Joyce with her garden harvest this year. Just about every time we visit my hometown, my dad and Robbe make a stop up to my grandma’s to pick green beans and sometimes potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers. Three generations bonding over vegetables. Robbe loves this outing and usually comes back with an animated story about something Grandma Joyce said or did. It warms my heart more than any of them will ever know.
We signed up for a virtual summer school class taught by the boys’ art teacher. A lot of our adventures lately have been inspired (and motivated) by this class. Today was another gem. We went to play in the river in a different part of the city and it was a total blast. The water was really shallow and the boys could frolic on the sand bar with near-total freedom and without me having to worry they would float away. It was a really lovely way to spend part of the afternoon.
*As a side note, I was telling the boys about Biden’s Vice President pick when I heard the news (while they were swimming). On the way home–about 20 minutes later, Robbe said to me, “Mom, if your president doesn’t get voted, I’ll buy you Oreos.” Can you handle how amazingly thoughtful and sweet that is? He even told me he would use his own money. I made a deal with him, though. If my president DOES win (ahem…when he wins), I’ll take the whole family to the new Kwik Trip (convenience store) down the street from us and everyone can pick out any treat they want. Even a slush puppy. That’s how they know I’m being serious. Let’s hope the Kwik Trip treat day wins out. If I’m eating Oreos on election night (or the day after), there’s a good chance I’ll be eating the entire bag…while sobbing. :)
This is most Mondays for us. The boys have 30 minute piano lessons in the afternoon. We've been biking to the instructor's house and then we sit in the front yard. Chase and I read independently while Robbe has his lesson and then Robbe reads to me when Chase goes in. It's probably one of my favorite hours of the week.
It’s only taken us five months of basically staying home all the time to make a dent in some of our home maintenance to-dos. We’ve done everything from tree removal and bush trimming to organizing and painting. My personal favorite has been sanding/cleaning/priming/painting some of the exterior trim on our house (including the base of the columns pictured above). I’m not kidding. I actually really have been enjoying this task. It’s pretty quick. Immediate gratification. And man, what a difference it makes.
Oh-and don’t worry-we’ve still got quite a list to get through. Ah, the joys of home ownership.
We decided to be crazy and make an afternoon trip 30 minutes down the road to this hidden gem today: the Devil’s Punchbowl. We explored in the water (well, two of us did) and then we walked around the UW-Stout campus (where our niece will be attending in the fall) and downtown Menomonie. It was a really lovely way to spend part of the day. And can you handle how pretty it is?
Another day, another bike ride adventure. This time we expanded our biking radius and stopped over to Rod and Gun Park. Pretty streams, no bugs, and lots of ducks. What more could you ask for?
Today’s virtual summer school hike included a game called “try to find something that looks like legends of Zelda.” It’s nice when real life and video games collide, isn’t it? The treasure pictured above is some sort of spear. I wasn’t really listening.
We’ve been to one playground since Covid struck. Today we went back. The boys had a blast just doing their thing (even with no other kids around). And I read a book. It was really lovely. I miss playgrounds.
This is a shot from Saturday night. You know you’re really living your best summer life when you’re enjoying a campfire dinner while the wet clothes from a river rafting trip dry in the background. A good book doesn’t hurt either.
It was a beautiful morning for blueberry picking. No bugs and the weather even cooperated. Blueberry Ridge is just such gorgeous setting. As if a blueberry harvest isn’t enough, we stopped and picked some local sweet corn after that. Wisconsin is kind of the best.
Another late night in Chippewa Falls supporting our nieces/cousins. This time it was a drive-in dance recital. The social distancing worked well and we enjoyed a chance to see all their hard work on the big screen.
The 4-H fair looked a bit different this year. So different, in fact, they gave it a new name: the 4-H Showcase. The boys still did projects and presented them in front of a judge (following health and safety guidelines), but we couldn’t meander the exhibit hall looking at other entries, we couldn’t visit the animals, there were no malts at the food stand.
To be honest, initially I wasn’t thrilled the Showcase was happening. I didn’t want to go through the hassle of projects knowing the experience would be so different. Now, though, I’m so glad we had something to focus on for the last month. We had fun doing the projects and it motivated us to try some new activities with the kids (sewing with grandma, whittling with dad, leaf collecting with mom). I really like 4-H. Have I said that before? :)
Eau Claire is still hosting the downtown farmer’s market so we popped in on our way home from our morning bike ride. Wearing masks is still very strange and somewhat scary to come to terms with but we’re doing it and will happily continue wearing them as long as we need to. #wearthemasks
Robbe lost his first tooth last night. Sniffle sniffle. It’s a tangible right of passage from babyhood to real kid territory. You can see your little guy slipping away one tooth at a time.
A bit melodramatic? Yes. But I think it’s true. We’ve said goodbye to most of the “baby stuff” long ago and now it’s time to move on and grow some real chompers, too. He’s beyond thrilled. I’m getting used to the new grin. And soon enough he’ll have a mouthful of awkward adult teeth trying to fit into that adorable little head. Growing up is weird, isn’t it?
Special thanks to my parents for handling the first tooth loss during last night’s sleep over. Talk about timing. Luckily, the tooth fairy was able to find him in the new location. I’m sure you were worried.
For those of you who are local readers, you’ll understand how much of an accomplishment it is that the boys have successfully biked up State Street Hill. It’s a steep one! And the boys couldn’t be more excited about it. All of a sudden going to piano lessons became a lot more fun (which just happens to be located at the top of the hill).
Side note: The fridge seems to be working again. Fingers crossed we made it through!
This is an image you never want to see. There’s no good reason to have an empty + open refrigerator staring back at you. Apparently we have a fan problem. We needed to defrost it for eight-ten hours. Tomorrow morning will reveal whether the defrost was enough or if there are more serious problems. Think happy thoughts for us, will you?
We’ve been talking about tubing down the river by our house since we moved here four (4!) years ago. Today, that dream came true. And we got to bring some of favorite people along for the adventure. We learned some good tidbits for our next trip down while having lots of fun on this too-hot-to-do-anything-else type of day.
Covid can’t keep the Children’s Theater down. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to attend a musical. Also, two of my nieces were in it. Also, it was Newsies (remember how much I love Newsies?!?).
It was a perfect summer evening. The organizers did a remarkable job of helping keep the performers safe and distancing the crowds without taking away from the magic of the evening. As I was sitting under the stars with Robbe on my lap, I almost forgot about all the stress and uncertainty of life right now. It was a good lesson in appreciating all of the really wonderful things still going on during such a crazy time.
We enjoyed another personal shopping session at the library today. It was just as exciting as the first time around. We learned our lesson from last time, though, and brought our wagon for all the books this time. Robbe managed to wheel it almost the entire way home.
small city | BIG DAYS
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