Day 2154 | Magnifying Glass
/
It turns out you can start a fire with a magnifying glass. Our first (and hopefully not last) installment of Robbe’s Questions Answered.
Day 2153 | Summer
/
This is summer. All summer long. I’m feeling very lucky indeed.
Day 2152 | Lowes Creek
/
We’ve realized the way to beat the heat is to get out early. Today’s adventure started at 8am (we had the added motivation of having to bring our car in to be serviced, so that was nice). We went for a lovely (and very comfortable) hike on some trails in Lowes Creek Park. It was really lovely…even the bugs left us alone. And then we didn’t feel bad running errands and watching a movie to fill the rest of the crazy-hot day. Win-win!
Day 2151 | Friends
/
We’ve seen some friends this week that we haven’t seen in a very long time. It’s been really, really lovely.
Day 2150 | Early Morning Biking
/
Another hot day here so we got up and out the door early for a bike ride before the temperature hit 90. It was definitely the right decision. We’ll see if we can muster the same motivation tomorrow.
Day 2149 | Disc Golf
/
What do you do when it’s 90 degrees outside? Play disc golf, of course. Luckily most of the holes were in the shade and there was a lovely breeze.
Day 2148 | Paddle Boarding
/
Chase rocked his first solo paddle boarding outing today. I was super impressed.
Day 2147 | Last Day of School
/
We made it through the 2020-2021 school year. Man, that was intense. There have been some lovely highs along with my some tough lows, but we’re here now and we’re more than ready for a summer vacation. Lake life, we’re coming for you!
In case you’re curious about what school looked like for the boys this year, check out this video I put together as a year-end gift to the school. I’m pretty proud of it. Click here for the video.
Day 2146 | Therapy
/
Have you heard my exciting news? I started therapy a few weeks ago. That's right, the mental health variety and I'm super pumped about it. It's been on my to-do list for years but I just didn't have the space in my life or the extra motivation needed to find someone. When Chase went back to school four days/week, I decided making a phone call was the least I could do as a bit of self-care. I did a good bit of research and ended up practically cold calling a local therapy clinic. I gave the receptionist a little info about who + what I was looking for and she matched me with someone who is really great. I've had three sessions so far and she seems like the perfect fit for me.
It's so interesting to go through the exercise of really thinking through my relationships and to start weeding through how and why I make decisions. For someone who internalizes a lot and questions herself constantly, it's been really lovely to hear a complete stranger validate some of my feelings but push me into answering tough questions, too.
I'll keep you posted as my journey continues.
Day 2145 | Area 178
/
We went back to one of my favorite hikes today: Area 178. It was just as fun and beautiful as I remembered. The rock-scaling is a blast and the boys managed some pretty sweet maneuvers.
It was just a lovely day all around. Man, I’m grateful for my sweet little family.
Day 2144 | Garden Update
/
After visions of our entire garden freezing with the crazy low temps over the last few nights, we arrived this morning to see that everything is just fine. We lucked out! This is Robbe posing next to our potatoes, onions to his left, and beans next to that. A pretty good looking patch, if I do say so myself.
Day 2143 | A Graduation
/
My niece (and goddaughter!) graduated today. I remember being at the hospital when she was born and today she graduated. That’s crazy, right?
It was such a beautiful day filled with family (some of which we haven’t seen in quite some time), yummy food, and everything celebrating Skylar. I haven’t fully processed that she’s leaving in the fall, but we’ve got a few months for that to sink in.
I’m so proud of this girl. And I can’t wait to follow along on wherever her journey takes her.
Day 2142 | Culture Fest
/
The boys’ school typically does a big Culture Fest every year where the kids form groups and do a ton of research on a specific country or continent. There are posters, and videos, and presentations, and games. It’s an amazing event.
Unfortunately, Culture Fest, in its full form, couldn’t happen again this year, but Robbe’s teacher decided to put a mini classroom version of Culture Fest together. And Robbe loved every second of this project. No group work this time around so Robbe did all the work you see in the photos himself over the course of about a month. He made the poster, created a 9-minute video, and made two 3D visuals. Since families couldn’t attend this year, Robbe set up his presentation at home to show Chris and Chase (I was subbing today so I actually got to see it in person-woohoo!). Robbe was just so proud.
Thank goodness for teachers who can still motivate and challenge these kids after the year we’ve all had.
Day 2141 | A Playdate At Last
/
This guy had his first real playdate today in a very long time. He’s been asking and asking, and finally today was the day. I took this photo minutes before his friend showed up at the park. That’s pure joy and excitement in his eyes.
Day 2140 | He’s Back
/
Richmond is back! He didn’t do great back at the shelter…his little kitty cold came back. I couldn’t just let him suffer there, so he’s back at our house until he finds his forever home. I’m not complaining. I missed my little shadow.
Day 2139 | Living the Dream
/
The weather app didn’t let us down! We had such a lovely summer-y day at the lake house yesterday and it was everything I wanted it to be. There was swimming, fishing, paddle boarding, pontooning, reading outside, napping in the hammock, gardening…it doesn’t get much better in my opinion. I can’t wait to reenact this weekend over and over again this summer.
Day 2138 | Floating on Water
/
We’re ready for an epic #lakelife weekend. The temperature is supposed to reach the mid-80s and we’re excited about doing all the warm-weather activities. I’ll be on a tech break, though, so don’t expect to hear from me.
Day 2137 | Baby Birds
/
Looks what’s growing in one of our trees! Two baby robins. So sweet, right?
Day 2136 | Weekend Excitement - Round 3
/
The final piece of exciting news from the weekend? We planted the garden at my parents’ lake house. I’ve been more and more intrigued by a “real garden” for some time and now we’re going to have one! Hopefully. We planted potatoes, green beans, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, pumpkins…the list goes on and on. It’ll be a learning year, that’s for sure, but I can’t wait to see what works and what doesn’t. Hopefully something does! I’ll be reporting back, don’t worry.
Day 2135 | Weekend Excitement - Round 2
/
My nieces had their dance recital yesterday. And for two of them, it was their last-ever. Sniffle, sniffle.
Dance has been more than just an extracurricular activity for them. It’s been such a big part of their identities and now that chapter has come to an end. To say we’re proud doesn’t even cover it. We’re thankful to have been local for the last five years to be able to experience so much of their passion in person. Congratulations, ladies. You were beautiful on stage—as always.
