Friday, July 30, 2021

High Five for Friday (7.30.21)

 


One

Thinking ahead to a gift Will has asked for for his birthday (that would need to live in the garage), my mom and I completely reorganized - as in we went through EVERYTHING - and built a new bench and storage area in my garage. It took us all of Friday evening, all day Saturday, all day Sunday, and an hour or so on Monday, but we got it done...despite crazy hot temperatures...and we're ready for Will's October birthday assuming he still wants this particular gift. And if he decides he no longer wants this particular gift, the garage still looks great and feels so much more spacious than it did before our efforts.




Two

Because I bought and brought home $200 worth of food from Trader Joe's in Madison, I also had to give my kitchen pantry and cabinets a bit of an overhaul. I clean out cabinets, drawers, and closets regularly (I'm a chronic tosser/recycler/donator/seller), but it was nice - more effective and efficient - to have my mom's help when making some decisions about what to keep, what to part with, what could be stored in the newly organized garage, etc.

Here and here are blog posts in which I mentioned just a few of my favorites from Trader Joe's. I think I'll have to do a more thorough blog post about everything we love to buy there, just in case the rumors are true and we might actually get a Trader Joe's here...


Three

Olympics, anyone? I LOVE the Olympics, so my television has been on at all times - whenever I'm home, of course - since July 21st, when the USWNT took the field for the first time. I do, however, wish that watching live didn't require me to be up in the middle of the night...


Four

I know many of you parents are in the same boat: cramming in as many appointments as possible (and taking care of all of the accompanying paperwork) between now and the start of the new school year. We managed six this week, in between approximately four hours a day of church musical theatre camp for Hallie, and I feel like a rock star. 


Five

New babies!!! 16 hours after I texted our kitten rescue to let them know we were back in town, we brought three sweet foster kittens home. Larry, Curly, and Moe are sweet as can be, and will be available for adoption soon if anyone is interested!


This is Larry, who LOVES people (especially Will - all
kittens love Will) and is simply delightful to be around. Curly and
Moe are still nervous around us, but they're slowly warming up!


Happy weekend, friends!

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Traveling Tuesday

In honor of our safe arrival back in College Station (and because the days since we pulled into the driveway last Friday night have been a crazy busy blur of unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping, kid activities, kitchen reorganizing and a significant garage overall with my mom, and bringing home new foster kittens), today's post is a short and sweet photo and video recap of our second cross country trip.

On the way home I drove, pointing out (sometimes with little warning) cool things so my mom could frantically try to take pictures of them. Sometimes our timing was spot on. Sometimes it wasn't. 😂








On the way there Will set up his GoPro on the dashboard and filmed all but about two hours of the drive (his battery died). Here are a few cool snippets of what he captured!





A pretty good road trip all things considered, but it felt great to finally pull into our driveway!

Friday, July 23, 2021

High Five for Friday (7.23.21)



One 

If all goes according to plan, the kids and I - along with my mom, who graciously offered to make the cross-country trek with me - will arrive home in College Station tonight after another two-day marathon drive. I'm hoping for only short stints in the car for the next month or so!


Two

Our last week in Madison included many of our favorite activities: visiting the Henry Vilas Zoo, Vilas beach, and the farmers' market; playing miniature golf at the Vitense and LOTS of disc golf (I think the boys played all but one of our 12 days here); eating at Rocky Rococo's Pizza, Culver's, Chocolate Shoppe, and Greenbush Bakery; and a little shopping at some of my favorite stores we don't have in College Station...including Athleta, Orange Tree, and the "upstairs Target", which is my kids' favorite for browsing. 😂










Three

Our last week in Madison also included a few new activities: the UW Geology Museum, kayaking on both Lake Monona and Lake Wingra, and the 19th hole at the Olbrich Beer Garden. We rounded out the fun with bike shopping for Hallie, a couple of pretty epic family game nights, and a hysterical "blindfolded" soda taste test/challenge.
















Four

We lucked out and happened to be in town during the County Fair, and we had a great (much better than expected) afternoon riding the rides, meeting some of the animals, and watching a fun performance by escape artist Lady Houdini. We've taken the kids to the fair before (though this activity isn't an every-year guarantee), but this was the most enjoyable time we've had - the weather was lovely, there were NO lines for rides, and Hallie was finally brave enough to go on ALL of the "scary" rides with Will.


















Five

Speaking of, and last but not least, the WEATHER. This was the overall nicest July we've experienced weather-wise in years. As I type this post, I'm relaxing with a cup of coffee on my parents back porch after coming back from a long walk with my mom. It's 75 degrees and there's a light breeze, and the backyard looks like a Disney movie: there are flowers blooming and vegetables ripening all around me, the tire swing hangs quietly, waiting for the kids to wake up and take it for a spin, and I can see a mama rabbit and two babies bunnies frolicking in the grass as well as a cardinal, a sparrow, and a hummingbird flitting between the bird feeder and the trees. I'm just not ready to go back to 90+ degree temperatures and 100% humidity...







Happy Friday, friends!