Last week was THE BEST summer week. And that’s saying something because most of our summer weeks are pretty great. But last week takes the cake. Let’s breakdown why.
SLEEP
Sleep is the best. If sleep could be considered a hobby, it’d be my favorite one. Haha. Last week we set no alarms; there was no reason to wake up early. Usually on days where we don’t need to be up early, I’ll still set my alarm to get up around 5am. I like the quiet of the morning before the rush of kiddos. Some days I hit the trail. Some days I chill on the couch. Some days I get all my morning chores finished. All before the kiddos are awake. But not last week.
There’s this TikTok trend where people make videos saying the five things they’ll never do based on their profession. Like doctors saying they’ll never buy trampolines for their kids. Attorneys saying never to talk with officers without an attorney present. Nurses saying they’ll never ride a motorcycle. All the standard ones. And then the one that caught my attention—a doctor saying she’ll never give up sleep. That she won’t set an alarm to wake up early for anything elective, like to exercise or mediate. And that she goes to bed early to ensure getting enough sleep. Completely obvious that sleep is incredibly important. I already knew this. But not setting an alarm was something I needed to hear.
Before kids, I got all the sleep I needed. Brian and I have always been old and went to bed at a reasonable hour, even back in our college days. And we’d sleep in on days we didn’t work. And even on days when I didn’t work and slept in, I’d also take daily naps at 1pm with People’s Court in the background, haha! Since kids, I struggle—like all parents—with sleep versus kiddo-free time. I want to go to bed early but I want alone time with Brian. I want to sleep in but I want alone time in the morning.
Last week I started skipping the alarm thing and let myself wake up naturally. It was glorious to sleep in each morning. And by sleeping in, I mean I was up around 6am. We all know around here that nobody should be around me if I don’t get enough sleep. Not setting an alarm helps. And it also helps that after many years of getting terrible sleep, I’m finally getting the best sleep ever. Even on nights I get fewer hours than wanted. Talk about a massive improvement in my mood.
The kiddos all slept in each day last week also. Today I had to set an alarm. Blaise has camp this week. It’s all good though.
BACK HOME
Last week was the first week back from our road trip. We were gone 11 days, staying in Lincoln City for two nights, then the Redwood Forest for two nights, then driving the long way down to Sacramento—through San Francisco with a pit stop in Fairfield at the Jelly Belly Factory—and then staying a week in Sacramento with family before driving the 12-hours straight home last Saturday. It was a really great trip but man, it felt incredible to be back home. I think four nights away is the sweet spot for me. Now if only I can remember this the next time I book a longer trip.
Being back home in Sacramento is always a great time. I thoroughly enjoy seeing family and hanging with everyone. But being in Sacramento is rough. I found myself developing an intense hatred of the area with each day we were there. Back when I was a kid, the highlight of Sacramento was that it’s between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe. I think this assessment still stands. It’s flat, brown, hot, crowded … all the things I avoid. I don’t know how I was raised there. I suppose if you never leave you don’t know what else is out there. And hey, I’m sure there are folks who have an intense hatred of the PNW and think Sacramento is the absolute best city ever. To each her own. But every time we make the drive down, Brian eagerly awaits my commentary as we enter the area.
Driving back last Saturday, it felt amazing seeing trees and mountains as we hit Shasta Lake. And then being back home in the PNW, it just feels right. Being back home, home. Back home is still the Sacramento area. Why is that confusing and yet it makes sense?! Haha. But yeah, kicking off last week settled back in after our road trip added to it being THE BEST week of summer yet.
MINIMAL PLANS
This is probably the main reason why last week was THE BEST. Every year I tell myself to keep summer quiet, not to over-schedule. And every freaking year I end up over-scheduling. Even back when we had only two kiddos, haha. I was yammering on about being busy then. One would think I’d learn by now. At least I can recognize this in me, and that I need to change. Eventually. Maybe next summer?!
This summer, I told myself to keep it quiet. Haha. That hasn’t happen. I’m not complaining; we’ve had a great summer so far! Even on the busiest of days, they’ve been super fun. And I wouldn’t change a thing. But having last week with minimal plans, glorious. I really need to remember this.
And the minimal plans we did have, the days organically happened. I think I want to embrace this way of planning a bit more. Which is a bit of an oxymoron. I want things to naturally happen and yet I want to plan the natural happenings?! Haha. I don’t even understand what I’m trying to say. But I get what I mean, so there’s that.
Anyway, moving on. Wait, one more bonus to THE BEST week.
END OF THE TODDLER TUNNEL
Our toddler years are winding down! It’s bittersweet. I’m beyond ready to move on from everything baby and toddler; I’ve been in this world for almost 12 years. I’m also mourning the end of this life stage. I keep saying I do not want any more kiddos but I would totally have another one. Makes perfect sense, I know. Brian is fixed anyway, so we’re officially finished. And the whole age thing. I could easily have another kid, knowing my body, but having a baby at 44 isn’t on my list of things to do.
Maive is growing up so quickly. It’s been so much fun having only ONE toddler. I’ve only ever had toddlers in pairs. One is easy peasy. Last week she checked off two milestones:
1. She’s pretty much out of diapers.
2. She’s not going to sleep in our room anymore.
But also not really to both of those, haha. She’s been going back and forth with diapers for a few months now, and made the decision last week that she wants to wear undies. Score. But not for everything. We’re so close. She’s in undies from the time she wakes up until bedtime, with a quick diaper moment mid-day. Eh, she’s not the first kid to approach being potty-trained this way. But she is the youngest kiddo to wear undies.
As for sleep, she no longer wants to fall asleep in our room, in her toddler bed. When we were on our trip, she slept with Saige and Baby each night. Now back home, she HAS to go to bed in Saige and Baby’s room. No complaints from us. It’s sad she’s left our room, she’s the last. But it’s all good. She still comes to our bed in the middle of the night. Now if only she’d let me get rid of the toddler bed since it isn’t being used. Patience has never been my strong suit.
Last week really highlighted Maive growing up. Perhaps it’s because time slowed down with a quiet week, to really appreciate her changing things up on us.
THE BEST week, by day.
Are weeks Sunday until Saturday or Monday until Sunday? I’ve never quite figured out which is the preferred way to view weeks. It seems to vary. I suppose a week is technically seven days, so maybe it doesn’t matter which seven days? Eh, I’m overthinking this and it doesn’t matter. For THE BEST week, I’m going Monday until Sunday.
MONDAY
A whole lot of NOTHING. We all slept in as late as we wanted. Except Brian. He had that work thing. But even with that, he’s flexible. I prefer to kick him out to the office than have him stay home. I LOVE having Brian home, when he’s NOT in work mode. When he’s in work mode, he is so focused and he may as well not be around. And I find I’m a better parent and more productive when he’s gone. When he’s around, I become lazy. It’s because we have an unhealthy attachment to one another, haha. When he’s home, I only want to be around him. So I become lazy, hanging around him or waiting for him to make an appearance from his office. Eh, I still like the guy almost 27 years later.
With Brian gone, the kiddos and I had a Screw It Day. That’s what we call days of nothing—no rules, no requirements. I didn’t have them complete any schoolwork or ask them to do anything. I’m pretty sure Blaise gamed all day. Laine did have practice. And we needed groceries. I was going to hit Costco after dropping off Laine at practice, but I didn’t feel like being around a bunch of people shopping on the first of the month. Amazon Fresh and Target Drive-Up to the rescue. Placing food orders online was about as productive as I was Monday.
TUESDAY
Tuesday we hiked Boulder Garden Loop with friends. It was a great hike other than I question the WTA page that says Boulder Garden Loop is good for kids. Yeah, nope. When I see good for kids, I think good for toddlers and up. Like kids who can walk. It’s not that it wasn’t doable by kids but it wasn’t good for kids. The trail has steep, rocky parts. Like I was slightly worried I’d fall carrying Maive in the hiking backpack, injuring us both. I trust myself enough that I wasn’t super worried but it was certainly a possibility I would eat it somewhere on the trail. The other kiddos all did great but I probably wouldn’t have taken Saige and Baby on the hike had I known what it was like. It was all good in the end. It was one of those that I questioned my decision while hiking but was super thrilled we did it when we were finished.
Hikers!
After the hike with our friends, the kiddos and I hit up Bybee Farms for blueberry picking. My plan was to take them Wednesday morning but since we were out that way, I figured we should go for it Tuesday. And we did. It was out of character for me—doing something unplanned, mid-day, in the heat. But it worked out well. It was around 1:30pm when we got there. And it was hot. Low 80s. I’m surprised none of that bothered me. Probably because I was having a chill week with great sleep. And anything after the hike seemed easy.
Blueberry pickers!
All the kiddos grabbed a bucket and we got to picking. There are SO MANY blueberries there. We barely went down one row of blueberry bushes and ended up with close to 10 pounds of blueberries when we left a half-hour later. I don’t even like blueberries but I LOVE picking blueberries. Strawberries require bending down; raspberries can be mushy; blackberries have thorns (and snakes, that one year a snake slithered by my hand while picking a blackberry). Blueberry picking is by far the best. Especially when you grab a handful on the vine and pull, and they all come off at once. And the farm where we go. Stunning. It’s right below Mt. Si. Which is one of my favorite mountains.
Back home after hiking and blueberry picking, we had nothing on the schedule. Well, Saige did. She had hip hop at 7pm. But I had nothing; Brian was taking her to dance. I had already tossed chicken in the crockpot before we left for the hike, upping my dinner game. I don’t cook. I don’t like to cook, and I don’t even eat half the things I make because I’m a vegetarian and the rest of the family isn’t. I’m not a big dinner eater anyway. But last Tuesday kicked off my I make dinner now phase. I even timed it to be ready when Brian got home from work. Thanks to the Find My app. Just because Brian says he’s leaving in five doesn’t mean he’s actually leaving in five. Five means anywhere from 5-60 minutes in Brian’s world. So I track him. Sure enough, I had dinner on the table when he walked in the front door.
Everyone ate and then it was time for Saige to head to hip hop. Brian took her and Laine tagged along to get bubble tea. Maive was fast asleep from the busy day right after Brian left with Saige and Laine. Blaise gamed upstairs and Baby was with me, wanting to watch one specific music video. Which we did and then I let her play Roblox. I had the family room all to myself and actually sat on the couch without getting up until Brian and the girls were back home. That is huge. I never just sit. I sit and then remember I need to do XYZ. And then while doing XYZ, I find something else that needs to be done. The cycle never ends. I maybe sit a few minutes before I’m up and moving about. Not Tuesday!
After watching the music video with Baby, I went down the rabbit hole of YouTube. Which I never do. We aren’t big YouTube watchers. We don’t let the kiddos watch much and I rarely ever open YouTube unless it’s for a specific video. Brian watches tech talks every once in a while, but even that’s rare. Not Tuesday! I always end up watching Queen at Wembley Stadium. What an amazing performance. I wish I could have seen Freddie live. And back then, with no cell phones in the hands of the concert-goers.
Somehow I went from Queen though several music videos, and ended up watching Tape Face?! I guess it’s a guy who competed on one of those American Idol shows but not that one. Anyway, Baby came in and started laughing so I kept it on until Brian was back home with the girls. They caught the tail end of a Tape Face video. It was now close to 9pm and approaching bedtime for all of us.
View from the couch. Freddie and George!
Saige and Baby were fast asleep. Blaise continued gaming, moving from the Xbox upstairs to the computer downstairs. Laine settled in on the couch with her popcorn to watch Bob’s Burgers. Brian and I called it a day and went to our room, without Maive who was asleep in Baby’s bed. It was a successful day and one that was much needed. We were all asleep by 10:30pm. Earlier than usual for Brian and me.
If I could pick the perfect summer day, Tuesday would be the winner.
WEDNESDAY
Wednesday was another sleep in day. Except I was still up by 6am. Brian and I enjoyed the quiet of the morning while the kiddos were still asleep. As each kiddo woke up, we started the day. Brian left for work and I got all the beds made, dishes done, and laundry rotated. After breakfast, the girls wanted to bike, scoot, skateboard, roller skate, etc. out front. I decided I’d take on the garage. Our garage is never that bad but for my standards it gets bad. It often becomes a dumping ground for things we no longer need in the house. And a space where stuff gets unloaded from the car.
Plus I moved the piggies to the garage last Sunday, which is a whole other story that involves Brian needing surgery. They’re safe and well-cared for, and our garage is a four-car tandem garage with ample airflow thanks to the garage doors on both ends, and we have a space for them inside when needed. It was either the garage or re-home them, and Laine and I were both in tears with that plan that we quickly scrapped. I’m really loving having them in the garage! I see them about 20 times each day since I’m in-and-out of the garage so much. And with the kiddos playing outside, they get to see all the action more than being in Laine’s room.
With the piggies help, I cleaned the garage while the girls did whatever out front. Blaise chose to game inside. Shocker. By lunchtime, we were all ready to head inside. Even the piggies. Laine grabbed them and held them until we left for practice later that afternoon.
We all had lunch and relaxed until it was time to leave to get Laine to practice. Well, I didn’t relax. I was keeping up with my dinner game. I had a pedicure scheduled in Woodinville, timed to finished just in time to grab Laine after practice. I didn’t want to drive Laine to practice, drive back home, and then head back out again. Brian and I planned a kiddo hand-off in Redmond, on his way home from work. That way I didn’t have to drive to and from twice. Juggling a bunch of kiddos is SO much fun!
Since I wouldn’t be home for dinner, I made a dinner in advance. Haha! I prepared the dish and placed it in the fridge, along with a salad I made for Brian, and all he had to do was bake the thing. I told Brian not to get used to anything. For the record, the kiddos ate cereal for dinner tonight.
After dropping off Laine, the other kiddos and I went to Redmond Target so they could shop with their birthday money from Papa and Wawa. When we were in Sacramento, we did one big kiddo birthday celebration with presents from family. Baby went with three stuffed characters, Sonic, Bluey, and Bingo; Maive found a Baby Shark fishing game, squishy dinosaur, Play-Doh, and something else I can’t remember at the moment; and Saige only bought a small package of Kit Kats. Blaise wasn’t with us; he’s saving his money anyway for an Oculus.
Brian met us at Target on his way home from work, grabbing the kiddos to take home with them. But not before buying each of the gals a caramel cream frappuccino. I don’t even know what those are but Laine discovered them when we were in Las Vegas and has been obsessed ever since. So of course the rest of the gals are fans now.
Shoppers! Baby and Maive wanted to match. They went the flower route. And my pre-made dinner! I had taken a picture to text Brian, showing him where it was. Because he wouldn’t see it otherwise. Like yesterday, when he was looking for the aluminum foil in the supply closet and couldn’t find it on the shelf where I said it was. Guess why he couldn’t find it? Because he didn’t look behind the box of gallon bags.
Brian and the gals, and I parted ways. I went back to Woodinville with some time to kill before the dreaded pedicure. I’ve been getting pedicures every 2-3 weeks since I was 14. That’s almost 780 pedicures, give or take. There are so many things I would rather be doing than getting pedicures. But habits. I never learned how to do my own toes, and I’m not going to at this point. So every 2-3 weeks, I suffer. Haha. Eh, it’s only annoying because it’s one more thing on the never-ending list. I tossed in a manicure also since my nail finally grew back after jamming it into the bowling alley trash can. That was incredibly painful. Maincures are even worse than pedicures because I have to literally sit there, so close to the nail lady. She’s wonderful and all, but personal space isn’t a thing while getting manicures. I digress.
HomeGoods was my time killer. It was enlightening. I can always tell when I’m moody because I shop. I’m a depressive shopper, haha. But not last week! I left HomeGoods with NOTHING. I couldn’t find a single thing I wanted. What’s that about?! I also went to Target, NOTHING. I’m not kidding when I say last week was THE BEST.
Nothing, check. Pedicure and manicure, check. Grabbing Laine, check. Back home, check. Wednesday, check.
THURSDAY
We had plans Thursday that were cancelled. As much as I was looking forward to our plans, I was excited they were cancelled. I was enjoying the week so much that I wanted more down time. And Thursday delivered with the weather. It was cloudy and cool—my kind of weather. Really, it was much needed after Sacramento and then the continuation of Sacramento-like weather up here. It was up in the 90s and 80s early last week, with bright sun. Not cool. Literally and figuratively.
We all slept in; Brian left for work. It was a total nothing day. We had no plans. Nowhere to be. Nothing to do. The plan in my head was to stay home and putz around with the few projects I have in my job jar. I started in after breakfast but then decided I needed to get out. I debated taking the kiddos to the arboretum but didn’t feel like loading up and driving anywhere. Instead, I told the kiddos to get their shoes on, we were hitting the trail. All the gals were game; there was some grumbling from Blaise. But he rallied and didn’t complain much, and was the first to be ready to roll.
Maive wanted to walk. I let her but took the stroller just in case. The trail route we take is four miles. She walked most of the way, jumping in and out of the stroller for fun. That was annoying but toddlers. We made it to the playground at Tolt MacDonald and had it to ourselves. But nobody felt like staying. Maive did but she was overruled. The kiddos had ICEEs on the brain. We made our way to Jacksons for ICEEs, where everyone except Saige got one. Saige wanted Starbucks. She brought $20 with her to spend. And she spent all $20 plus a bit more. She had to scrounge through her change to make up the extra $1.58. She left with some kind of frappuccino, three cake pops, a cookie, and a brownie. Which is so funny to me because Saige is not a sweets fan. To her credit, she bought the extra cake pops for Baby and Maive. Saige may not like sweets but she’s a sweet kid. How’s that for cheesy?! I was only going to put Saige is a sweet kid and then, yeah.
Maive was locked in the stroller with her ICEE as we made our way through downtown, heading home. The street had been blocked off for three weeks so it was fun to walk through to see the progress. We watched the crew smooth out cement as we passed by the library. Maive wanted back out of the stroller because of course she did. I let her out at the school, and she walked the rest of the way home. Back home, I released the kiddos to do whatever. I started in on making dinner for a third night in a row! And I timed it again to be ready when Brian walked in the door. It was like the 1950s here last week.
Trail walkers and my hawk friend.
Before making dinner, I had a conversation with a hawk. Haha. I know this sounds nuts. I have backyard critters. Specifically one squirrel whom I’ve befriended. We’re pals, even if she doesn’t know. But she never turns down the handful of hazelnuts I special ordered for her, because Wild Birds Unlimited told me hazelnut season is over until late October. I’m protective of her and the little chipmunk who lives in our backyard rock wall.
There are always hawks circling above, high above. I don’t worry too much. But there is this one hawk who comes around and perches on the back trees. I have no evidence it’s the same hawk other than my instinct. It sits on the same tree branch.
A few weeks ago, Brian and I were having our morning coffee at like 5:30am. We happened to be standing in the kitchen, looking in the backyard when a hawk swooped down and took a bunny from our yard! I immediately banged on the window and it dropped the bunny with the kerfuffle. Brian went out and yeeted the bunny over the back fence. He thinks it was dead but in case it was in shock, we didn’t want to burry the poor thing. Brian felt bad because the hawk caught it fair and square, and it was likely dead, and I caused it to drop it in our yard. But my take is I don’t want the hawk thinking our backyard is their grocery store. Especially with my lady squirrel.
The hawk was outside screeching. I could tell it was in the back trees. I spotted it and threw a rock up at the branch where it was perched. It flew to another branch; the branch I’ve seen it on several times before. I doubled-down. I couldn’t throw a rock in that direction so I busted out my phone, put the volume all the way up, and started playing owl screeches. The hawk turned its head from side to side, wondering why TF an owl screech was going on, when there was clearly no owl nearby (this has worked before).
We had a stare-down for like 10 minutes. Eventually it gave up, flew down toward me, and swopped just above my head while I was standing in the backyard. I’m certain that was intentional. I told it to stay away as it flew over our neighbor’s house and away. I haven’t seen it back. I’m sure it thinks I’m nuts, rightly so, and hopefully will stay away.
After dinner we all did our own thing until bedtime. And by my own thing, I lied down next to Brian on the couch. I was tired from the week. Probably from making three dinners, three days in a row. Within an hour I was out of commission, exhausted and upstairs on our bed. Brian got everyone in bed and closed up shop downstairs. I slept hard Thursday night.
FRIDAY
Another hike! Okay, when I don’t hike for a while and then I do, I remember how much I love hiking. Tuesday was a rough hike because I didn’t expect that hike, let alone with 30-pounds of Maive on my back. But it was a good hike in the end, and it made me crave another.
We have standing Friday hiking plans with a friend and her kiddos, and last Friday was no different. Although our standing Friday hiking plans didn’t happen most of July due to travel, theirs and ours.
Gold Creek Pond had been on my list for a few years. I hadn’t made it out yet. This changed Friday. We made the hour drive east, and sett off on the Gold Creek Pond paved trail. I know by definition it was a hike but it was more of a stroll. But man did it deliver. The pond is absolutely gorgeous. And the mountains surrounding the pond made it that much better. Aside from being eaten alive—I didn’t have my bug spray—it was a great hike.
Hikers, again!
And these views!
It didn’t take us long to stroll. Back at the parking lot we decided to meet back up at Rattlesnake Lake. I hadn’t packed lunches like they did; I made a pit stop at Burger King because the McDonald’s line was ridiculously long. I scored an Impossible Whopper so there’s that. I’ve got ordering down. Six cheeseburgers, six hamburgers, three eight-piece nuggets (or 40-piece nuggets at McDonald’s, the kids aren’t BK nugget fans the whole two other times they’ve tried them), and two large fries. I no longer take individual orders when I have all the kiddos. One or two kiddos, sure—I’ll get them exactly what they want. But five kiddos, nope. Burger King in hand, we drove up to Rattlesnake Lake.
It was surprisingly not as busy as I thought it would be for a hot, sunny, PNW summer day. We settled in on the beach while the kiddos all kicked off their shoes. There is a tree about 20-feet from the shore that all the big kiddos were determined to climb. Spoiler: they all did.
It was absolutely beautiful. The lake, surrounding mountains, Rattlesnake Ledge above, and the weather was welcomed given the situation. Even I put my feet in the water. It was fairly warm water.
Rattlesnake Lake.
The kiddos putzed around the lake a while before we decided to hit up the Cedar River Education Center. With shoes back on and Burger King trash disposed, we walked the trail up to the Education center. There was one woman working there and she seemed happy to have visitors. We were a crew of 10 and we were not quiet by the sheer amount of people we had. Eight were kiddos. Everyone was given a bingo ball to use in the vacuum tubes. Which have been a hit with all the kids. I remember taking Blaise and Laine back when it was only them. They still like the vacuum tubes.
Vacuum tubes!
About an hour later, it was time to call it a day. We thanked the lone woman working and made our way back down to Rattlesnake Lake, where we parked. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. Laine had practice but she skipped. It was too fun of an afternoon and on the honest front, she woke up with a sore throat (that went away). Maybe we stretched that a bit but hey, caution in Covid times.
The kiddos and I went straight home from Rattlesnake Lake, using the backroads. We saw the herd of elk on their field and enjoyed the scenic drive to Carnation. It was almost 5pm when we unloaded. I was determined to keep on my dinner plan but wasn’t up for making the White People Taco Night spread. Instead, I made homemade burritos. And by homemade, I mean using store-bought tortillas and canned beans, with shredded cheese and pre-packaged salsa. But they weren’t frozen burritos baked in the oven.
Brian worked a bit later since he had been planning to grab Laine after practice, that she didn’t attend. For some reason Brian tends to work late on Fridays. I don’t understand but I don’t have to work, so I’m not complaining. He eventually made it home after 6pm. He as going to be home at 6pm but his leaving in five was really leaving in 20. It was a quiet night at home. Eventually bedtime rolled around and we all called it a week.
SATURDAY
Everyone humored me. Haha. I had been wanting to hike Iron Goat Trail for about two years. It’s a hike east off the 2, where I usually don’t have cell service. I never want to go alone with the kiddos under those circumstances. Thankfully Brian is super easy-going and I just said, we’re going hiking. He never has any idea what’s on tap but always happily goes along with whatever. I do keep a calendar where he can see what’s up but I don’t know that he does—I don’t think he cares that much.
Blaise, my mini-me, asked me the night before what time we were leaving. He’s my schedule fan, like myself. But for once, I didn’t have a time! Whenever Brian goes, I never worry about parking or anything like that because he has good luck on that front. Maybe I do too but I wouldn’t know, because I rarely risk anything. Except blueberry picking Tuesday. That was a success.
Everyone slept in and we got moving right away. I made lunches for everyone, and had each kiddo pack their own backpack with their lunch, water, and a sweatshirt. I packed the hiking backpack and even remembered my bug spray!
Long story short—because I intend on making a post about the hike with all the pictures—we hiked the trail and it was a great hike! Even the switchbacks we didn’t plan on. Almost seven miles later, we called it a hike and loaded back in the car for home. Driving back home though Sultan, there was a sheriff car with yellow tape blocking a road. I looked down to see about six more sheriff cars and a dead body in the middle of the road, covered with a white sheet with the feet sticking out. My first instinct was a shooting. Because, yay America. Sure enough, I was right. That was the only downer of the week.
Hikers, again!
Back home, White People Taco Night was pushed again, in favor of grabbing food on the way home. It was about 6:15pm when we pulled into our driveway. Everyone showered to get all the bug spray off themselves before calling it a night.
SUNDAY
The day of nothing. Well, for me. Blaise had a mountain bike class and Brian was on tap for picking up him and his buddy. I didn’t have to go anywhere or be on any time schedule. It was glorious. I had planned on waking up early—naturally around 6am like I had been—but I was tired from the busy few days that I slept in until almost 7:30am.
If I don’t hit the trail on a weekend by 7am, I tend to not go. It’s super busy and Sunday was set to be a sunny, hot day, hitting 74 degrees by 10am. No thanks. I did head out around 8:30am with Mel, with the plan to do my standard four miler. But as soon as I made it to the trail, a very nice older woman wanted to chat. And I didn’t but of course I was kind and obliged. We parted ways and I looked down the trail both ways only to see a bunch of people. I noped my plan quickly and went back home.
The rest of Sunday was LAZY. Like I didn’t do much other than sit on the couch. I run a tight ship around the house so there wasn’t much to do in terms of cleaning or putting things away. I do have a never-ending list of things around the house I want to do, but nothing urgent. Or necessary to be quite honest. The only times on Sunday I was productive was when Brian left to pick up the boys from their class. As soon as he leaves, I become a busy bee. And as soon as he’s back, I sit back on the couch. Haha. Seriously, I would love to understand the psychology behind this behavior of mine (and Brian’s, he tends to be lazy when I’m around and productive when I’m not).
Brian took on all the meals Sunday, like old times. Old times being the last almost 12 years since Blaise was born, minus the few nights I cooked last week. In fairness, I do make breakfast sometimes. I can pour a mean bowl of cereal. I have made dinner plans for the rest of this week. Maybe I’ll keep it up! Except for Mondays. Monday is now cereal night. Brian would never let this fly if he were home.
Sunday died down with Sunday Sundaes, our weekly tradition. Brian decided to take on making a blueberry cobbler with some of the blueberries we picked Tuesday. Thinking back to yesterday, he was in the kitchen quite a bit. I think he’d be a short-order cook if it paid our bills.
It’s Monday now. I’ve spent most of the day working on this here and there, while hosting two additional kiddos earlier today. And scheduling. I’ve updated our calendar with everything three homeschool programs, all activities, and even moved a vacation next June because there was a conflict. And I managed to book two sleepovers in the coming weeks, with two kids going to different houses the same night, trading kids with other families. We’ll all end up with the same amount of kids, just not all of our own kids. Tomorrow starts birthday planning, for the remaining four kiddos. It. Never. Ends. Except last week. It truly was THE BEST week.
Blaise and his buddy have camp this week, so it’s the girls and me until Friday, when I leave for a date night with Karann. Haha. We both had this date night idea pop up in our TikTok feeds, and we both decided it needs to happen. More on that later. Until then, the girls and I have a few things planned. They just don’t know this yet. Haha. Maybe I’ll bail on my own plans and enjoy another calm week. Probably not given my pattern. But maybe.
Jumping Raccoons 