Summer Funnin'

(6/4) Dad ran errands this morning and I got the plants I purchased a few days ago in their pots and putzed around in the yard for a bit. When he got back, we took D and Cass to Poochella where we petted some pooches. We grabbed lunch from Mod Pizza and since someone hadn't picked up their order, we ended up with a free pizza. Score! I got the lawn mowed and started to whack the dog kennel, but it's been so wet, I went through two battery charges and still only got a third done. It started raining again this afternoon, so it's probably gonna be right back up there the next time I go out.

(6/5) We had a pretty quiet day today. We woke up to it monsooning again so we all hung out inside and did our own things. Dad went off to work and I had (virtual) book club this afternoon. I did manage to get out and finish the dog yard during a break in the rain, so at least that's done. Super exciting Sunday around here!

(6/6) Back to work and school for all of us today. The twins were moving like sloths this morning, bemoaning the lack of weekend.  They went off to school grouching at each other which usually translates to a craptastic day. I'm sorry, teachers! We're almost done.

(6/7) School and work for all of us today. J was a hot mess today and got some primo parenting from me (read: it was bad. Like bad-bad). A three sentence summary caused much swearing and screaming, and made me wonder when my children learned such words and gestures. Oof.

(6/8) It was my day off today and after the boys and Dad were off, I ran some errands and of course ended up in the plant section. I bought some honeysuckle and moved the slow growing grape off to one side so it could have the other. I don't know what I did, but I totally threw my back out and could barely move after I got my plants in the ground. J had a great day, but D spiraled badly and I left a storming child at home while I took the other to the store to celebrate. D was furious with me pretty much all afternoon, but managed to get his work done in time for dessert. I may have bribed him to complete the rest of his work tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

(6/9) I asked to work from home today since my back was still all seized up. I made it through half the day before calling out. Both boys had great days and earned their bribes!

(6/10) I'm sure glad I am working from home. Sitting too long was still really painful, but I'm feeling and moving a little better today. We met a new counselor for J this afternoon. Even though we're almost done with school, it'll be good to have some new tools to help us help him. 

(6/11) Dad and I hit the antique store that hosts the estate sales that Dad likes to frequent. We scored some new dishes and then hit the road to go to Cat 5's spring release. My back was feeling good enough to go out for some vitamin W! We tasted and bought some delicious wines and then went to the nursery. I had a few plants not survive winter, so I replaced those and picked up a beautiful rose. Roses always remind me of my aunt and this one will be a beautiful addition to our yard. After shopping, we ran home and grabbed the kids for an early dinner at El Paraiso. We came home stuffed and headed for a food coma. The weather was great so I got about half the things I bought planted as well as the front yard's beds cleaned up. I way overdid it though and hung out with a heating pad for the rest of the evening.

(6/12) Yeaaaah, I way over did it yesterday. I'm moving slow today, but finished getting my plants in the ground and mowed the lawn. Slowly, but I got it done before it started to rain. The children barked at each other all day. I'm about ready to cut the wi-fi and lock them outside. 

(6/13) Sheesh, who fed my children grumpy pills? J started in on D as soon as he came down and they argued so much I sent them both to their rooms. They bickered until they went to school and after Dad had them stop and take a few deep breaths. It was 10am by the time I got the first call from the school. They both had terrible days. I strategized with their teachers after school, but am not real hopeful. J's nose started to run this evening and by the time he went to bed he was running a temp. Ugh. 

(6/14) J was looking pretty rough this morning and was still running a temp so I called him out. D was not happy about going to school when J didn't have to. I got my first call from the school before school even started, so I was not hopeful. I was pleasantly surprised when I picked him up and he had gotten 100% on his behavior report for the day. Way to go, D! It was pizza night, so Dad ordered us pizzas and the boys whacked two mediums between them. I fear for our summer food budget! 

(6/15) I had the day off today. Sarah and I called off our morning walk so we could sleep in until 6:30a (I know!). J was still running a temp so I kept him home. He's missing field day, which would have been fun, but he is totally fine with being home. I ran some errands and finally returned the chromebooks I should have returned when they went back in-person. Whoopsie! D managed a really good day despite field day, his brother not being there, and having to finish his diagnostic. So I was really proud of him and we went to the store for treats this afternoon. We had a nice evening and Dad and I sat out by the fire after the boys went to bed. 

(6/16) I worked in the building today and J was home sick again with a temp. Poor buddy. D struggled today, but was pleased to see the assortment of incentive candy Dad picked up to get us through the end of the school year. LOL! He bought a 3lb bag of Jolly Ranchers, Starburst, and Tootsie Flavor Rolls. The kids have their marketplace tomorrow where they can "sell" (using class currency) a good or a service. D's plan was to price the candy so that it's half off if they choose the option that gives him one.

(6/17) J was furious that he was no longer running a fever and kept checking his temp and stomping around trying to will it to come back. He just wanted to stay home and play video games, but I'm so glad he went because he designed this cool tabletop game for their marketplace once he calmed down. We played a quick game this evening and he did a great job! Both twins came home loaded with candy and had great days! Now, on to a three day weekend!

(6/18) We were supposed to visit the grands this weekend for Father's Day, but J is still hacking and we don't want to share our germs. So sorry, Dad, you're stuck with us instead of having a quiet weekend to yourself! Since the planned dinners this weekend were only for two, Dad ran out and picked up an amazing huckleberry cream pie from the Snohomish Pie Co and dinner for tonight from Double DD Meats. Meatloaf and special sodas are a crowd favorite here! 

(6/19) Happy Father's Day/Juneteenth! Dad got up early and made everyone Dutch Babies. They were delish as usual! He had to work today, and after he left, I made up one of the EveryPlate dinners he had planned for himself while we were supposed to be gone and shared it with C. Then I drove down Sky Nursery to look at trellises for our kiwi. I found one I love but it was pretty spendy so I came on home. I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning out the oven (do I know how to party or what?!) and listening to a book. We called the grands and chatted for a bit. Hopefully we can plan a time soonish to get over there.

(6/20) The boys and I had the day off in observance of Juneteenth. Sarah and I went for a walk that was supposed to lead to coffee, but the employee was on break when we got there, so we just came on home where I made my own fancy coffee. The boys video gamed the day away and I putzed around in the yard and then read my book. It was a pretty quiet day around here.

(6/21) Oof, the last few weeks are so hard for D. He was in full D-saster mode when we finally got him off to school. He let his teacher know he was stressed and then managed to completely turn it around by the time I picked them up. J's day was awful, but he did manage a better second half. 

(6/22) LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! The boys had a half day today and they're out for the summer. Nanan came over so I could put some pictures on her computer and went with me to pick up the boys. They both had great days and are excited to be done! I ordered teriyaki and sushi and we feasted for lunch. 

(6/23) I worked in the building today and the boys packed up to head to Opa's. I was all by myself in my corner of the office and then came home to a completely quiet house. I mean, I like my alone time, but that was weird! 

(6/24) I had to work today (from home) and was thankful I had something pretty mindless to do. Roe was overturned today, and though we knew it was coming it was still a gut-punch. I watched a lot of news today and stewed about it. I video chatted with the kids this evening. They had quite the eventful day. I'm glad they were for the folks right now. 

(6/25) I had a pretty quiet morning and the boys returned around 1p. C will be leaving this afternoon to go to a friend's house for a belated birthday party. I was chatting with him about things we might want to do this summer and he hasn't gotten a chance to even relax yet; we've been so busy. It finally heated up in our corner of the world and I think this was the first time I've had to water the plants outside this year. I got out the umbrella and put together the new arbor for our kiwi plant to grow onto. Bring it on, summer!

(6/26) This morning we installed J's air conditioner. It got up to 81° in the house today, but didn't feel too unpleasant. I took the twins to the Aquatic Center for rec swim this afternoon. We haven't been since before Covid, so that was fun. The boys kept asking where the deep end was--they're so tall now that they can easily stand up in the deeper areas. We have one more day of hot before the rain returns.

(6/27) We're in for a scorcher today. It was already 65° at 6a on my walk. I had to work today so we kept the fans on and hunkered down until we finally got over the peak heat.

(6/28) Whew, it was about 30° cooler this morning and the forecasted rain didn't appear making our walk nice and sunny! I headed up to Bellingham this afternoon because we thought it was grand baby time, but alas, he wanted to stay put for a bit longer. I ended up getting a room close the hospital and will hang out until it's time. I can't wait!

(6/29) S had contractions all night so they went in this morning and were sent home with meds to sleep a bit. Lil mister is a week overdue so an induction was planned for tomorrow if they don't go earlier. S woke up contracting pretty regularly, but still wasn't far enough along to admit this afternoon. A few more hours at home and suddenly it was go time! I met them at the hospital and got to be present for his birth. He's just precious!! 

(6/30) After Mama got all patched up, they moved us to post partum and new dad S went to grab us dinner in the wee hours of the morning. After some food, we settled in for a few hours of sleep. We worked on latching and sleeping and stared a lot at each other today. It was decided that S and baby W would stay in the hospital tonight too since he wouldn't hit 24hrs until 11pm tonight. He was pretty sleepy and chill up to this evening when he was determined to get her milk to come in faster! I ended up taking him for an hour or so in the middle of the night and he tried his hardest to find the goods in my shoulder. We didn't get a lot of sleep tonight, but got through by tag-teaming.

(7/1) Yay! Discharge day! We got one more consult with lactation and the new parents took the state-mandated "don't shake the baby class" while I watched baby (read: fell fast asleep while he was snoozing in his bed). We got out of there around 2p and I was home an hour later. It was good to be home! I missed my guys!

(7/2) Ahhh, it was so good to be back home in my own bed for a night. Sarah and I went for a walk this morning and when I got home, we got started on packing up to go again! This time we're headed for a lil vacay out to Columbia's Edge, an Airbnb we stayed at and loved last year. We got here and the twins were distressed that the wifi wasn't working and that vacation was RUINED. Lol, they had fun in the hot tub though and survived. Barely.

(7/3) We had a quiet morning here. It was a little chilly inside so I read my book outside in the sun for a bit. We had a thunderstorm roll through with sideways rain hard enough to defeat the seal on the window in our unit, so we got all the towels and then switched them out as the storm finally moved on. We went to dinner at the golf course and everyone really enjoyed what they ordered. D was thrilled to find ribs on the menu, so that's what he and C ordered. J got a burger bigger than his head, and Dad and I ordered steaks. We came home to food coma for a bit and then hot tubbed and enjoyed the sunset. 

(7/4) We spent a quiet day at our Airbnb. We grilled this evening and enjoyed a cherry pie from the Pie Co. The kiddos and Dad went tubbing tonight and I photographed the sunset and listened to a book. We only heard a few pops go off now and then, but didn't see any fireworks. Instead we watched this adorable rescue dog award show and hoped our pups were having a peaceful night.

(7/5) We headed on home this morning. The pups were ecstatic, tho Noodley looked like he was still working off some of his meds from the night before. We did exciting things like grocery shop and some yard work after we got home. We had a fun vacay, but it's always good to be back!

(7/6) Sarah and I went walking this morning. It was muggy and gross out, so we skipped having coffee in favor of shortening our trek. Dad and I took the pups to the dog park and it sprinkled on us even though it was bright and sunny out. The twins wanted to go to the Aquatic Center to swim this afternoon and are now at the age that I don't have to entertain them, they just go off and swim! While we were gone, Dad ran out and got us steaks to grill and we had an amazing dinner.

(7/7) Sarah and I went for walk this morning and she invited the boys over to swim this afternoon, even though it was overcast and a little chilly. J had a blast and was in the whole time. D was in and out since there were lots of kids and he announced that he wasn't visiting just to swim, and that he could sit and talk with us too. 😂

(7/8) Happy birthday C! 15 today. I went and grabbed him a key lime pie from the Snohomish Pie Co and Dad took him to lunch. We had a pretty low-key day and he did what he loves to do: play video games with his buds.

(7/9) Dad got sick of the twins fighting over the PC so decided to put together another box. He bought D his own desk and put it together tonight. D is thrilled! I finally got my butt back to the gym and took a Zumba class today. The instructor forgot her playlist and streamed everything from YouTube, including the ads. So the class was just meh for me. I picked up J and took him to the Aquatic Center for rec swim and spent a couple of hours reading my book which turned things around for me. 

(7/10) Dad had a nice vacation but was back to work today. I decided on a Zumba class this morning chased by home renovation. Always a great combo! I loved today's class and will be back again soon. For the redecorating, I started out by moving the bookcase to the opposite wall in our room and took the small desk down for J, set up his computer on that, and then cleaned out the big roll-top to move upstairs. I only got about halfway done since the twins had packed every corner of it with wrappers and other junk. It needed a good clean-out at the very least! Dad and I sat out by the fire tonight, which was a great finish to a busy day!

(7/11) Today was a work day for Dad & me and the boys had the day to videogame their brains away. Dad helped me heft the huge roll-top desk upstairs and I spent the afternoon getting my home office situated. We've both come to the conclusion that we are NEVER moving that beast again. We went out and sat by the fire again this evening. The moon was huge--it's supposed to be a super moon tomorrow.  

(7/12) Meeting Tuesday was a busy one for me. I worked from home and was up in my room most of the day. The kids video-gamed the day away but stopped briefly for pizza. Ahhh, the summer life. 

(7/13) I had the day off today and went to Zumba this morning. I had a doctor's appointment that took up much of the afternoon but when I messaged Sarah and asked if she wanted to get the boys together to swim, she said yes, so we wandered over there and the boys played until dinnertime. The boys were very irritated that we didn't let them swim longer, but it worked out since I had errands to run tonight anyway. 

(7/14) I worked in the office today. I haven't been in-person in weeks, so it was good to see everyone! I had another HOA meeting this evening which was attended by even fewer home owners than the last. Argh! But at least we got the budget passed. Baby steps?

(7/15) I worked today and Dad had the day off. He took the twins to Bailey Farm and they picked a bunch of strawberries and raspberries. They were delish! This afternoon, he ran C to the DMV and got him his permit. Eek! C drove home from the DMV and did a good job. We went out to dinner to celebrate. D whacked a 12 oz steak all on his own. Kid has expensive taste! 

(7/16) Sarah and I went for a walk this morning while Dad & C went up to work on the Miata at Rob's. I purchased a new arbor for our grape vine and worked to untangle it from the leaning trellises we had it on. We ended up getting most of it untangled from the side pieces and then left the center one in the middle of the arbor and then wove the vines up on it. It didn't turn out half bad! It looked a little stressed tonight, so hopefully with a good soak it will be back to happy again. S & S came over with baby W and we had dinner together. Everybody's doing good and it was fun to see them and hold the bebe! 

(7/17) I slept in this morning and then went to a Zumba class. J has been asking all week to swim, so I took him to rec swim at the Aquatic Center. When we got home, we had just enough time to shower and change before heading off to Amber & Jake's for dinner. We had a great time and shared lots of laughs!

(7/18) Monday again? Didn't we just do this? Dad and I worked today and the kiddos proceeded to melt their brains with video games. 

(7/19) Meeting Tuesday was a busy one. Due to the rising covid cases, we decided to change the location for our summer outing for work, which meant a little scrambling because everything was already set. The committee found a restaurant with amazing looking food that will let us have their patio. I'm looking forward to it!  

(7/20) I had the day off today and went to a Zumba class in the morning and then got the extreme fun of taking the kiddos in for their dentist appointments. We decided on sushi and teriyaki for lunch and C drove us home from the store. He did a pretty good job and managed to park the car in our driveway! I bought entirely too much food, but the boys loved it and I didn't have to cook dinner, so it was a win for me. I ran a bunch of errands and even ran in to work to water my plants since we're back on mask protocol and I'm opting to work from home during this wave.

(7/21) I worked from home today. Dad picked up a foster doggo for us. His name is Sonny, he is 9 years old and is darling! I think easing us back in to fostering with a delightful senior is a perfect idea. The doggos are handling it pretty well, though Noodle is being a bit of a butt. But we're figuring it out.

(7/22) I worked from home today and Dad and the boys had the day off. Today totally dragggged. Dad was in and out with errands so I sat with J for his appointment, which made things dramatically worse. Wee. Hopefully we'll get things sorted so it's better next time. 

(7/23) Dad and I decided to celebrate our 21st anniversary a little early since the kids and I will hopefully be visiting the grands on the actual date. We took a drive in the Miata out to Bad Dog where a yard sale benefiting the rescue we're working with was being held. Scored a new harness for Toffee and a new portable a/c for D. We went to lunch at Scuttlebutt and then drove home to spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out. 

(7/24) Sarah and I walked this morning before Dad headed off for work. I decided we needed to do *something* today so asked the boys if they wanted to go swimming. They did, so we hit the Aquatic Center for rec swim. Sarah messaged in the middle of the session asking if my boys would like to come over to swim, so we piled in the car in wet suits and went to Sarah's house for a few more hours. 

(7/25) Today was a work day for Dad and me. Sarah and I took a walk this morning before it got too hot. C started drivers ed classes today. They moved him to online sessions due to increasing covid counts in our area. The nice thing is we don't have to ferry him there and back, but it would've been a convenient built-in practice time. Aw well. 

(7/26) Sarah and I walked before the day really heated up. I'm thankful today for the a/c units we bought this past winter. We got the downstairs unit set up and it kept the house at a not-awful temp as the outside crept into the 90s. Dad and I had to work today, so we didn't do a whole lot other than that and try not to melt. 

(7/27) Hot, hot, hot! I had the day off today and normally would go to Zumba, but wasn't feeling it with it already 75°. Dad and I installed the air-conditioner in our room, and I camped out upstairs for a bit putting this blog together. Then I ran a few errands, stopped by work to water my plants since I won't be in again tomorrow and came home to cook dinner for the boys. The house stayed a not-awful 78°, but we did trip the breaker once with everything going. It'll be a juggling act for sure, but I think today was supposed to be the hottest day this week.