Holiday Weekend Fun

Last Friday, the kids' school had a Beach Day spirit day. They used the opportunity to sport their new clothes that Grandma brought them from Hawaii. That worked out perfectly because we also got to see Gma and Gpa!!

My parents were making a trip down to the Cities to visit my grandparents' graves at Fort Snelling. They come every Memorial Day weekend - and Mom was not about to let a pandemic stop her from putting flowers out. They had originally planned a quick down and back - but haven't seen the kids and Mike since January (I got a quick lunch in early March before everything shut down). So we agreed to a socially distant drop in visit.

My parents decided to stay for a couple days at Emmy's - so she went to the cemetery with them too. AND THEN CAME HERE. You guys, we have not all been together since Christmas. That has not happened since ... ever. That has never happened. It's not how we roll. We are entangled, co-dependent people and are really okay with that. It was so good to see them and my socially distant resolve faded rather quickly (that and Gpa simply ignored my rules to walk right up and hug Dec). Between that, missing everyone, and the pathetic looks on Gma and Fiona's faces, there.were.hugs. We all needed them!

Gma, Gpa, and Auntie joined us for Ice Cream Friday (that's a quarantine thing that I'm pretty sure the kids hope becomes permanent) - and then a pretty epic baseball game broke out in the back yard. Everyone played - even grandma. Dec and Gpa bonded over their sweet left-handed swings. Auntie and I showed some serious skills. Dec even pitched. We had such a fun time and for a few hours, life felt normal again. 

The rest of the weekend was fun and low-key. We weren't too sad to be home because we typically don't travel for Memorial Day weekend. We were very sad about the forecast for three straight days of rain. Saturday morning, I ventured out to get vegetable plants and flowers for our new garden and my pots. It looked like my best chance to get everything planted while staying dry. The kids helped me plant the veggies and then I got the pots done right before it started pouring. Whew!

But thankfully, while there was rain every day, it ended up being mostly at night. So Sunday afternoon, we headed out for a 3+ mile family bike ride. We followed the bike trail over to our original Ms. A's and had a lovely socially distant visit with her and her family. Dec even got to issue a personal invite to his buddy Jack for his birthday parade. Those two and their sweet friendship is the best. And it's so fun to see how excited a 16-year-old boy is to come to a six-year-old's celebration. 

On Memorial Day proper, we needed out of the house. Mike decided we were going to check out the hiking trails at Carver Park Reserve. It was a 30 minute drive to get there and we were all so excited to be outside Shakopee city limits. I was a little concerned by the number of cars in the parking lot, but there are enough trails and woods that we felt very spread out and didn't see many people at all. 

We hiked about a mile - stopping many times to check things out. Mike pointed out deer tracks and showed them what a deer trail looked like. We saw a lot of birds and Quinn even found a chigger on the ground! I suspect we will be back there again to check out other trails this summer. Mike and I are already brainstorming other places to explore. The kids are campaigning for a place with more rocks to climb!

One of our favorite parts of the weekend was enjoying the strawberry lemonade poke cake we made after each of our adventures. It was a fun cake to make and Quinn and Dec even got to practice piping with the poke hole filling. Mike learned how to make pizzas on our new grill and we experimented with grilling ribs too. Our bellies had a delicious weekend!

Life in May

We are in the final days of May ... and we have actual things on our calendar. We almost don't know to do with things that start at a specific time and require us to be ready and organized and probably fed. What is this craziness?!?! Granted, they are all virtual Zoom events so non-athleisure attire and footwear remain optional. But still. PLANS!

We have six days left of school and then summer begins. Summer will look different this year than it has in the past. But we are determined to find safe ways to make it great. As we wrap up the school year (Teacher Dad cannot wait to close down his classroom), here is a glimpse of our life in May and the final weeks of homeschool.

We continue to go on our afternoon biking/blading/walking adventures. We enjoy the time together and the kids have used it to really test out their bravery and adventure skills. We've donated a fair amount to skin to the paved trail, taken a couple handlebars to the mid-section, and been part of a few epic wipeouts. 

This big girl has turned teenager in lockdown. I don't know why she looks so old. I keep trying to convince her to stop aging - but she is clearly not listening.

The gang decided to make disco chalk outlines one day on the driveway. I don't know where they learned about disco - but their poses are on point!

In a burst of optimism, Mike brought the camper home for the summer. We've already canceled our annual Father's Day camping trip - but we are hopeful for other opportunities later in the summer. However, since the camper came home, it was clearly the place to have Ice Cream Friday!

Mike's creativity continues to amaze me! Well ... it's either creativity or desperation. He is looking for ways to keep these humans happy and occupied. We are already to our August-level tricks. And it's only May. [shudder] So obviously, we ended up with a ping pong net that can attach to any table and a few paddles and balls. Dec is too short to play on our dining room table, so he's learning on the coffee table. If he masters those skills, be wary of a hustler!

Quinn has had some bad luck with her bike - a couple flat tires and a locked up chain - that have impacted her participation in family bike rides. We are happy to report that the bike is back to working condition, Dad only had to rescue her from the trail once (although we did have to push the bike home a second time), and she now knows how to change a tire.

Fiona is learning about ancient cultures in her Social Studies class. During Ancient Greece week, she learned to write her name using the Greek alphabet and was super proud.

Quinn has been working on her culinary chopping skills. Last night, she sliced an entire cucumber for me with minimal supervision. We've covered quartering strawberries and slicing cucumbers. She was unhappy that I wouldn't like her dice potatoes - until I showed her how slippery they are and how much more force you need than on a cucumber.

We got great news this week - youth summer sports are starting up! They are making adjustments to keep the athletes and families safe and healthy. But holy smokes, we.are.so.excited! Our two big muscle children need an outlet for their energy beyond our yard. Because the soccer season is so delayed, Dec will be playing ball on Tuesdays and Saturdays - and doing summer hockey on Mondays and Wednesdays. Quinn has hockey on Tuesdays and soccer on Thursday and Saturday. The calendar is back!

The Lost Lost Tooth

Big exciting news - Dec has lost his second tooth! Apparently he loses teeth with flair. He announced it was loose a couple weeks ago and we were very excited. You see, the adult tooth is already in ... behind it! So we have been hoping it would come out on its own - because otherwise the dentist was going to give it a yank. 

Once it was loose, Mike and D started planning how they would get it out. They decided to tie a string to a remote control car and pull it out that way. Mike was doing a daily check to deem it "loose enough" or not. On the infamous night, the tooth was declared "close, but not quite yet." So Dec trotted off to brush his teeth. 

Suddenly the whole house was filled with the saddest wail: "I swallowed my tooth." D's toothbrush disagreed with Mike's assessment and popped that tooth right out. It startled Dec and down the throat it went. Or down the drain. There is a bit of confusion around the actual course of events. We do know that the tooth was nowhere to be found

There was a lot of sadness and concern about the tooth being in his tummy and what that meant. Once we assured him that it would not make him sick and that the tooth fairy would still come [let's be honest, that was the main concern], the smile returned. Big sister Q stepped up and wrote a note to the tooth fairy that informed said fairy that Declan swallowed his tooth and would she still bring him two coins pretty please. The note - instead of the tooth - went under his pillow.

The tooth fairy is a good egg - because two quarters found their way under the pillow and the drama of the lost lost tooth turned into a funny story that he enjoys telling. Will the third time be a charm and he won't try to lose the lost tooth? 

And ... will that be the tooth extracted by remote control car? No boy living here has given up on that plan!

Low-Key Mother's Day

I'm not going to lie. Mother's Day didn't stand much of a chance this year. Between eight weeks of lockdown, knowing I couldn't see my own mom, and losing Yogi, I wasn't in a very "holiday" place. Mike and the kids asked what I wanted that was special - but other than maybe going 10 minutes without fighting about stupid stuff, I told them I just wanted hugs. It was true (especially about the fighting).

I need to tell you guys that these children stepped it up in a big way. I was greeted with a donut breakfast and beautiful hand-drawn flower bouquets. After lunch, they disappeared downstairs and 20 minutes later, invited us down for a special Mother's Day play performance.

It was incredibly sweet and they worked really hard together (and I think they totally made it 10 minutes without fighting). The grand finale was my favorite part - there were jazz hands and a cheerleader move. The finale is why you have three kids!

We finished the day with a new family evening activity ... watching Kids Baking Championship together. I don't know how they found it, but they've been obsessed with watching it when they wake up in the morning. So we've saved Season 5 to watch together. I love that they love it - but there was a lot of judgy judginess on the flavors of the Strawberry Lemon bread we made [verdict was: needed more lemon].

Other notable events of the weekend (very notable because we had actual plans!) ... on Saturday, I left Shakopee. I know. I was a little worried that there wasn't life beyond the city lines. But there was!! I headed up to Bloomington to have socially distant birthday coffee and celebrate my college roommate's 40th birthday. I was able to surprise her (yay!). She sat on her front step and I sat at the end of her sidewalk to visit. Then our other roommate showed up as well and we had a lovely triangle coffee visit.

We also got to join our first birthday parade on Sunday to celebrate sweet Ev's 10th birthday. Despite her big golden birthday party being cancelled, we got to help make her day really special (and Fiona did her best to hang out in a socially-distant-yet-as-close-as-possible way).

All told, on a weekend that had everything working against it, we still managed to make it pretty special.

Happy Trails, Sweet Puppy

Last Thursday, our sweet Yogi went to heaven. My fear has always been that we won't be certain of our decision and that we either let him suffer too long or make a premature decision. His final selfless act (in a lifetime of selfless acts) was making it crystal clear to us that he was ready. We hate the decision we had to make. But we know in our hearts that he was ready and it was time.

Thirteen years (and one month) ago, I had to fulfill my promise to Mike that we'd "get a puppy in the spring." Our deal was that I got to pick the breed. There was never a doubt in my mind that I wanted a golden retriever. So when I saw a post at work about golden retriever puppies for adoption, we decided that we'd go see the puppies ... "just to check them out."

We walked into my co-worker's living room and the two puppies that were still available were out playing. One of them was running around, pouncing on everything - until I sat on the floor. Then that puppy climbed right up into my lap and settled down. Mike looked at Steve and said, "I'm pretty sure we'll be taking this one." And with that, Yogi and I chose each other - and Mike got us both.

Yogi was the best dog. Period. That's really all I need to write (we all know I'll write more). I think one of the biggest testaments to Yogi's awesomeness were two texts we got the day he passed. Mike's sister simply said "best dog ever" (true). Brad wrote "happiest dog I've ever met" (also true). Yogs was simply the best. In every way (Gma J may claim his one vice was that he shed a lot. and by the end, his breath was pretty brutal).

I'll never forget how he didn't leave my side for days during our two miscarriages. He was so intrigued and excited when we brought Fiona home from the hospital. He was so annoyed when we brought Declan home (and gave Mike a look that clearly said stop bringing these things home). He was incredibly mild-mannered, but was undeniably the alpha dog. He once fought a St. Bernard when I was pregnant with Fiona to "protect" me (Mike had to run off the field mid-game to help break up the fight). In one day, he showed my cousin Anna's puppy who was the boss. Nyko thought he was. Yogi disagreed. Nyks never questioned Yogs' alpha status again - even when Yogs was super old.

One of the unexpected blessings of lockdown life is that we got to spend almost every moment of Yogi's last two months with him. In fact, we got our share of "oh my goodness. why are you still here? I need a nap. Can't you all leave?" looks during those weeks. But he also seemed to like having us around - and getting to be part of the chaos. Everyone enjoyed the extra pets and snuggles!

It also gave Mike and me a front row view to the final decline. His back legs stopped working. He was falling down all the time and it was a struggle to get up and move around. By the end, he had stopped eating (although because of COVID, it took 10 days to get in after we called the vet. We got some fancy canned dog food to keep him going for the final few days). Even Declan noticed the rapid deterioration and asked if we would need to give Yogi the "sleep shot." It was heartbreaking to make the decision, make the call to the vet, and tell the kids. Declan sobbed, Fiona was devastated but understood why, and Quinn was annoyed that she felt feelings.

Yogi's appointment was at 2:00pm, which meant we got a good portion of the day with him. It was both awesome and awful - as we all felt the inevitable hanging over us. Declan was a hot mess that morning. He would randomly start sobbing. Quinn was laser focused on her homework. And Fiona was hiding in our bedroom, pretending to do her homework but really just avoiding the whole thing. It was so interesting to see how they grieve in different ways (as do Mike and I) and figure out how to best comfort each of them.

After lunch, we took a final family picture. At 1:45, Mike give us an "eight minute notice" and we all found ourselves on the floor, crying and petting Yogi. It sounds really sad (and it was), but it was also the perfect moment of togetherness. Once we got him in Mike's car (which was a feat in itself), the kids and I gave him hugs and said our final good-byes. Then they went inside and Mike and I stood on the driveway, hugging and crying. It shattered my heart to watch them drive away. I felt so bad leaving Mike to do this on his own.

Then I walked in the house to three children breaking down completely - and remembered that my job wasn't a walk in the park either. My lap was not big enough - but we made it through. Honestly, once we got through the initial grief, the kids seemed to feel better than they did in the morning. It also helped that I went to my Johnson go-to move and we made cookies. Not just any cookies - cut out cookies. I let them choose whatever cutters they wanted and we ended up with lots of rainbows and angels and unicorns and bunnies. Decorating them was a creative relief and several cookies had Yogi's name written on them.

The kids seem to be bouncing back fairly well. They are sad and miss Yogi, but are doing fine. In fact, they are firmly on the "let's get a puppy" train. Mike and I are having a harder time. We have both been really sad. We are to the point now where it hits us in the unexpected moments - like when Mike wants to throw a weird-shaped chip. Or when we lock the slider without having brought a dude outside. Or when I don't actually need to strategically position my laundry piles so they don't get knocked over. We still find ourselves looking for him, just to give him a pet or a scratch.

Yogi Godzilla Vanneste, we love you so much and will always miss you. In the words of Mike, "we'll see you on the other side, bud." Until then, save us a spot by you in heaven. And enjoy your reunion with Teemu. We know he's been waiting for you!

Final Thoughts on April Life

There will be an entire post on all the house projects Mike has accomplished in the last 59 days (spoiler alert: it is a lot!). Most of them have been on his list for a long time. One was a bit of a surprise. Quinn went out to grab the mail one evening on her rollerblades. She fell, grabbed the mailbox to stop her fall, and ripped the entire thing off the post (with it landing on her head). So the next day, we got a fancy new mailbox installed.

One afternoon, while playing outside, Quinn saw something moving in the garage. She got her dad and they discovered an injured baby bunny hiding behind a bunch of stuff. Mike managed to gently get it out and move it to a shelter he made for it in the yard. The kids named him (her?) Hero and kept tabs on it for the rest of the day. Hero was gone the next morning, so we hope he rejoined his family.

There has been a lot of really solid driveway art happening. It is both a way to pass the time and helps us feel connected to the people walking by. We've seen several people look at the drawings and smile. It makes the artists' days. Mike also just recently realized that some of our chalk is glitter chalk - and feels so much better about why our pavement sparkles!

The kids' school is still trying to do spirit days to keep things fresh and give the kids something to look forward to. They were all particularly excited about Crazy Hair day. Fiona chose to wear her purple wig to her classroom Meet (where she was delighted that some people did not recognize her). Dec asked me to make rainbow hair for him (I use face paint markers). Once Q saw that, she quickly ended up with Saber stripes. Her teacher is the HS soccer coach - so she was extra proud to send him a picture of her Saber-striped hair.

April 30th was the most beautiful day - and honestly, we are so tired of our house. So Mike made the executive decision and ordered Jimmy John's, we packed a few things and grabbed some blankets, and headed to a local park for a picnic. We were extremely socially distant from anyone else there, but all thoroughly enjoyed the change of scenery and the outside time. It was just what we needed to put a bit of bounce back in our steps.

There was no school on May 1, but I had a really busy work day. So I lined the kids up with the supplies to make May baskets (with Mike whining about the fact that it was not art day and why was I doing this to him). We've never done May baskets before, but they had so much fun making, decorating, filling, and delivering their baskets. We even got in the car to deliver to a couple friends who don't live in our neighborhoods.

And with that, we survived staying at home for the entire month of April.

Game On

When we started looking more seriously at houses last year, one of the things that was a "nice to have" in my mind was a place to store all our games. When we decided not to move, getting the game situation under control was big on my to-do list. Then lockdown hit and we were more focused on establishing our new routine and getting homeschool under control.

With a few weeks of lockdown under our belts, it was time to finally tackle the game situation. Especially since Quinn really wanted to play Uno ... and Uno was ... [insert your best guess]. Also - we were getting desperate for new things to do!

You guys, I spent approximately 20 more hours thinking about organizing the games than it actually took me to organize them. I was on pinterest, I was on Amazon, Target, and Wayfair. I was back on pinterest. I had out a tape measure and was measuring the game boxes. There may have been shades of ridiculousness in the amount of thought that went into this project. When it came down to it, I ended up ordering a 4x4 cube organizer from Target. All that thought for such a simple solution.

We were able to do a contactless drive up to get it at Target, made a swing by the storage unit where a critical mass of games were living [fun fact: when we actually thought we were moving and just decluttering the house, we put a lot of things we actually use in storage - not thinking they would live there for months. We are slowly but surely retrieving said items.], and set up a construction crew in the basement.

Once Mike, Q, and D had built the shelf, I gathered all the games from seven (yep, you read the right. SEVEN) different spots in our house. It was clear why we didn't play games as often as I would have expected. If you managed to find the game you wanted to play, it was hard work to get it out. And heaven forbid you want to put it away - as that often required a PhD in engineering.

Quinn was so excited to help. There's not much that Quinn likes more than organizing things. I was told in no uncertain terms to wait for her! Once we got everything staged, Q and I probably had everything put away in under two hours. We ordered a few cubes for the smaller dice and card games, cleaned out some games that we've outgrown, and even have space to grow!

Fun fact #2: when you can find the games, you actually play them! We've been enjoying many rounds of Old Maid, Go Fish, Memory, and Phase 10 dice.

Fun fact #3: when you don't need an engineering degree, even five-year-olds can put their own games away!!

Outside Adventures

Our early lockdown tradition of going out for a bike ride/blade/walk when I finish work remains a favorite part of our day. We marked Day 50 of lockdown today with a 2+ mile bike ride on a trail we haven't explored yet (yay for something different!!). There was a fairly substantial hill in the middle of the ride that everyone rode up - without having to walk their bikes! I was riding by Dec and when we got to the top, he looked at me and said, "Nailed it."

[You guys, Fiona shouldn't be able to ride a bike. Instead, she is riding all the way up hills that are legitimately HARD for Mike and me. On her own. She is so tough and determined. Tougher than even she knows! But believe me, we know!]

Quinn got a flat tire about a week ago. We had to order a new tube and everything is taking extra time to arrive these days. So when it finally got here on Friday, she couldn't wait for Mike to fix her tire. He did and off we headed on a ride. Where about halfway through, her tire was completely flat again. Big tears. Mike sped home on his bike to grab his car while I hung out with the troops. He brought Q's roller blades back so she could "wheel" home. Unfortunately, she wasn't wearing socks. So I made Dec give Quinn his socks. Hanging by a thread over here ...

Thankfully, we had ordered two tubes. So Saturday morning, Quinn and Mike investigated the tire in more detail, found the problem screw, and re-fixed the tire. Take two seems to be successful. And now Quinn knows how to change a tire!

We also took advantage of a beautiful Saturday to bike down by the river. There were a too many people out for our comfort, but we were able to make it work. The kids even got to do some rock climbing. Honestly, just getting out of our two-mile neighborhood radius feels like such a treat. It was a good way to get some fresh air, exercise, and a change of scenery.

Dec has been Mike's little buddy as they spend every day together. One day, last week, they finished kindergarten early so decided to pull out a couple shrubs by the back fence. Dec was very proud to put on his Hot Wheels "work gloves," pick up a few branches, and keep Mike entertained with an endless stream of conversation. They also headed down to the field one windy Saturday to fly my old kite. The wind made it a little hard to control, but they had fun nonetheless. At least until they had to reel it back in - that was a lot of work!

On Earth Day, we celebrated by having a backyard fire with some of the brush from the shrubs Mike (and Dec) pulled out. It was a pretty spontaneous event, but so much fun to pull out the camping chairs and relax around the fire. Dec was most excited because he got to use the hose to help put it out before dinner.

The signs of spring are everywhere [just ask Mike and Fiona ... whose allergies are blowing up right now]. We are seeing lots of birds and the neighborhood ducks are back. Mike taught the kids how to do duck calls one night at dinner ... so Quinn and D tested out their calls on our walk. It was so funny. And they were so excited when the ducks called back.

Backyard Baseball

As we continue to hang out at home, new hobbies are emerging to keep us entertained. My favorite is that the kids are obsessed with playing baseball. [Mike and I are NOT sad about it] They've been obsessed to the point that one night, as I climbed into bed, Mike informed me that we now owned a pitching machine. Then Declan asked for the next two million days when it would arrive!

Dec still bats left-handed and is getting really good at hitting a pitched (overhand) ball ... hence, the pitching machine. The girls are pretty good hitters as well. They are happy to play if D has recruited Mike - but are less likely to bring the equipment out on their own. Dec, on the other hand, will play all the time! He loves to hit, is working on his pitching, can throw well when he focuses - and can't catch worth beans.

D and I played catch in the driveway a few nights ago. We were throwing a tennis ball on the roof and taking turns catching it when it rolled off. It was my sneaky way of getting him to practice. While we were playing, I threw the ball and it rolled into the gutter. We had to dig out a ladder to retrieve it. I jokingly told him "don't tell dad." So he wrote about it in his school journal the next day. Traitor!

The pitching machine arrived last Friday. Dec could hardly stand it, so Mike put it together that evening. In the house. I mistakenly told them not to use it in the house - and was promptly hit by a pitched ball. Sigh. It has relocated outside and both Quinn and Declan have used it for batting practice. We've learned that you definitely need to mark home plate, or it gets a little bit more like dodgeball than like baseball. We haven't played a whole Family V game with it - but maybe the weather this weekend will cooperate.

While we are missing the MLB season (Go Twins!), it's been fun to share my love of baseball with the gang. I suspect there will not be a youth baseball season this spring - but Dec will be on track with his skills when he can get back to the diamond. The girls will be ready too if they ever want to be on a team.

[And really, the ability to catch a ball feels like a solid life skill, regardless of your position on baseball]