The Children's Museum has a new planetarium exhibit and the boys had a great time learning all kinds of space-y stuff. Even our space expert (Chase) had a few takeaways that he didn't know (the lunar lander had to be brought up on a spaceship, for example). Another super successful trip to one of our favorite local treasures.
Our friends came to visit today and we couldn't be happier! The boys had a blast with sweet James and I didn't mind catching up with his mom. Win-win!
Check out my new Simply Sugarless recipe: sugar-free strawberry jam. Full disclosure: it does have honey...but no sugar! That counts for something, right?
I'd say my first attempt at jam-making was a success. Take a look for yourself:
I'm out on this warm night enjoying some super yummy pizza and popcorn while listening to some hip blues music with two of my favorite dudes. Finally it seems summer has returned.
You don't need to feel sorry for the fourth member of our family, though. He's living the dream with a solo grandma + grandpa night.
We woke up to a fun surprise this morning: we caught our friendly chipmunk. The boys and I immediately, pajamas and all, delivered him to his new home (one mile away and across a river) . I think Feisty will be happy there. Chase said as we were leaving, "I hope he comes back to visit." I don't think he fully understood the objective of our morning adventure.
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Man, it turns out that you just have to stay home for two days in a row to make a dent in your to do list. We had a couple family outings and some good quality time along the way, but the take-away from the weekend was productivity!
My favorite project was this fun fabric wall art that we put together for the very large and very bare wall in the family room. I collected the sewing rings from a couple of thrift stores a few months ago and finally found the fabric for them this week. For under $35 we created a pretty substantial piece of art. I'm digging it.
The cooler temps today necessitated the first fire in our new fire pit. The boys loved having a campfire in our backyard...with s'mores and everything. I have to admit, I'm usually not a big fan of the s'mores combo, but tonight it really hit the spot. Maybe it was the company or maybe it was the cook (thanks, Chris), but whatever it was, tonight's s'more will go down as my favorite one yet.
**And yes, they are always wearing helmets.
Chase had a great week as a Beaver Creek Reserve Nature Nut. He studied the anatomy of insects, can tell you the difference between a frog and a toad, learned a bunch of new songs, and spent a ton of time outside.
Aside from a hefty commute (25 minutes each way, four times a day), it was a super fun + educational way for our little nugget to spend his mornings this week. I'd recommend this summer camp to anyone.
The boys have been real troopers this week while being schlepped to and from Chase's summer camp. We decided to reward them with a special treat on our way home from Tball. Can you tell they were *a bit* excited?
We hope all of you enjoyed the first day as summer as much as we did.
We sent Uncle Matt on his way this evening after a fun day together. Robbe got to enjoy some quality solo time with him, and share his favorite coffee shop with him, and even crafted with him at the Children's Museum. Chase was away at camp but it's obvious that Uncle Matt made an impression because he was included in a drawing Chase created.
Thanks for a fun visit, Uncle Matt!
Guess who's garden supplied yummy salad greens tonight? Yep. Ours! We're well on our way to living a more self-sufficient existence. Haha!
We had a wonderful celebration of my mom today: a retirement party! A whole bunch of her friends + family partied at our house today to congratulate her on all of her accomplishments. The company [and the weather] could not have been better.
I will say, however, I am tired. We've been running non-stop since before we left for DC and I'm ready for a second to catch my breath. Hopefully nothing crazy comes up this week and our little family can enjoy a more relaxing existence.
A night out! And we did it right.
Guess what? We didn't have to drive 45+ minutes and deal with massive crowds to pick strawberries this morning. Crazy, right?
I wouldn't say it was a bumper crop but we walked away with two pounds of strawberries after 30 minutes of picking so we aren't complaining. Man, berry picking is the best.
Also, I'll take the chance to reveal our 2017 EC Summer Bucket List so I can check the first one off the list. It's going to be a good [and busy] summer.
Today marked Chase's first day of practice for a team sport: Tball!
It was an hour and fifteen minutes of running, throwing, hitting, and fielding grounders. And he stuck with it! I'm not going to lie, it seemed a bit intense for five year olds but he did it...and he liked it! I'm proud of our little Tball all star.
Can you believe it's really gone? Our beautiful red house is now this lovely shade of blue. I can't say it doesn't look really nice. I can't say that it looks worse in any way. I can say it was a bit of a punch to the stomach to walk up to our little slice of DC and have it be almost unrecognizable.
The whole trip to DC felt a little that way, actually. We couldn't have enjoyed our trip more and it was SO good to see many friends and our favorite spots in the city, but it also was sad to have to walk away again. The city is different now in a lot of ways and this little red--I mean blue--house is the most concrete evidence of the shift.
I miss that house. I miss our friends. I miss our favorite museums. I miss the food. I miss the energy. The past year has been a total dream and we are totally in love with our Wisconsin life, but man, DC will always have a piece of my heart.
We made it back to EC this afternoon. Now that we have tucked the boys into bed and are unpacked and starting the recovery process, I can officially say that our trip to DC was a total success. The boys were total champs and put up with all the social visits and schlepping across the city without so much as a breakdown or complaint. I know, I can barely believe it either. Well, for the record, there were two *smallish* breakdowns. Chase was totally bummed out about the fact that our rental car looked too much like our silver Honda. Robbe couldn't believe that I didn't pack his roll of scotch tape to fix the magazines he carries around all the time. That was it. Pretty serious, huh?
For a quick summary of our trip:
It's late and I'm exhausted but I can't help but be beyond grateful for another lovely day in the District. The heat + traffic can't keep us down! Thank you, friends.
It was another busy day in DC. We had a quiet family morning and then enjoyed a lovely evening with another family that we miss dearly. Oh...and we checked a few more things off the to do list. We're getting really close!
small city | BIG DAYS
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