Day 1972 | Water Week

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I’m not sure what happened but yesterday’s post didn’t go through. Just pretend it’s Friday, ok?

We managed to wrap up five days worth of water activities this week. For someone who doesn’t love frollicking in the water, that’s a big deal. Here’s the breakdown:

Monday: pool swimming
Tueday: river swimming
Wednesday: slip ‘n sliding
Thursday: pool swimming
Friday: hot tubbing

Quite an accomplishment, right?

Day 1971 | Deep-end Swimmer

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The little one is officially a full-on swimmer. We’ve spent more of the summer in a pool than I would have ever expected and it’s been really lovely. Covid + super-generous neighbor = lots of swimming. I’ve never been a pool person but after a summer poolside, I kind of get the appeal. There were some days where that hour by the pool was the only time I sat down all day. When you’re home all day, every day it’s hard to turn off the need to be productive. All. The. Time. When we’re at the pool, though, I’m *required* to drop everything and stay focused on just keeping these nuggets safe. It’s going to be a tough summer to say goodbye to—for so many reasons.

I took a video of his swimming to serve as proof. If the video doesn’t show up for you below, you can access it here.

Day 1970 | Slip 'n Slide

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In case I haven’t been clear enough, we have the best neighbors. Seriously. The best. Especially during this Covid craziness, we’ve been incredibly lucky to be surrounded by such generous folks. One neighbor lets us use their trampoline. Another lets us use their pool. Yet another lets us use their shoreline for fishing.

That last neighbor (the fishing one) offered up their slip ‘n slide to us recently. The boys have never officially tried slippin’ on a thin sheet of plastic on their bellies. The idea was very bizarre to them. They did get the hang of it, though. Chase figured it out first and Robbe eventually followed suit—after much grit and determination. There’s nothing better on a 90° day in Wisconsin. And we’re beyond grateful and appreciative for all the kind people in our lives.

*They’re yelling “Take that, Covid!” at the beginning of this video. Covid can’t keep us down!

Day 1965 | Family Visit

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Sorry I’ve been MIA lately. My brother and sister in-law from Denver have been here since Wednesday and we’ve been soaking up extra family time. For a million reasons, it feels even more necessary and special this year. This weekend’s adventure was a trip to the hunting cabin. The weather was perfect. The bonfire was excessive. And boys (both young and old) were living their best lives.

Day 1964 | Gardening with Great Grandma

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Robbe has been helping Great Grandma Joyce with her garden harvest this year. Just about every time we visit my hometown, my dad and Robbe make a stop up to my grandma’s to pick green beans and sometimes potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers. Three generations bonding over vegetables. Robbe loves this outing and usually comes back with an animated story about something Grandma Joyce said or did. It warms my heart more than any of them will ever know.

Day 1963 | Virtual Summer School

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We signed up for a virtual summer school class taught by the boys’ art teacher. A lot of our adventures lately have been inspired (and motivated) by this class. Today was another gem. We went to play in the river in a different part of the city and it was a total blast. The water was really shallow and the boys could frolic on the sand bar with near-total freedom and without me having to worry they would float away. It was a really lovely way to spend part of the afternoon.

*As a side note, I was telling the boys about Biden’s Vice President pick when I heard the news (while they were swimming). On the way home–about 20 minutes later, Robbe said to me, “Mom, if your president doesn’t get voted, I’ll buy you Oreos.” Can you handle how amazingly thoughtful and sweet that is? He even told me he would use his own money. I made a deal with him, though. If my president DOES win (ahem…when he wins), I’ll take the whole family to the new Kwik Trip (convenience store) down the street from us and everyone can pick out any treat they want. Even a slush puppy. That’s how they know I’m being serious. Let’s hope the Kwik Trip treat day wins out. If I’m eating Oreos on election night (or the day after), there’s a good chance I’ll be eating the entire bag…while sobbing. :)

Day 1961 | Home Maintenance

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It’s only taken us five months of basically staying home all the time to make a dent in some of our home maintenance to-dos. We’ve done everything from tree removal and bush trimming to organizing and painting. My personal favorite has been sanding/cleaning/priming/painting some of the exterior trim on our house (including the base of the columns pictured above). I’m not kidding. I actually really have been enjoying this task. It’s pretty quick. Immediate gratification. And man, what a difference it makes.

Oh-and don’t worry-we’ve still got quite a list to get through. Ah, the joys of home ownership.

Day 1960 | Devil’s Punchbowl

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We decided to be crazy and make an afternoon trip 30 minutes down the road to this hidden gem today: the Devil’s Punchbowl. We explored in the water (well, two of us did) and then we walked around the UW-Stout campus (where our niece will be attending in the fall) and downtown Menomonie. It was a really lovely way to spend part of the day. And can you handle how pretty it is?