Maycember

Grace made a nifty multimedia sign for Juliet using the 'marquee' letters in the mudroom

Grace also painted her hand very vibrantly.

Kennedy's mom, bravely, hosted a sleepover party at a hotel for her 11th birthday!  I hung out a while, waiting for Emily to finish up her final track meet of the year, and it was easier to leave the party than to leave our house. lol.

A bunny outside of the pool.

Hot tub time!

About a year ago now, the blog printing service that I've used for all of my blogs announced that they were going out of business.  Naturally, I ordered As many blogs as I had published, which got us through the end of 2023, possibly halfway through 2024.  Either way, I needed to find a new publisher for 2024, and I am so happy with this new blog!  I import the whole year and it divvies it up into equal volumes, and makes it look super sleek and modern!  But, I just know it's going to look so dated in 15 years. lol.

The posts below were chosen because I was texting with Kristy, so both of them are because she is featured in them. = )

Old and New.

Cynthia sent me the most beautiful collection of classic German wood cuts!  I did have to ask Christin for assistance because I couldn't translate it and the internet failed me on at least one of them, but they are beautiful books, and I love them so much.

Billy has finally talked me into doing the nerdiest thing that I've ever done: make a DND character.  Honestly, I'm excited, but I know, deep down, it's so nerdy.  Oh, so nerdy.  I'm a dwarf with a two-handed axe, btw.  Steve is going to be our DM at our next meetup with the Cornishes, in July.  We decided to set up our characters at the conclusion of our last get together.

Emily made baklava for Avia! (Finally! The ingredients have been collecting dust since February!)

William was invited to spend a Sunday afternoon with his friend Jacob, so we stopped in at the Looking Glass Brewery, where I got some of the amazing Crab Rangoon Nachos, and took a picture of a flower that looks as though it has been spray painted!  His friend lives five minutes away, so we collected him and headed home afterward.

William made his teachers some goodbye cards for the last day of school!

Picking out and making dinner every night during summer is so hard.  So, I had Grace and Juliet each pick out a meal to make last week.  I liked it and 100% will do again. = )  Juliet made a beef and pepper dish that everyone enjoyed!

Grace made a crockpot meal that we also enjoyed!

While the twins cleared out their American Girl Doll toys, I emptied their "upcoming" closet, reclaiming space and hangers!  We now have room in both closets, and a huge box of get rid of clothes for their yard sale this weekend!

Latin practice has looked a lot like homeschool this summer.  On the first day, they wore swimsuits in anticipation of a playdate with Heleena, and on day four, they worked in a box full of 'garage sale' bound clothes. <3

William recreated a picture from last year at the orthopedic doctor.  He's a little taller this go round. ; )

His hat had a little bit of a face going on at the same appointment. = )

So, what this post told me is that we have been super busy with big things, and not much going on in the catchall post.  This year is the first year I've heard the phrase "Maycember" but just know, it may be here to stay, as it is so a propos!

later days

Garden and Nature

The other day I went to the basement and saw this thing sticking out. 

Turns out the potatoes were ready to grow, so Grace helped me plant them out in the garden!

Our bush (left of what is shown) was chosen by this cardinal couple for their nest, after much deliberation!  The nest is barely visible from our kitchen window, but I can't wait to see the babies!

The sweet William from Abby's mom has blossomed! It is beautiful!

And Alice and I had a staring contest with a deer on her way to school last week! We ultimately won. There were also three bunnies, but my picture of them left a lot to be desired.

 It's nice to be in a warm and green forest again!  Trying to soak up every single second!

later days

Magical Realm Fantasy Faire

We were abnormally busy as family yesterday!  Alice was invited to Melony's birthday party, which fed into Gizzardfest.  So, she was the first out the door, at 11am, ready to stay until 7pm!

Emily was also invited to Gizzardfest with her friend Ella, so we dropped her off en route to the faire, and she was also planning to stay until 7ish!

At the faire, we were welcomed with a map and a quest!  Then we were able to meet up with the Cornishes at a show.

William oscillated between wanting to participate and not wanting to.  Going into seventh grade is hard!

The twins did all of the quests!

So that no one had to carry the flowers, I braided them into the girls' hair.

Apparently 'short people have more magic' so the twins go to help carry the magical artifact!

Training their pet rock.

We had a lovely shady spot for the joust.  It was really well done!  

Not only was the show enjoyable, but the jousting pole pieces were collected and passed out as souvenirs (how creative!) and then you could have the jousters sign your piece!  The knights ran five times and it was pretty much a tie!

For some of the quests, they gave you actual artifacts to carry, and those were the most stressful, because they felt like the most pressure to get it done fast!

During the final quest, the kids all fought the 'dark side.'

But they were invited to swap sides, because the dark side 'has cookies.'  Natalie got this awesome action shot of William!

William with his ill gotten gains.

Once the final quest ended, it was nearing five, and we were all tired, and kind of ready to go, but we said goodbye to the Cornishes, and walked around for another hour, biding our time until we could go collect the big girls!

The twins found some elf ears that they liked.  I told them that now they match Alice!

It was a good time, and definitely scratched that Ren Faire itch without the drive or the lines!  The weekend changed from the last time we went, so I don't think it's consistent enough to add to the schedule right now, but maybe we can aim to make it every other year!

later days

Impression 5, a Third Visit, in as Many Weeks

For Emily and William's first Friday of summer, we went to Impression 5, again!  Grace asked if we could invite Heleena, and since she lives so close, and there would be no additional cost, since we can bring guests, I said yes, and Heleena came along with us!  

I had also invited Avia, at the time she was unsure of her schedule, but she was able to join us too!  We missed Alice who still has another week of school left!!!

We arrived twenty minutes early, and the parking lot was empty! They were playing four corners while waiting.

Emily got a little wet. oops.

The bubble room was pretty empty, and by 1030, we realized that there were no field trips there.  So, the kids were there with only a smattering of other little kids and their caregivers!

William spent 80% of his visit in the bubble room!

My mom had parked and walked to meet us, anticipating a full parking lot, so she and Emily left for a while to explore the downtown path and get her car before the parking meter ran out.

We went to two pop up events.  The first was finger printing, which they thought was okay.  They enjoyed the fish building way more!

I told them that if a small child came over, they had to immediately stop and surrender the space to the  one for whom the space is designed. They played longer than I thought they would, and no little kids came over while they were there.

Juliet blew a bubble...

...and William caught it!

William made a 'snowman.'

By 1230 everyone was winding down, so once Emily got back, we loaded up the car to go home.

It was a nice change for the twins to have a friend along, and they enjoyed getting to stay until they were done!  I think it will be a few weeks before we go back again, but that's the fun thing about summer, you just never know!

After we dropped off Heleena, I took the kids to pick out donuts for national donut day!  QD had their donuts on sale for $1 each!  This is the pile that made it back home, with one for Daddy and one for Alice since they were still at work and school.  The pickings were pretty slim, but we were all just happy to have something.

I'm glad we did a 'stay until you're done day' without Alice, because she prefers events that have an end time, and so the next time we go, it should be easier for everyone to be happy!

later days

edit 6-8-25: backdated for continuity.