Life and Leisure

Summer temperatures in Michigan come with an overwhelming number of things to do.  There are festivals before, during, and after festivals!  With that, you have to choose what to do each weekend, and last weekend we decided to head up to the town (village? hamlet?) of Laingsburg for their spring fest.  We were pleasantly surprised by the size of the event.

We parked close enough that we were able to run to the car for supplies as needed, so we spent several hours riding rides and eating carnival food.

The bumper cars were a big hit for Alice, Emily, and William, sadly the twins were too short to go.  Billy and I bought some tickets so that they could go once, but they sure felt the pain of being the little ones.

We stayed for several hours, but left before it got dark.  The kids were pretty tuckered out when we got home.

I had expiring sour cream, and half a lemon, so I made a lemon pound cake!  It was really good, but really didn't need the icing.

Juliet drew a picture of our family.  Can you tell that Alice is just a few months shy of being a teenager?

And Emily finally (she's been asking for years) got her ears pierced!!

We wanted to help Coyt celebrate turning 16, so we made him a cake for us to eat on his birthday. Grace and Juliet decorated it with our new "Fun Gun" cake decorating kit!

Emily took her ballet photos, and while I had made plans to be there the day through, they rearranged the schedule to make it much more convenient for everyone. = )

During the extra time, we were able to meet up with Avia and use Emily's extra leotards so that the girls could play at one of the lake beaches in a Lansing park.

We watched a funny baking show called "Is It Cake?" and in the final episode one of the contestants made a baklava flavored cake.  I love baklava, and pistachios, so I tried my hand at making it.  It came out really well.  Even the kids ate it!*

Grace wanted to buy "her own" fabric at a yard sale, so that she could make a dress.  The one she made came out cute, especially for a first attempt!  (I haven't seen her wear it a second time though, so I don't think it was quite as comfy as she wanted.  Seems like true fashion to me!)

I read some gardening books, and talked to lots of gardeners, so I tried following all the advice for our garden.

Sarah gave me some starters, which I used at the end of April when it was really, really cold.  The only plant that actually started was on cucumber plant, which the chippunk has now dug up. =- (

I made a path with some scrap boards (what good advice!) and used some milk jugs as "mini greenhouses for the seeds I started outside.

An attempt was made to clip the bag shut.  It was not successful, but someone did try.

The only flowers we could track down for our nature study, even the dandelion was hard to come by as cold as it was in May!

Grace bought a 2 pack of Chicken Coop shortbread houses (think gingerbread kit) one for her to make, and the other for Zoey.

Emily and Grace also spent some time sewing a Charmander and Pokeball as part of a gift for Andrew's birthday.

Playing party games!  My crew had fun, I hope the birthday boy had a great time!  The cake was amazing, I'm so sad I didn't snap a picture!

Grace made a bow and arrow set from recycling and found objects.

William drew for our Murder Mystery Party Roles this summer.  Should be a fun time!

Emily forgot, and since she forgot, I didn't think she cared about crazy hair day in ballet, so we did what we could with the hair ties and bows and random objects we had on hand.

This was the big girl's recitation poem at the end of the year, and I absolutely love it!!  Now, every time we go to a park or even on a walk, I can't help but thing how wonderful it is to have some leisure time.

 

We dropped Emily off at ballet, then collected Avia from the bank, and she treated us to ice cream at a plant nursery!  We swung back by to get Emily, who  told me in the morning that she wanted to go to a park to stick her feet in the water.  There is a trail that runs all through Lansing, and passes by the zoo.  Since we have free parking with our membership, we parked there and walked to the nearby boat entry port.  Well, Grace needed to go potty, and I was the only one in the party who brought water (my 20oz RTIC tumbler) but not near enough to share 5 ways.  So we ended up at the welcome center/gift shop for some water.

We did eventually make it to the river.  Our path crossed right next to a family of geese, who left us be, and we did the same for them.

On a totally different day, we went to Horrocks to get some loose leaf  Scottish Breakfast Tea, since they were out the last time we went.  They were still out, but we went up to a park we'd never been to.  It was sooooooo pretty!

The water called to my children here too, and was clear enough that even I stuck my feet in!

We took the .75 mile path turn around, but since we had walked there from another park, I think we walked closer to two miles.

As we were leaving, I saw was I thought could be a fairy throne, or maybe castle in an old story.

Even in our own yard, you can watch the weeds "unfurl."

"What is this life if, full of care, 

We have not time to stand and stare?"

later days

*this really surprised me.  I had already started planning in my head who I thought might like to be surprised with some baklava, but there was none left to gift!

A Few Pictures of Our Days

 Juliet drew a mermaid prop.  Grace had fun trying it out too.

The street sweeper went by, very entertaining.  I feel like my children are meeting the home school stereotype more and more.  Just yesterday they cheered when I made banana nut bread. 

The weather was warm-ish, so we went down to the park.  The kids wanted to wade in the water.

In honor of penguin day, Aunt Wanda sent us this adorable egg holder and a penguin book.  Last Thursday we read it as our Nature reader!  The kids really loved it.  (Though, not everyone enjoyed the eggs.)

The days are getting slightly warmer, but still cooling down at night.  We are only 2 weeks and a few days away from summer vacation.  It has been a wonderful year.

later days

27th May, 75th Day of Quarantine, 45th Day of School at Home

Today the expected high was 86F.

I woke up with my alarm this morning (for the first time in over a week!) but was up and working on my certification nice and early.

Alice, Grace and Juliet had video meetings today.  William had a hard time getting started on one of his end of year assessments, so he ended up working in the (dry) tub as a way to get his brain in gear.

Once all the school work was finished, we went back to the park and played in the river.

I was not thrilled with them getting soaked, but showers at home went pretty quickly.

For dinner we had barbeque sandwiches and grapes. It's a William favorite, the rest of us are kind of over it. But, the person who needs the weight has more sway on the menu than the rest of us.

I poured through some more of the materials for the fall, but I still have a long way to go before I feel "ready." Having all the books and materials will help me feel better I think.

I made an appointment with a thrift store for some shopping tomorrow.  I forgot to ask if they were able to accept donations, so I packed up my car, just in case. ; )

Hoping for a smooth morning tomorrow so that I can get out the door for my mops event and then distance shopping with Sarah!

later days

26th May, 74th Day of Quarantine, 44th Day of School at Home

The expected high today was a respectable 89F!

Before starting school the twins wanted their hair to be matchy-matchy and Alice wanted to be in the picture too. = )

School work moved slowly. Billy had several meetings.  I worked on more certification classes.  True to form, the day after a holiday is hard to get back to work!

For second recess, we walked down to the park, and the kids waded in the high river!

I also got in another round of books and I'm so excited that my printed manuals arrived today too!  Just in time to sit on the front porch and pour through them in the lovely warm weather. = )

For dinner we had teriyaki chicken and rice.

It was finally enjoyable to sit out on the patio after dinner and enjoy the evening on the front porch!

later days

Coyt and Cali Come to Visit

At the end of Emily's visit to Texas, Coyt and Cali came back with her and Avia.  Since my vehicle has a max occupancy of 8, Avia had to meet us anywhere that we ventured during the week.  I was so happy to have my Emily back!  She and Cali were joined at the hip almost the entire week!

On Monday Avia came over.  While I went to pickup my grocery order, She walked with them all down to the ice cream shop and then played in the river at the park.

On Tuesday we didn't go anywhere, they just had a fun time playing at the house.

William thoroughly enjoyed having Coyt around.

And Emily, Alice and Cali spent hours coming up with fun games.

Before we ventured out to the museum on Wednesday, I had a counter full of colorful sandwich containers.

Eating outside at the museum is way more fun than eating at home. = )

We went later in the day than we normally go, they had a great time.  But, when it was time to leave no one was quite ready.

Pre back to school haircuts were on my agenda for the big girls, and it was also on Haley's list for Cali.  So, while my mom took the others home, we stopped in for a trio of haircuts.

Alice and I go round and round in the morning about her hair.  So, when she said that she wanted to chop it off, I said go for it!  She looks very grown up with the new style, but we are both much happier people when it comes to brushing her hair. = )

A selfie that she sent to avia from my phone.

Cali and Emily made us some tasty decorated cupcakes for dessert.  They actually lasted 2 nights!

The next morning, we made the offer to return to the museum or go to the zoo, and almost everyone voted to return to the museum. This time, we were there when they opened.

They were holding a special craft lab, and everyone took a turn making some art pieces to bring home.

Avia had a prior commitment, so for a few hours it was just me and the seven children.  I told the 4 older ones not to leave the top floor.  Cali took on the responsibility of watching Grace.  I didn't see them for a while, but when I tracked them down, they were having a good time. = )

That left me watching William and Juliet.  They were content enough to stay together and spend extra time doing things they hadn't in a while.

When Avia came back, she took a crowd back down to the craft zone.

At 4pm, I told them that we were done for the day.  After a day and a half, I think they were content to leave. = )

 

"Take our picture! We're mermaids!"

On Friday, I was in full murder mystery mode, so Avia took the crew back down to the river, but this time in their swimsuits.

We didn't travel about quite as much as when Elizabeth came up, but I think we spent just as much time out having fun!  They flew out early Saturday morning, so they stayed the night at Sarah's house.

I enjoyed having them, and I know my children loved spending precious time with their cousins.

later days