Somehow, I missed one event from last week…
Used Books + Cupcakes [TWO] Thursday 8/11/2011 • 11:34am
After I finished everything this week at SFCC, I took the kids for a little walk to explore the Garland area. We spent most of our time looking at books in the used book store and eating fancy cupcakes.
I’m officially caught up after this blog post. Now, let’s see if I can maintain a normal “one post per week” for my 52Home Project!!! As you can tell, it’s been a fun and busy summer. I’m officially making this post the winner for the most pictures.
Wrangling Bees Saturday 8/13/2011 • 12:05pm
My dear friend, Catherine, told us about how a swarm of bees arrived at her house one day. And what would any normal person do with a swarm of honey bees? Learn to be a beekeeper!!! A couple times a month Catherine has to check her new hives, and she is kind enough to invite people over to her house for field trips so they can watch. I brought Alyson + Ben along with me on this adventure (because it seems weird to go by myself) and everyone had a blast!!! When we were done wrangling bees, Catherine had honey sticks for everyone. We also received some fresh honeycomb on our way out the door. When we returned home, we made some delicious honey toast for everyone at our house. When we were finished feasting on our honey gifts, Aaron took the kids to the Garland Street Fair while I took a much needed nap. The kids said that it was a lot of fun and they were glad that they walked all they way down there…despite the heat. Later in the evening, Aaron and I were graciously wined and dinned by our friends Donny + Rose. They are always great hosts and cook the best meals!!! I was, however, really sad when I got home. For some reason, my camera didn’t save any of my pictures or videos from our evening with The Martins. I need to invest in good Lithium batteries so this doesn’t happen again in the future!!!
Pig Nose Sunday 8/14/2011 • 3:47pm
Backhoes + Bubbles [ONE] Monday 8/15/2011 • 10:11am
This year, I’ve really enjoyed going up to my parents property once a week to see the progress on their house. Since they’re unemployed, they spend most of their days working on the property. We like to go up there to give them a break every once in a while. Ben was elated when I told him what we were going to do today and I told him there would be a possibility that my dad would need help on his backhoe. Naomi mostly wandered around naked (my mom seems to think she needs to be naked when she’s in the country) and then spent the latter half of our visit played in the bubbles. Alyson and I soaked up the beautiful afternoon sun. I’m not sure what my mom was doing the whole time. She was busy doing something important. Either way, we all had fun in spending time in the country…where it’s quiet and far from most problems of this world.
Visiting Royality [TWO] Monday 8/15/2011 • 2:20pm
After we left my parents property, we stop by The King’s house to visit with our friends from Portland (they were visiting their parents in Chattaroy). It was really nice meeting their new baby boy, Ezra. He is such a sweetheart…I just want to eat him up. Naomi and Adahlia played so well together, and I was really thankful that there was TWO hoola-hoops instead of one. As Emily said, “I wish I could capture the cuteness with my camera, and I fear that I am not doing it justice.” Naomi didn’t take a nap that afternoon, so our visit was cut a little short to avoid any meltdowns (and I think Alyson + Ben were ready to go home, too). We knew we would see The King’s again on Saturday, so we said our good-byes and embarked on our journey back to the city. The city is so busy. I wish I lived in the country right now.
Park + Pool Tuesday 8/16/2011 • 9:59am
In years past, I would hang out with Shaelyn all the time. For whatever reason, this last year has been hit and miss visiting with my favorite 10 year old. So, I asked her mom if she could come over and spend the night for a few days. Shaelyn was so excited to come over to our house, and I was equally excited to have her. I didn’t have much planned, but we managed to have lots of fun while she was with us. We went to Audubon Park for a few hours and then to the Shadle Pool. When Aaron finished work for the day, he rode his bike to the pool for the last hour before they closed. It’s amazing how hungry one can get when you’re having fun all day, so Aaron went to the grocery store and found the biggest pizza he could find. I wish I he would have let me take a picture of him on his bike as soon as he got home!!! It was quite a sight to see this HUGE pizza strapped to the back of his bike (he has a little flat rack right above his back tire). After Naomi went to bed, we enjoyed many many rounds of the board game “Sorry”…and found ourselves in bed ridiculously late that night.
Exploring Mobius with Shaelyn Wednesday 8/17/2011 • 1:22pm
The next morning, Shaelyn slept in until 9:30am. We thought she was awake two hours earlier, but we quickly learned that she likes to talk in her sleep. It’s difficult to explain to a toddler that people may not be awake when they’re talking. Naomi kept trying to sneak into the spare bedroom to check on Shaelyn. Eventually, she woke-up and we made our way to Mobius in the afternoon. I love watching the girls giggle and play with each other…especially with such a large age gap. In the late afternoon, we stopped at Ben & Jerry’s for our last hurrah and I took Shaelyn home shortly after that. Naomi took the shortest nap of her life and then I dropped her off at The Wilkinson’s house so Aaron and I could go on a date. They absolutely love Naomi and she had been bugging me for weeks to go hang out with her “big friends” (Dave and Kristy have three kids that are in middle and elementary school). Well, it wouldn’t be a real Kangas date night unless we ran out of gas…on the South Hill. I’m so thankful that Aaron remembered driving pass a gas station only 5 blocks away from where I ran out of gas. Now, I must explain, Aaron is the one that’s notorious for running out of gas. This was only my second issue with the gas gauge, and to my defense it was half way between the “E” and the 1/4 of a tank. Lame. We eventually made our way to “Froyo Earth” and enjoyed some yummy Espresso Frozen Yogurt before bringing the evening to a close.
Season Pass at Splashdown Thursday 8/18/2011 • 5:03pm
We made the plunge and got season passes for Splashdown. I’m convinced this is the best decision I’ve made all year. They were having this fantastic sale for a family of 5 (and you can choose any 5 people). Since Naomi is free and so is my dad, it just made sense to get this pass and have me, Aaron, my mom, Alyson + Ben as part of the family. The pass is good for the rest of the season this year and all of next year as well. We made the calculation that if we go two more times this year, next year is completely free (the cost of taking everyone twice was the same price of the season pass for everyone). If you’re wondering where I’ll be next year…most likely you’llo find me at Splashdown. It will be my second home!!!
Mobius Story Time Friday 8/19/2011 • 11:48am
It’s been a long summer without visiting with Molly + Liam, so we decided to meet at Mobius for some fun play time. The nice lady that leads story time at approached us to do story time with her. We were the only ones in the room!!! It was fun and both kids received new books to take home after story time. They even made their own “What I Did This Summer” books…complete with stickers, coloring and glue. After story time was complete, the two kids played while Molly and I followed them around the room. On our way home, Naomi and I stopped at our church to help a friend. Catherine (the beekeeping lady) teaches the Bradley Method birthing class…and she needed a location to teach her class that was starting on Saturday. The nursery at The Porch was perfect and I couldn’t be more excited for her!!! I put Naomi down for a nap at home and quickly left to have my friend’s car towed to my house after a recent mini-accident downtown. In reality, my car had a few minutes to cool down before we hopped in it again to go to Small Group. Somehow, it didn’t feel like I was constantly moving on Fr…but just reading this is makes me feel tired.