Weekly Recap: Day Trip to the Arboretum

 (Backdated weekly Facebook update)

Alert, alert! Nicholas wants you to know that his birthday is coming! You know...in April. He's made a list so far of just a few items: 1) a little puppy just for him, and 2) multiple $600+ water tables and other play equipment literally designed for use in a preschool. So, pretty standard expectations for your 4th birthday, yes?

(We have Lakeshore to thank for #2 - they sent us an enormous catalog recently primarily intended for teachers and schools. Not going to lie, I kind of want half the stuff in there, but what the hell, Lakeshore? What about my previous purchases has led you to believe I operate an entire school and have tens of thousands of dollars available to furnish it?)

Covid-wise... Everything kind of sucks right now. Like most of the country, our case rate has just shot through the roof. It feels like a waiting game - not if we'll all get it, but when. Hopefully it will be mild. The numbers released about positive cases from Anna's particular school haven't been too bad, but she says that a ton of kids are out in every class, so it could be worse than the "official story." Mostly I'm just praying that we don't get some other illness or injury that requires prompt treatment.

So, again, we're mostly stuck at our home due to weather and the ongoing pandemic. It feels all too familiar. Yesterday was "semester day" so Anna didn't have school (don't ask me what semester day is, I don't know). The kids and I decided to head out and try something new. We drove about an hour away to check out the Yakima Arboretum.

Spirits were very high. We were leaving the house! We were going somewhere new! We did NOT have to listen to Nightmare Before Christmas again! (Just the Encanto soundtrack on repeat). Nicholas was particularly thrilled that we packed "car picnic lunches" and he proceeded to ask if it was lunchtime every 5 minutes from 10 until noon.

We did not anticipate that the last big snowstorm (a few weeks ago) would not have melted yet just an hour up the road, so we were rather unprepared in the shoe department. Nonetheless, we forged ahead across the icy landscape, threw birdseed at the bird blind, located animal tracks in the snow, and only fell down a few times. The highlight was seeing the baby salmon that recently hatched at the interpretive center. Anna's class is raising some, as well, so she enjoyed being our "expert." I am looking forward to visiting again in the spring.

Baby salmon!

Before I sign off, I'd like to publicly apologize to my son for drinking "all" of the communion wine on Sunday. Because of the pandemic, we now pick up little disposable cups which are filled at the altar rail. Nicholas' cup accidentally got filled all the way up. I let him take a sip, he made his customary spicy face, and to keep the line moving, I drank the rest.

Apparently he wasn't done. Which he made clear by indignantly and somewhat loudly proclaiming: "UGH! You drank ALL of it!"

So, my apologies to Nicholas, the baby Jesus, and anyone else who was inadvertently harmed by my selfishness.

#highfive #rude #thatsinappropriate

Weekly Recap: New Year's 2022

 (Backdated sort-of-weekly Facebook update)

Welcome to another irregularly scheduled weekly and/or monthly broadcast from our household.

Update #1: Anna has glasses (again)! She was prescribed a pair 2-3ish years ago, but the next year when we saw a different eye doctor, he said she didn't really need them. Good thing because by then she had lost them! But in the last year her eyesight has gotten pretty bad. The doctor said she wouldn't lose this pair because she won't want to take them off.

Actual transcript from the car ride home from the optometrist: "I can see that tree! Look, I take them off - no tree! There are letters on that sign! This is awesome! I have obtained the greatest thing in existence!"

Update #2: I got my Covid booster yesterday. No ill effects other than a very sore arm. Nicholas came with me and was very disappointed not to see an actual hole in my arm. To placate him, the pharmacist gave him an entire roll of stickers.

I, however, did not receive a single one. Rude.

Update #3: I managed to buy a Lego Home Alone house set this morning! I asked for one for Christmas, but they were very quickly sold out (like - maybe as soon as they were available). I was combing my hair after my shower and heard the mail notification on my phone. Glanced down, saw the subject line "back in stock" and promptly raced through the house in my bathrobe to the computer. Ben tries to maintain some semblance of professionalism while working from home, but it might be fair to say that the rest of us are working at cross purposes.

LEGOs were worth it.

Update #4: We have a biter. When I picked Nicky up from school yesterday, his teacher informed me that he bit another child, hard enough to leave teeth marks. He was apparently quite committed to this course of action, as he had to take his mask off to accomplish it. He lost all tablet privileges for the day, which was a pretty major punishment for both him and me.

Prior to this, he had tried biting a few times at home, and was always promptly punished. He's been repeatedly told that biting is never ok. We've read numerous books about not biting or hitting. It's like trying to feed information to a brick wall. A violent, angry wall with teeth.

In somewhat related news, I was looking in Anna's room for something, and came across her latest project - wall decorations, which consist of a drawing taped to a piece of cardboard. There was a nice rainbow, a sunset over the water... and a banana with the phrase "Home is where my death is."

In happy bubble letters.

Okay...okay...WTAF.

So, if you need me, I'll just be over here, snowed in and raising a couple of serial killers and trying not to be murdered in my sleep.

At least not until I get a chance to finish that Lego set.

#highfive #priorities #sendhelp

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Adding from earlier in the week:

My friend and I participated in an unofficial local New Year's 5k! Normally there are a lot more people, but it was maybe 15 degrees. It was fun to walk it with her, and there's no way I would have gone out there alone, but I don't think I'd go again if it were that cold. By the time we were done my fingers and toes ached so badly, and I got a giant blister on my heel because I wore my snow boots. At least we can say we did it!

Shanna and I pre-5k; the whole group;
the river path.