New Life- Week 24 (Summer Essence)

Today, as I looked over the pictures from this week, what I saw was the very essence of summer.  This week we spent time at the river with cousins, playing and paddleboarding.

We picked wild blackberries by the park and turned them into homemade blackberry ice cream, that is the ones that didn't end up in our tummies or smeared across our faces.  This year when I made the ice cream I mashed and strained the berries to get amazing color and flavor without the seeds.  Everyone was a fan except Jeremy, he missed his seeds.

We took part of a city "chalk the walk" event and went and got creative with our sidewalk chalk at city hall.  Merrick made the Peppa Pig family for Elsie and Carrigan made a Uni-mermaid.

We tried to pull Carrigan's extremely loose tooth with some string tied to her tooth on one end and Ben and Becca's dog on the other end.

The most exciting thing for the kids this week is was that we started our "Millie duty".  At the start of the pandemic our neighbor got a brand new golden retriever puppy named Millie.  Since then she and her partner have broken up and she got a new job that is keeping her very busy.  All of this has left her with less time for Millie than she would like.  Luckily for her, my kids, especially Merrick, have really bonded with Millie since we have been home.  We have started helping out by taking Millie out everyday.  We take her for walks and to play.  I know my kids really want a dog of our own, but this dog sharing thing is really working for me right now.

Originally school was supposed to start tomorrow but has been delayed a week due to the pandemic.  Here to one more week of pandemic summer!

New Life- Week 23 (Groundhog Day)

 23 weeks.  It's been 23 weeks since life came to a screeching halt.  There were some truly fun times this week (more on those in a minute), but I really couldn't shake the Groundhog Day feeling this week.  It's hard to not feel like we are stuck in a world of never-ending sameness.  It's hard to come up with something new to entertain the kids with when they complain for the 5 millionth time that they are bored.

That being said, we did have some fun things this week and even some new adventures.  My kids (especially Carrigan) have really been loving our new kites.  Carrigan has gotten really creative with tying the kites together and pulling them while riding her bike or scooter.

This week we had also planned to do Slip and Slide with cousins.  I thought we would get out the regular Slip and Slide but the kids went for the big guns.  They brought out the tarps and dish soap and really went for it.  I think it will go down as one of the highlights of the summer.

The last highlight of the week was the discovery (or re-discovery as is more accurate) of the bike jumps in the woods by a nearby park.  Merrick made multiple trips there this weekend and truth be told we will probably go back this afternoon.  The girls also enjoyed the jumps, but not nearly as much as Merrick (or Jeremy).

All and all, if I am being honest, it wasn't a terrible week.  It's just the monotony that is getting to all of us.  We'll be fine though.  Who knows what potential excitement next week will bring.  Maybe even something as exciting as a trip to the dentist (which we also did this week)

New Life- Week 22 (Em's Beach Birthday)

The highlight of this week came just yesterday with a trip to the beach for Emily's birthday.  She announced several weeks ago that they had found a new beach that they really liked and she wanted everyone to go out there for her birthday.  Jeremy is not really a big fan of the Oregon coast, because it doesn't compare to the California beach,so it is usually pulling teeth to even get him to go out once a summer and we had already been once this summer so I wasn't sure I would be able to get him to go.  Once he heard that Tala was cooking though he decided it was worth it.

We went to a beach that we had never been to before, north of Seaside, called Gearhart.  The really nice thing about that beach is that you can drive your car out onto the sand.  Let me tell you, that is the way to go to the beach!  No more shleping all your crap like a commoner.  We had everything we needed right there with us.  Since we had three cars with Em's family and my parents, we made a U shape facing the water and we had a little spot, perfect for social distancing, all to ourselves.

Tala BBQed and we all had a blast.  We flew a kite and played football and catch.  We played in the sand and with boogie boards.  We found crabs and shells.

The first part of the day was pretty warm, the warmest I ever remember it being a the coast, and then the wind shifted to be blowing off the ocean and finally cooled everything down.

We stayed as long as we could before we had to get the kids home for baths and bed.  I think it was the most fun I have ever had a the beach.  Jeremy even commented that he thinks he has a new favorite beach.  For it to have won him over is really saying something.

New Life-Week 21 (15 years and...painting)

This week Jeremy and I celebrated our 15th anniversary so you would think that the blog title should be 15 years and counting.  And yet the anniversary was such a small part of the week compared to our big project (painting the exterior of my parents' house) that I felt the title of this week's blog needed a little tweaking.

Like I said, Wednesday Jeremy and I celebrated 15 years!  Unfortunately our anniversary was corona'ed and we really didn't do anything to celebrate other than eat Salt and Straw after the kids went to bed.  Jeremy also tried to buy me flowers but even that was corona'ed when they looked so pretty on the outside but when we opened them up, discovered that they were completely rotting.  I refuse to see that as an omen for our 16th year.  Instead I choose to focus on the great life we have built together with our three beautiful kids.  When I look at them I can't help but feel optimistic about the future. 

The rest of this week was spent helping my parents paint the exterior of their house.  It has been a big project and pretty much everyone has pitched in to help.  We are about 95% done at this point, with just a little finishing work on the garage and the transformation has been spectacular.  Here is a little before and after action.

Also, as promised here are some new pictures of our house from when this listing went live this week.