Day #76

Happy days are here again. The pool is open! The first walk to the pool of this bizarre year. 

There are all the rules. And we are thankful there are, and gladly follow them. I carefully packed our big bag with loads of mini bags. Max capacity is 80 people - lifeguards included, and once they hit that residents can line up outside the fence and wait for people to leave. If it gets to be a problem they will adjust things, but I don’t know that there have been many times there’s been more than 80 people there. I’m a pretty bad gage, but Frankie and I counted today and there were 34. It was also not the warmest day though, and the water was cold. Masks are to be worn when walking around and in the bathroom. No showers. No moving tables or chairs. No outside guests. Must maintain 6 feet social distance, even in the pool. The hoa can be fined if we don’t abide by the rules, so they said they mean business. We got there before opening today and there were 4 lifeguards and a boss, and 3 pool committee members. I wouldn’t think they’d need that many everyday, but each day we learn something new, so who knows. 

#’s 4,5, and 6 in the pool for the 2020 season. Lots of years we’ve been #1. 

We stayed 3 hours since there was no one waiting to come in. I sat and read the Ensign (goalz) and managed girls as needed. I love this quote. The world needs women that don’t let trifling things get in the way of the most important things. 

My dad came over today and actually came inside for a bit. Things seem to be more calm and it seems like we’ll have a little reprieve for a few months? We don’t plan on going crazy, but it would be wonderful to relax some safety precautions with a small group of friends and family. I start thinking about when to reign it back in though and my mind gets a whirling again, so back to one day at a time. Dad helped Addie download pictures - a job we are truly terrible at. 

We watched the space shuttle blast off and that was fun and different. Some people might have asked questions like where are the going, and where is the international space station  and is it on the moon? Some people never really thought about it. 

I hung these signs I had Chelsea make for me. I had gotten the Leonardtown one from a friend here, and then Chelsea made the other two. All our homes as a married family. 

We ate cabbage soup and homemade bread, then valentine candy and buttered popcorn and watched Harry Potter #4 tonight. Oh Cedric. That we could all be good, be kind, be brave like you. The world needs more Cedric’s right now. We read Alma 4 and watched the video that goes along with it, and talked about how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are waiting to empower us. The priesthood - the power and authority to act in Gods name, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the gift of the temple endowment, the gift of all of our covenants. Giving away power is what God does. Taking and keeping power is of the adversary. There is enough for everyone. 

I have written before about what a slow run/walker I am, but I am working on stamina and it doesn’t bother me. But I had thought it would be a good thing to have some faster, shorter runs. So I decided to do a 5k today, 4 minutes running, 30 seconds walking. It was so hard. But I figured I’d be pretty fast, so it’s all good. I still ran 10 minute miles. 😂 It was a good lesson for me. I often bulldoze my way through life trying to be productive, and ultimately, if I took breaks and let people take breaks we’d probably be happier and the same amount productive. Always, always learning. 

Day #75

The young women did a fun painting activity and this was Addie’s. Unfortunately we didn’t know the colors we needed, and I didn’t help addie find them, sooooo, here we are. She loves it. And I love her. 

For the last day of their james and the Giant Peach book club today they had to make a recipe with peaches. 

Delaney decided on a peach smoothie, odd because she doesn’t love smoothies. 

But it was actually really good. 

We squeezed an orange for 1/4 cup fresh oj. 

4-5 strawberries. 

And a container of peaches. 

Blend that up in your broken, only works to pulse 20 year old blender. 

Add a scoop or two of the most delicious honey vanilla yogurt. 

More of the busted blender. 

A handle of ice, then adorable present your concoction. 

Enjoy!

pretty sure she had that one sip and then was done. But she had fun making it. 

I got a surprise - a subscription to the Lighthouse Digest from my digest loving dad. 

I am so fickle and I often feel things strongest when they aren’t going well. As such, I am happy to report that Frankie has been doing an amazing job with tutoring ever since we wrote the list of rules to check. I do have to reminder her to go down the list more than I’d like, but I can handle that. Today she didn’t want to tutor. I asked at least three times, and to be honest, I didn’t want to either, so when she said no, I agreed. Finally at 4:45 I knew we’d never do it if we didn’t do it immediately, and so we did. She was grumpy at first, but I rubbed her back and gently reminded her that it’s tough for both of us, and she came around. I slathered her with loads of praise and we ended tutoring happily.  

We ate a quick dinner of leftovers and then it was time for the graduate parade!

We got out our megaphones and every bell we could find - which was 2 bells. The girls made signs and we were so excited. 

A neighbor came around handing out chocolates with fun Leonardtown graduate wrappers. 

We were at the end of the parade route, so we waited and waited. I played fun graduation music. 

And delaney yelled randomness. 

And so did Frankie. It was delightful. Frankie also wore a pool cover up as a sweater because she’s so excited the pool opens up tomorrow. 

Finally the parade made its way to us. It was really so fun. 

We cheered and rang our bells. We called out every name we could see, and then the few that we know - Paco, Erin, Calvin. 

The parade was so fun that we followed it up to the green to see the cap throwing. 

Even the Blue Crabs tie dye guy and Pinch came. How cool is that? Tons of neighbors, and my dad, took loads of really cool pictures. And the tie dye guy live streamed the whole parade. I’d take a cool parade over a boring commencement any day of the week! Hopefully this is a new tradition!

The DC temple is still set to reopen late fall. Our stake shared this gorgeous picture. I would so love to go to the temple right now. It will be the best day when we can go back. 

Today I made:

Stuffed sweet potatoes

Turkey and cabbage soup

2 different smoothies (1 with D)

Lemon cookies

Pickled beets 

A neighbor gave us 2 giant beets and for some reason I love pickled beets. I hope they turn out!

Tonight we watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and tomorrow we’ll check out the pool and their long list of rules. We can dig rules, the girls are so excited. 

Day #73 and #74

All the girls love FaceTiming Lexi and Em, but Frankie especially does. She’ll walk around and talk and talk. Lu sent her this adorable pic of baby boy. He’s so happy!

Yesterday after all of our daily work and then a makeup piano lesson, we went to Aina’s to keep an eye on the girls so Sarah could get some rest. 

Addie and Abby played for a few minutes and then hit the stream. They have grand adventures build and catch things. They are both v into it. I brought several dozen school oranges to peel in preparation for freezing for future use in smoothies and orange julius’. And also several days of to do lists to consolidate what still hasn’t been done. 

Laney and Ellie went to the front to so clay, and Frankie was the best little baby sitter for Isla and Adeline. She dutifully pushes them and kept watch. 

Laney and Ellie made friendship keychains - eggs and bacon. So cute. 

The girls all loved the clay, so I moved my whole operation and we call cane to the front. In the shade it was pleasant and cool with a light breeze, so it was a good afternoon to be outside. After about an hour, Sarah came out to visit. I had tried to keep the girls from going inside, but when L and E went to the front without me I guess Ellie went in a few times and kids aren’t known for their stealth moves. 

My dad hung out with us for awhile, and took this beautiful picture of us. As you can see, the girls will touch each other now, but not all the time, they’re still sort of careful. And we’re not going inside houses, except that one time that I really couldn’t hold it any longer and went in to the rest room. I was quick and careful though!

We’ve had lots of great opportunities to ask for forgiveness and grant it over the quarantine. Lots of learning and growth going on. 

This house down by the wharf is one of my favorite in Leonardtown. I love their pretty light turquoise doors. I’m always drooling over pretty doors. 

Today was a good project doing day. On bubbas days off I’ve been giving him jobs to do, and one of them was to figure out the battery situation in these old Benzies that died awhile back. They are very small and we definitely don’t need 2 anymore. So I asked the girls to pull one out and take a picture of it so we could give it to someone that would like to buy a new battery for it. I recommend Laney be in the shot for size reference, and I was a little worried that the picture might not be usable, but Addie blew it out of the water. 😂

We finished the laundry to enable us to put away all the winter clothes, so the girls and I folded and got everything put away. Then Laney and I worked on putting all her fun things on her walls. Her room looks really cute and I wi share pictures tomorrow after she makes her bed and vacuums. Also bubba put up Frankie’s canopy and she loves it. Also will share after she makes her bed. 

I got the best gift in the mail! Aunt Darcie sent me an original recipe card of my grandmas! I had expected her to make a copy, so this was a great surprise and treasure. I love seeing her handwriting and I’m so excited to make her recipe. And sheet cake is basically always delicious. 

It rained and was muggy all day today, and we haven’t turned on the ac yet, so it’s pretty warm upstairs. For dinner i made French toast with homemade bread and served with hot homemade syrup. As homemade as syrup made with maple extract can be, i guess. Tonight we are watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It’s been a good day. 

Day #71 and #72

I have been loving running early in the morning. I love getting it over with and knowing the rest of the day that it’s done. I love the cool breeze and the energy I feel. Yesterday I did 9.6 miles up St. Andrews Church Rd. I run 1 minute 45 seconds, then walk 40 seconds. Then repeat 50 times. I’m extremely slow - most miles take me an average of 10 minutes, but occasionally I have an 11 minute mile, and even less occasionally a 9 minute mile. During one of my 40 second walks I saw this beautiful woodpecker (?) and pulled a dad. He was fun to watch. 

We headed out to St. Mary’s City on our grand adventure just after 11. Our first stop (ok actually second, after a brief stint in SMC) was to the St. Inigoes General Store and we all brought our masks and everyone was going to pick a fun soda. Last time I picked an agave coke and it was delicious. Much to our dismay, even though I had checked online and they were supposed to be open, they were closed. Whomp, whomp. 

Second stop, Enso Bakery in St. Mary’s City. I’ve been wanting to go there for a long time, they are supposed to have the best croissants. And then, much to our dismay times 2, it was closed. For a fat kid like myself that plans life around eating, these two disappoints were quite difficult. But I love St. Mary’s City and it was a beautiful day, so on we went. We explored mostly down by the water. 

And then hiked up to the cemetery overlooking the water. My dad has brought Addie a camera to play on and they were thick as thieves. 

We left around 1 because I hadn’t packed lunch on account of the fancy soda and croissants. Undaunted, we picked up A&W on our way home. Then we headed up to the green to enjoy the snow come truck. Delaney is Miss Patriotic. Mask and all. 

That evening Matt and Tony took the girls kayaking Macintosh Run. It was absolutely heavenly to spend a few hours home alone. 

I watched some tv and then cleaned the kitchen and made apple butter. It was just calm and quiet and wonderful. 

And of course the crew had a great time. 

I heard that Addie sunk her kayak but Matt and Tony were able to right it. 

That all the girls swam and the water was only cold at first. 

I heard differing stories on why Delaney did most of the rowing. 

It was also wonderful that the girls had a full day outside and came home tired, ready for a shower, dinner, and bed. 

Matt found this giant snake! Blech. 

Matt did a good job with and took tons of pictures. 










And how about back to St. Mary’s City. I love this crazy crew. Addie got one with my dad with us, but we haven’t downloaded then yet. 

Last night I set my bread maker to finish bread by 9am and also cooked down the apple butter. It felt so very Little House on the Prairie. 

This afternoon Addie and Abby went to the stream and Ellie came over to play with Laney. 

They build a doghouse for D. 

Chris and i made an Indian dish called Biryani Masala. I found a seasoning in the pantry and found a recipe online, but none of them said how much seasoning to use. We made our best guess and it was tasty. It was spicy in that Indian way. Christian decided he’d like to watch Scoob tonight l, so he bought it for the girls to watch and then they were best buddies. I thought it was funny when Delaney filled Christians glass with water from her water bottle. 

Tonight we had LuAnn Oliver join us for our additional relief society meeting. It was so good. Spoke right to my heart and gave me such encouragement and good ideas. I had just this afternoon made a rule that during the 45 minutes I tutor Frankie there are to be no interruptions. They can speak, ask questions, etc before or after, but not during. Tutoring interruptions put me right into emotional overwhelm. I loved the clarity of the way she explained it. 

After rs Matt and I visited outside with Mikkel and Louise, our old Danish neighbors. They are going back to Denmark this summer and everything is up in the air and different than they’d planned and hard. We saw Nicole and Mike walking by on their “date” and we all laughed about our few moments away from our children.