Grandma and Grandpa's Playground gets a new addition

Ok so this was definitely the highlight of the day, so I will just start here.  Friday nights are playground nights for our family, and today Grandma and Grandpa's playground got a new addition.



My dad started the base of a new sandbox last week, and this week we have SAND.  Super exciting.  He also found a few brand new-to-us sand toys to play with in the new sandbox.  The kids were entertained by this all evening.  Honestly, I had fun playing in it too. 



Is it too dark to go running when I cannot even see my face? Or my Garmin?



Weekend plans include: cooking, cleaning, organizing, weeding + running, skating & playing outside.  Max picked up a little bit of a cold at school, so we probably will stay even more at home than normal, so he can get rid of it fast.

I am officially ready for the weekend when I can run in the daylight!

Freshly vacuumed stairs & pizza. It must have been a successful day!

After school creativity session.



Pizza!  A new quick non-sourdough recipe to try tonight - plain old cheese for the kids & Jason cooked our pizzas on the grill (on stones) like always.



Before bedtime, I decided I needed to vacuum our stairs.  I do not think I have vacuumed them in at least two months, and I am not even exaggerating.  They were bad.  However it made them look even more amazing afterward because it was such a beautiful difference!  Yep, I even took a picture of them.



It was worth these two running around like bedtime-maniacs upstairs, while I was quickly vacuuming.



I also accomplished the meal-planning in order to do my grocery run tomorrow.

Saturday:
lunch: granola, yogurt and fruit
evening: enchiladas + kale
Sunday:
brunch: french toast/pancakes and fruit
evening: tofu, creamy noodles, broccoli
*treat: either choc cookies or choc-date cupcakes

Monday-leftovers/veggie burgers, apples + peas
Tuesday-sandwiches + zucchini
Wednesday-cashew-sauce penne, broccoli
Thursday-beans & rice + quesadillas + kale
Friday-easy stuff at mom & dad's

The End!

Weekend Adventures

I got off to an early start again on Saturday for just about 11 miles skating (10.75). It was definitely not quite as hot, but still nice to get out early.  There are less people on the trails, which means it's easier to skate freely - not worry as much about who might be up around the next corner to have to clear, or potential dog walkers with long leashes, or young kids mingling in the middle of trails.  Early is good!



I felt so much stronger this week, but still not ready to push it the full extent of my 6 mile out/6 mile back stretch - at least I think it's a 6 mile stretch. I will try to be ready to find out and try that next week.  And then we'll start working on picking up the pace.



The kids wanted to go for a ride around the neighborhood with me afterward, but they had quite the to-do list to accomplish first.  So by the time they got in the trailer, it was almost lunch/nap time and they were not interested in a very long loop.  We got fun crackers though (they always get a special snack in the bike trailer/stroller).



After nap, I really really was overdue for cleaning up their rooms - they help with the toys and clothes, and then I tackle the vacuuming, and washing blankets and things like that.  Jason was busy so I had to get our current babysitter, the laptop, out for a couple of videos to keep them occupied for a little longer.



Ultimately we did another "campout" in the basement! We watched Frozen on DisneyPlus, stayed up a little late, and then we all slept on the floor downstairs.  Eleanor did go up to her bed after the movie, because she just sleeps so fantastic that way.



Sunday, after church, we had another adventure planned.  Jason really wanted to go see this Prince statue down in Henderson, MN.  He said it was in a garden area, so we could probably explore there too - which made it sound good enough to me!  So after church we fueled up with extra cheerios and packed up the car.



And we drove over an hour to see this...



Also, it was not really in a garden...



So we went off to plan B: a little nature center not even 5 miles away.



We took a long walk through a really cool trail. It wove us back through some soybean and corn fields, to a big pond that was really pretty because it was in the middle of nowhere & usually our walks involve houses at some point.



They wore themselves out for a short nap & then were off and running again when we got back for some visits with grandmas and grandpas.



It turned out to be a successful adventure after all!



Whew we did a lot this weekend..

A new addition to my morning routine

I've been visiting this giant weed every morning. Because for whatever reason the Japanese beetles that have decided to join our flower beds find it really tasty. Every morning now, I go spray them down with a soap-water mix. It's only been a couple of days, so we will find out if it actually works! Fortunately the beetles have not destroyed any other plants like this.



Also, while out spraying I stumbled across this random pretty blue flower.  Pretty sure this one is technically a weed too - I didn't plan it.  That makes it a weed, right?  It's a very pretty weed.



Do you think if I put marshmallows into my superfoods, it still counts as a superfood snack?  It was not quite as good as my choco-chip/caco nib additions, though still a fun addition with the coconut flakes too.



My mom brought over some of her amazing fresh salsa for us the other night.  So today my lunch was covered in it - plus leftover black beans, corn, and I topped it with walnuts.  Which, I know sounds weird, but it adds a nice crunch, and I am into walnuts right now.



Fresh salsa is beautiful.



After picking up the kiddos, we headed to my parents', per our usual Friday night fun plans!  My dad has a sandbox in the works, so that's what the frame is under the swingset.  My brother even stopped by too - hooray!



Good thing these kids have both school & grandparents' houses for playing on some sort of playgrounds during this pandemic!

I start my days in style

The best way to start a meeting-packed Thursday is clearly a comfy  hoody and zero makeup. I am all set to take on my first call of the day.



After 2 hours of meeting, who wouldn't need a snack?  I am mixing things up with CHOCOLATE today.  Plus walnuts.  Because I am definitely on a walnut kick the last few days.



Taco night tonight!! Seasoned ground turkey for Jason, plus black beans, sliced peppers, hard shells, tomatoes, salsa, etc.  Max has been looking forward to this taco night all week - he prefers his taco with just cheese + some meatless crumbles.

I stumbled across this gem on my evening run. an entire field of sunflowers! I feel so lucky to have this nearby and for sure will need to remember stop back with the kids soon.



It is so fun to run around exploring all the things I wouldn't otherwise know about my city!

Trying new things isn't always hard?

Wednesdays are for soccer!



Another fun, fun day of soccer during the school-day for Max.  He has been thoroughly enjoying the weekly soccer practice with his friends.

On the way home lately, Eleanor has been trying out sticking pretzels in her shoes (I give them a few to snack on the ride home).  Then she realizes it doesn't feel that great, and whines the rest of the way.  We had a little chat about how that's not the greatest idea.



While Jason was getting started on our cauliflower gnocchi supper (good old Trader Joe's), I thought I would try out the hiking pack with Eleanor.  Last time we tried this she did not like it at all - it was like she was afraid to be up so high.  This time, I got up with her in it more slowly and that made all the difference.  She loved it!  And then Max really wanted to try it too, so he got a turn too - and loved it as well.  So now apparently we need two packs.  Hmm.. my goal was to get one kiddo to like them, so we could go hiking.  I suppose trying new things isn't always as hard as we think it will be?!



No run photo today - just a nice, easy 3 mile loop around the neighborhoods.  However I also forgot to start my Garmin so basically it's like it never even happened. 

I should start up an old-fashioned notepad of my workouts like I used to do, after tracking the distance with my car.

Special after-school adventure

I thought I would display my beverage selections for the morning. :)  Yep, still on that caffeine.  But this week is primarily decaf - not even half-caf - 3 parts decaf: 1 part regular.  Plus some good old fashioned water.


We also did something super special today - the kids (Max mainly) have been asking for us to bike to their school some day.  Well we finally did.  It's not all that far away, but just requires the coordination of leaving work at a specific time & also making sure to pick a day where the kids do not have a ton of stuff (Fridays...).



Jason gets to do the hard work.  I have a hard time keeping up with him normally, so this evens the playing field quite nicely.  60 lbs of kids or so..   10 miles there, about 7 on the way back (my Garmin died) because we went a different way that was apparently quicker.



The kids get plenty hot in the trailer too, so they came inside pretty quickly to cool down and play.  Today's activity: fire fighters cruising in "boats"!



And finally, my evening run after bedtime.  I checked out a new area of my city that I have been trying to figure out how to get to without crossing this busy road.  I found a good crosswalk spot, so even though I did cross it, I felt a bit safer.  It's an area that has some fun windy roads in neighborhoods, so it could be a great wintertime run!



I also found a spot to recycle the pots from the plants you get at nurseries [to bring home] and made a mental note to return with our stack of plastic pots!

Missed opportunities & running in the dark

We played outside Monday evening - well, I was attempting to pluck every last weed from the grass while simultaneously being interrupted every 1.5 minutes by a child or two.  I made a little progress.  And then I got distracted by this really awesome fly-bug-moth thing.  This is my failed attempt to capture it on camera. The little bug fluttered around for a while, so it is definitely MY missed opportunity to get a good photo.  Oh well, I'll have to keep my eyes open for these.



Later on, I went for my usual 8:30-8:45ish run, and it seems to have gotten darker overnight.  That is not entirely true, but it does feel quite sudden!





So now I am searching for my reflective gear from the last time I did a Ragnar (2015? - so sad!). I know I have a vest somewhere, and am hoping I can find my cool blinkie taillight like this one. I definitely have a headlamp, though it's not dark enough for that yet.  I mainly just want other people (and cars!) to see me.  

Perhaps I will stop wearing black clothing too!  What else am I forgetting..

Weekend Adventures

Saturday I woke up early to get out to the trails for a skate.  This has not happened in a looong time.  It was already pretty toasty out even at 6:30 am, so I was happy I got an early start.  8 miles felt like plenty for not having skated more than 2 around the neighborhood in quite some time.



Now I want to do this every weekend because, after waking up early, I felt so accomplished!  I came home and Eleanor had just woken up, and turned on the oven for bread baking.  I was not on my photo-game all weekend so here is the only photo of the bread.  Nice and blurry.  But oh so tasty!



The kids and I went outside for a little while, in between the threats of rain, and then came back in to play with trucks & more silliness.



This is where my weekend started to get a little rough.  I had thought it would be a great day to give up coffee altogether.  I also figured tea would stave off the caffeine-headache, because yes, I am probably addicted to my caffeine.  I may not have realized how MUCH I am dependent on coffee.  I had headaches, body aches, was extra tired.  After drinking a ton of water to see if that helped, I gave in & had 2 cups of instant coffee.  The damage even continued into Sunday - my body was having none of this caffeine quitting thing.  I will be working on this more slowly (i.e. DECAF coffee) next week!



We did have a grand time "camping" at home Saturday night!  Instead of s'mores this time we did rice krispee bars.  Also delicious, and less messy.



Sunday we went for a little drive after church and visited the nature center for a short walk.  Short because it the mosquitoes decided to come after me pretty quickly!  We forgot bug spray.  After a quick loop through the woods, we stopped to checkout the turtles and went right back home.



What a great weekend!

Middle of the week party time

We had a birthday party yesterday - my mom's - and she always wants nothing more than to ALL get together.  It was a success, except we missed one of my brothers(overseas still) and sis-in-law(working).  It was somewhat impromptu and my mom loves to do food for groups, so we let her take care of whatever food she thought would be perfect.  She had pulled pork sandwiches, cabbage salad, every kind of berry, and potato salad.  Plus this beautiful dessert of a birthday cake:



Max and Jason are obsessed with the ice cream cake.  My mom used strawberry ice cream in the middle, which is Jason's fave.  I brought a sourdough loaf to share, so that was my small contribution.

Since we are still in the time of Covid, we celebrated primarily outdoors.  And it was a TOASTY 92 degrees here.  My dad set up the pool and Max had a great time swimming in his underwear.  Because for some reason I thought he would not be interested in going IN it fully, with so many other fun things to do.  I was totally wrong - he loved it!  Good thing undies as a swimsuit is totally acceptable for a 3 year old!



The kids did eventually go inside to play with a few things before we got all set to go, pajamas and all.  I have found it helps with the bedtime transition to get into jammies before leaving - when I skip this step, they think it's time to PLAY when we get to our house.  Even though it is 7:30pm.



Eleanor took good care of the doll at Grandma and Grandpa's before we left.


The birthday dessert got me thinking about Max's and Eleanor's birthdays which are not all that far off...

Tuesday heat.. braids are required

It's hot outside, even after the kids are in bed, which is when I go for a run.  Last night, as I was running, my pony binder fell out of my hair and so my braid came undone.  Fortunately I had a binder at the top of the braid too so my hair didn't fall completely loose.  There is nothing worse than the feeling of hair sticking to your sweaty skin, in my opinion!



In other news, my children hate washing cars.  When I was little, it was the funnest thing ever to wash cars in the summertime.  Eleanor cried because she thought Daddy was going to spray her with the hose that was running a lot, and Max had a little fun until he got wet & then sat in the grass and pouted until we helped him get into a dry shirt.  I think they will like it eventually - but we might give it some time before trying again!  Hey, at least my car is somewhat cleaner...



We made everyone happy with a short (HOT) little walk down the block to the get the mail.




Maybe next time we will try swimsuits and some fun sponges?  I will do some thinking...