Well, it’s that time of year again! Summer vacation. I can say that I hardly have B signed up for anything, but I’m still working on it. We just returned from our yearly family vacation and had a great time. Unfortuntely, my camera died mid vacation!
But before it died, I got some shots of Vermont.
Here’s Bella doing the Duckling - a mini triathlon for the kids at Tyler Place.
Tim and I climbed to the top of Burnt Mountain. The morning started out at 38 degrees, but warmed up quickly (especially when hiking up a mountain.
Nicholas in Junior Midgets.
To recap the last two weeks. It’s been hot… really hot. Yesterday it was 100 degrees at 6:30 in the evening (although with the bright sun it looks more like afternoon.) \
Bella’s First 5k
The weekend before last, Isabella completed her first 5k. Yep, my girl did all 3.1 miles. It took her 57:00 and we walked most of it, but she completed it and I couldn’t be more proud.
Muffins for Moms
During the week, Anchor hosted their Muffins for Mom’s breakfast. Nicholas made me a flower and we were able to sit and have muffins together. He then worked very hard on building a chair in the blocks area.
My Alpha Girl
This Saturday, Isabella has her final test of the semester for her skating class and she passed Pre-Alpha and is officially an Alpha skater. She received a patch (which she is thrilled about.) Also, she was very excited that eventually she would be in the Grandma class. I didn’t know what this was and it took a bit, but finally she said, “You know Mom. Now I’m an Alpha and eventually I’ll be a Grandma.” Aha! Gamma. I get it. The kid sure does make me laugh.
Beautiful Wedding
Saturday evening, Tim and I had a date night and left the kids with Kiki and Ryan. We went to John and Vanessa’s wedding down at the Portofino. It was extraordinarily hot, but one of the most beautiful ceremonies I have ever seen. We are so happy for John, who I used to work with and who has always been a good friend to our family. Bella was disappointed that she wasn’t going to get to see him get married, but we took lots of pictures.
Mother’s Day Flowers
Yesterday was Mother’s Day and all I wanted was to redo my garden bed. It looked horrible and I pass by it so many times a day going in and out of the house. We spent the morning digging it up and removing tree roots. I was amazed at how big some of the roots were. After lunch out with the Dady’s and Tim getting pulled into work, we took a trip over to Kmart and Home Depot to pick up the flowers and accessories to fill in the area. Jerry and Ryan came over to play while I was planting, and Jerry donated a few bags of mulch so we wouldn’t have to go back out. The result was beautiful and this morning I kept peeking at it out the window. I am so very pleased with my beautiful garden.
Another successful movie night is over and we’re all winding down before we get to bed. I didn’t gget to watch too much of the movie (too busy gabbing) but the ending was good. We have enough hot dog buns and cookies for a while, so I’m thinking meatball subs for next week.
I know Tim thinks I’ve gone round the bend. On Earth Day, I tried to see if I could do my laundry for the day without using the dryer. It’s supposed to save a lot of energy (not to mention money) and I figured that I hang dry some of my stuff, so what would happen if I did it all. I remember being a kid and we didn’t have a dryer. Everything was line dried, so what the heck. Let’s go retro.
So, I don’t mind doing it. It actually gets all the clothes hung up faster (I put them on hangers then hang the hangers on the line.) I decided to see if there was a way to perfect the problems I ran into on Earth Day. Mostly, the crunchiness of the items. Now, I add a cup of white vinegar to each load and for the clothes, that has been a significant help. The key is a windy day to keep the clothes moving. The items that end up being in the wind end up fine. Towels, however, are another pickle. It’s Florida, so they dry SO fast (great, right?) Well, no. Because when they dry so quickly, they get crunchy. No time for the air wiggle them around. I’ve tried putting them in the dryer after drying (on air only) and it helps, but it’s not quite there. My next attempt will be those dryer balls that are supposed to soften your clothes.
On the plus side, most people know that I can handle smells at all. I can’t use detergent with any odor at all and fabric softeners give me a migraine. It can be really bad some times when I’m at people’s houses and the laundry smells (which are SO nice) start my head a’ poundin’. With line drying, they smell FABULOUS! Not the nothing smell of my indoor laundry, but this clean airy smell that I just keep going back to smell while they are drying.
I know Tim thinks I’ve gone round the bend. On Earth Day, I tried to see if I could do my laundry for the day without using the dryer. It’s supposed to save a lot of energy (not to mention money) and I figured that I hang dry some of my stuff, so what would happen if I did it all. I remember being a kid and we didn’t have a dryer. Everything was line dried, so what the heck. Let’s go retro.
So, I don’t mind doing it. It actually gets all the clothes hung up faster (I put them on hangers then hang the hangers on the line.) I decided to see if there was a way to perfect the problems I ran into on Earth Day. Mostly, the crunchiness of the items. Now, I add a cup of white vinegar to each load and for the clothes, that has been a significant help. The key is a windy day to keep the clothes moving. The items that end up being in the wind end up fine. Towels, however, are another pickle. It’s Florida, so they dry SO fast (great, right?) Well, no. Because when they dry so quickly, they get crunchy. No time for the air wiggle them around. I’ve tried putting them in the dryer after drying (on air only) and it helps, but it’s not quite there. My next attempt will be those dryer balls that are supposed to soften your clothes.
On the plus side, most people know that I can handle smells at all. I can’t use detergent with any odor at all and fabric softeners give me a migraine. It can be really bad some times when I’m at people’s houses and the laundry smells (which are SO nice) start my head a’ poundin’. With line drying, they smell FABULOUS! Not the nothing smell of my indoor laundry, but this clean airy smell that I just keep going back to smell while they are drying.