Update July 22, 2023

News

Saturday

Saturday was delightful. We got up and managed to pack and get on the road before 11am. We drove the 4 hours to Lake Itasca fairly peacefully. IL4 was really the perfect little angel the whole way. And no potty accidents. He loved our cabin, loved the vista point, and loved wading across the headwaters of the Mississippi.

D13 managed to stay dry during the wading part, but I slipped and fell in twice trying to keep up with IL4, and because IL4 was holding on to me as he made the precariously large steps between the dry stones, I pulled him in on top of me both times. When we had crossed on the rocks for the third time, there was a woman standing on the other end laughing at my plight (in a friendly way). I told her “This is why you have kids at 20 instead of 40,” and she pointed to a 6-ish year old girl and said she’d had her at 54. 😱 She totally had me beat. IL4 and I finally gave up and waded fully in to both the Mississippi and Lake Itasca sides.

Because IL4 and I both were soaked (more so IL4, because he’s shorter), we went back to the cabin after that. I took a nap, IL4 watched YouTube on the phone (but only after he made two pots of coffee and we pried the coffee maker from his desperately clinging hands to prevent a third and final pot being spilled all over the cabin), D13 put together a puzzle, and Aaron read.

Sunday

Sunday we slept in. We went on a leisurely bike ride with IL4 on a Weehoo. I’ve never seen one of these things, but it seems a great introduction to bike riding. It’s a trailer-type thing for kids, where the kid can pedal and can learn the basics of balancing. I’m thinking of buying one for us, since it would last another 5 years. My one reservation is that I’m not sure it’ll fit in our car. I think I’m going to buy one, anyway. All else fails, we’d just have to stay local.

After that, we went back to the cabin and relaxed. IL4 fell asleep. When he awakened Aaron and I took him on a hike. The map suggested the trail was about 1 mile long, but I’d say it was closer to 3 miles. IL4 wouldn’t walk, and I thought carrying him a mile was doable, but about a mile in (guessing) he really wanted us to turn around, and we seriously thought we would be closer going straight than going back. But the trail just kept going, and IL4 was getting really heavy. Finally I turned on Alltrails on my phone to locate us. We weren’t on a trail according to Alltrails, but we could see that we were finally curving around towards our origin. So we kept on walking.

Later, we had a fire and made s’mores.

Monday

Monday we packed up and drove back home. It’s a 4-hour drive, so that took most of the day. IL4 was, again, very good on the car ride, but he was very ready to relax at home when we got there. Aaron went to pick M11 up from acting – he’d been at Boy Scout camp for the week (which he loved, but got homesick) and then at his mom’s while we were camping. Then she dropped him off at acting class.

I coached soccer, but didn’t take IL4 along, since he was so exhausted from camping. Then I picked M11 up from his Boy Scout meeting, and went to work.

Tuesday

Tuesday, I worked till 9am, took D13 to the orthodontist, took dad shopping and to the vascular specialist, took M11 to swim lessons, and took IL4 to get his soccer pictures. I needed to bribe him to behave. Afterwards, I went to Buffalo Wild Wings with Aaron.

Wednesday

Wednesday after work, I went directly to my other job. Then I drove home and picked up IL4 early from daycare so that he’d have more transition time between school and soccer. The strategy worked because, combined with bribing him with McDonald’s, we managed to get him to actually play. He was disappointed that he couldn’t be the goalie every time, but he actually stood on the field and even kicked the ball once, which was a huge improvement from last week.

Thursday

Thursday I went from work to work again, with a 1 hour nap in between. Immediately upon arriving home, I took M11 to Perkins, then to Feed My Starving Children, where we packed meals. After 30 minutes at home, I went back to work. I was home for 1.5 hours total, 1 of which I was asleep.

Friday

Friday after work, I took the boys to get haircuts. Then we picked up dad and went to the playground. We only stayed about an hour because we got hot, and then picked up D13 and went to Perkins. Later in the evening, M11 and I went to tap dance class. I’m in way over my head, but I’m mainly there to support M11, who didn’t want to do it alone.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• 1 postcard Pennsylvania
• 1 postcard Texas
• 1 postcard Oklahoma
• 1 postcard Michigan
• 2 postcards Virginia
• 1 postcard Massachusetts
• 1 letter Belgium
• 1 letter Maine

Reading to myself

• Remote Control, by Nnedi Okorafor
• Don’t Turn Out the Lights, ed. by Jonathan Mayberry
• Educated, by Tara Westover
• Throne of Glass, by Sara J Maas
• How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel
• Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
• Bible
• Babel, by R F Kuang
• Mr Ballen

Reading to IL4

• Robo-Rabbit Boy Go, by Thomas Flintham
• Unicorn and Yeti Together, by Ayris Burnell
• Superfly vs Furious Flea, by Todd H Doodler
• Super Rabbit Boy Powers Up, by Thomas Flintham

D13 reading

• Flashback, by Shannon Messenger
• Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson

Aaron reading

• Homeland, by R A Salvatore

Media Completed

Sankofa is rumored to be adopted by Death herself. She can kill with supernatural powers. She wanders futuristic Ghana, homeless and shunned.

This novella is another great one from Ms Okorafor, who never fails to impress me. It was interesting enough to hold the attention of myself, my husband, and my 13 year old stepdaughter as we listened in one sitting on a car ride. The character is touching. There’s not a lot of plot, but it makes up for that in unique setting.

This is a fun little anthology of middle grade horror stories. Nothing too scary. Nothing too amazing.

In this third installment of the Super Fly series, Fred and Eugene have a falling out, and Crazy Cockroach takes advantage of their distraction. This is a cute book which IL4 found reasonably entertaining, though it might appeal more to ages 5-7. I’m guessing it’s 2nd grade reading level.

Games Played / Puzzles

Steps