5th Grade Graduation

Nothing like moving from elementary school to middle school during a pandemic.  Things have loosened up enough to allow for a parade at school to say goodbye to the teachers and an outdoor neighborhood 5th grader gathering.

 the only social distancing going on here was between the girls and the boys...funny.

Critters on my walks

 I'm not sure what this bird is but he's beautiful and majestic.

 I stumbled on this groundhog and now I look for him every time I walk by this field.  He's HUGE!  He and his mate and their littles live under this shed. 

Who loves his pupper?

June Adventures

 so the yard looks pretty good this year...I managed to get the weed and feed on and the sprinklers turned on...first time in about four years we have managed to do BOTH things in a timely manner.  Garden also coming along nicely...one pepper plant has died and only about half the carrots came up.  I planted new carrots and tossed the pepper plant in the weed pile. 

 working from home has its advantages.  the lack of an IT person to just ask what the heck is happening is one of the disadvantages.

 as things start to open up we start to adventure a little bit... Daniel and Holden took my car down to Iowa to Krispy Kreme.  They brought it back and the windshield was COVERED in nasty bugs.  Like  to the point where I had to wash it which, if you must know, I NEVER do.  Gross.

 Josh likes it when the dogs sleep in his room.  Leo has a crate in there and he happy goes in there when Josh gets ready for bed.  Lanny generally sleeps on a dogbed in our room but this night he decided to sleep at the foot of Josh's bed.  Which meant that Josh slept with his legs in Indian style.  I don't know how he managed to get any sleep at all but he's 11 so I guess it worked out.

Part of Macey's biology classwork during quarantine was to either buy or grow plants with a control and an experimental subject and observe and report on how it went.  She planted gourd seeds, the one on the left in supplemented soil and the one on the right in just dirt.  3/4 of the just dirt plants came up whereas only 2/4 of the ones in the "good" soil came up.  However, the plants in the "good" soil are growing faster and stronger.  TBD how it all turns out.  She planted these on the front porch and managed to drop a seed into one of the flower planters so we also have a gourd plant growing in the front garden.  Its doing better than any of the rest!

 Daniel kicked it up a notch at work.  While he's been working there for a year, he started working full-time at Chipotle during quarantine (they were an essential business, go figure) and he was promoted to "Trainer" so he has trained three new hires so far.  He really likes his job and he's making good money for college.  Plus, he pays for all his own stuff these days-win/win.

 Josh binged all of the Cars shows on Disney Plus and then collected all of our Cars cars that he could find.  We then called Grandpa because Josh recalled that he had a ton of Cars cars that the kids all used to play with in his closet...and Grandpa offered them all to Josh.  So now he can hang with the Cars gang anytime he wants.  He's had a blast with them.

 Macey made me a ring chain to countdown the days until I am done with my job.  Its now close to the ceiling...the days are just ticking away...

Tennis is one of the safest activities you can do during quarantine.  We were some of the last people on the courts before they locked them up and the first ones back out there when they opened the gates.  We play with or without nets-Macey just loves the courts!  She and Mia and often Josh will go up and play almost daily.  I go with them a couple of times a week and help her run drills and hit around.  Josh is getting better; Macey is working really hard to make the JV team this year.  Fingers crossed!

Family Quarantine Movie Night

As in, me and my siblings pick a movie, we all hit play at the same time, and we text during the movie.  So far we've hit Red Dawn, No Way Out and Footloose.  Up soon:  Top Gun. 

 As with everything I do involving technology, movie night is not without its hitches...

I had forgotten how much of Footloose was about friendship.  We all forgot how "adult" No Way Out was-far more boobies than any of us remembered!  And Red Dawn...for those of us who love it, it was just as good as we remember.  Newcomers?  They weren't as thrilled.  As always, Patrick Swayze's final scene got me. 

Minneopea State Park

 why do all the MN state parks have these stone steps that creep around so you can't tell how big they are??

 there is a HUGE turtle on this tree

I built a WALL!!

So it was not really a "quarantine wall" because its been in the works for months-but I did build it during quarantine.  And, it was easier than it might have been normally because there were no distractions-no soccer games, no tennis matches, no sleepovers or friends houses to pick up from.  Total focus on the Wall.  It started last summer with me trying to convince Jason that getting rid of the bushes out front was a good idea.  That took most of the summer.  At the end of last summer/early last fall, he finally conceded (or gave up...its debatable which) and we had the bushes taken out, which cleared the way for my weekend project.

Before:

In process:

 I bought all of the stuff from Home Depot after watching one of their "you too can build a retaining wall" videos.  And yes, you (I) can.  I had not really figured out how I was going to get the bricks home when I ordered them online...have them delivered?  rent a truck?  Their suggestion was just to leave it there and it was brilliant (and the obvious answer if you think about it because I really had no idea how many bricks I would need...turns out I was off by about 25).   They let me take 30 bricks at a time (which was pretty much all the suspension in the car would bare) and leave the pallet behind the HD.  I went back three times and the bricks I did not need I was able to just "return" by walking into the store and getting a refund.  So slick! 

 Josh helped me move about 10 bricks from the car to the blue mat.  Otherwise, I did everything 100% by myself.  I did clear the color of the bricks with Jason and Macey did go to HD with me one time to help scope out the exact brick because I ordered everything online AND she helped me pick out the plants but otherwise, it was all me.  I am VERY proud of myself!!

 The absolute hardest part was laying the bottom brick.  Dig a pit, lay down paving stone/dirt as a base, then try to get the brick level...me and the leveler were at war by the end of the first row.  Note that this thing is on a pretty steep hill...there are layers and layers..the tallest layer is 7 bricks high; the lowest, four.  Making it level and up an incline is NOT for the weak of heart!

 I had to drive up to the other side of Minneapolis to get the end pieces cut to size but it was worth the trip.  YouTube seems to think that you can cut these bricks with a chisel, a mallet and protective eyewear.  YouTube is nuts.  One might be able to do it but I worked on one brick for 30 minutes and barely made a dent.  The dude at the stone place I went to did 6 cuts to size in about 10 minutes.  Worth the drive and every cent I paid.

 All in all in it took a good two and half full days of work...and about 6 trips to the HD, two to the garden center and one to a stone cutter.  But here it is!

Walks

 chicks and ducks and geese all-a-feather  ...  the geese with their 10 babies was crazy!

 various walks out at Cleary Lake

 I love how so many people are writing messages on the sidewalks...this one of Sebastian was really really good.  So many inspirational messages!  So much good art! 

                                                                                  walk pics!

 family walk

 heron?  not sure...certainly a big white bird