Play Ball!

I was annoyed when Cooper's playoff baseball game got rained out on Saturday and rescheduled for Sunday afternoon because I had been planning to host book club for literal MONTHS, and I was worried about Ben and the kids coming home from baseball and making a huge mess, getting in my way, etc. 

Ben took the 4 oldest kids with him to the baseball field at 2 for Coop's 3 pm game, and I ran around like an idiot finishing up housework and getting everything set  up in the back yard.

When Minnie woke up from her nap, she and I headed over around 4 (with my guests arriving at 6), expecting to see the end of the game. I planned to hand the kids off to Ben so he could take them all to the pool for dinner, etc, before he doubled back to the field to collect Harry from his game at 7:30. But! The game started 49 minutes late, so they were only in the third inning. GAH.

Then I noticed it was a SCORELESS GAME and Cooper was on the mound, and I stopped worrying about book club or timing or what we would feed the kids for dinner.

And Minnie and I sat back and watched the best 9-year-old baseball I have ever seen

Cooper is a heckuva first baseman

After a scoreless game, the Birds went up 1-0 in the 4th. It was dicey when Cooper LOADED THE BASES, but thy got out of that inning. No one scored in the 5th. Then the Birds went up 5-0 in the 6th and got 3 quick outs when the other team batted,  Which means they play agin on Wednesday.

Thanks to COVID they doff their caps instead of shaking hands, and I love it.

Go Birds!

 

My book club came over!

 TO my house!

It was glorious-- so much more fun than Zoom book club.

Then the boys and I made 10pm cookies, so I got nothing. EXCEPT! These pictures of Minnie eating **shrug**

Goals for this week:

SO. MUCH. GRADING. (My goal is to do it all)

A few errands for my brother's upcoming visit (so excited!)

Work on hiring a fall staff

Try to get at least one pool afternoon in

Finish an audio book and 2 real books (I HAVE NO TIME TO READ THESE DAYS, so this goal is lofty, to be sure)

Be intentional about using sheet masks (I can't remember to do this-- WHY?)

DO SOMETHING with Harry Potter homeschool. Except for reading the books and playing Trivia at dinner, we have sucked at this.

I wouldn't call this a photo dump

... But I wouldn't not call it a photo dump, either.

We are back at the park, and boy has Dorothy missed it 

Pandemic baby goes nowhere, so when she does leave the house we take a picture

These guys are at the pool almost all day every day

Meanwhile, Minnie and I run a pool taxi service

She's a menace

But a super cute one

BELLY FLOP

Every meal ends in a sink bath these days

MENACE

Jack, when he was announced as the dive meet winner in his age group

Pandemic dress for a Saturday meeting

It's baseball tournament season

Dorothy played with oatmeal, cornstarch, sprinkles, and cinnamon for HOURS

This chalking craze that swept the pandemic only made it to our driveway last week

DOWN TOWN AGAIN. I have missed this view

Done!

Ready for swim practice

 

Cold! Treat! Wednesday!

 Kelsey from the Girl Next Door podcast and Rising Shining shared on Instagram that she and her kids are doing "cold treat Wednesday" this summer where every Wednesday, they try a new place for ice cream or smoothies, etc. I though this was a greta idea and promptly stole it. We planned to do it on Tuesdays, but the way our weeks are shaking out, Wednesdays work better.

As an aside-- here are the other days-- Minecraft Monday (the only day of the week they can use their iPads), New Park Tuesday, Cold Treat Wednesday, Library Thursday, and Fun Fun Friday (where we pick from a grab bag-- and there are some WEIRD choices in that bag).

So far, cold treat Wednesday is a GENIUS idea-- low key, easy to squeeze in to a packed day, and a whimsical way to get us over the middle of the week.

Week 1 saw us at The Chocolate Shoppe, a perennial fave:

Week 2 found us at Icki Sticki (eating Chocolate Shoppe)

And this week! THIS WEEK! We went to the Terrace.

This summer is my 18th in Madison, meaning when it is over, I will have lived here longer than I have lived anywhere, and last summer was the only one that was Terrace-less. I missed it so much that I almost cried when we rounded the corner and saw the lake and the rainbow chairs and all the happy people.

Lake Mendota! We missed you!

Memorial Union-- I almost sobbed.

Yay for ice cream!

They barely make a mess anymore

She wanted a picture in all the big chairs, but we couldn't find green.

Best view in town!

Biggest Losers

 Ben has lost 34 pounds since March-- how awesome is that??? I have lost 28 since I had Minnie and really want to take off these last 6 before her birthday-- an arbitrary deadline, to be sure. The very weirdest thing is that I really don't miss eating like a crazy giant.

These pics were taken a year apart:

A few things that have helped me besides having Ben also eating healthy:

1. No alcohol: I don't miss it, and it's easier to make good food choices without it.

2. Chocolate chips: I eat them by the tablespoon, and they are the best sweet treat

3. A bedtime snack: It is so much easier for me to eat reasonable dinners when I know I have a small snack (usually a packet of lower sugar oatmeal with 1tsp of peanut butter and a few raisins) to look forward to after my shower.

4. Drinking a gallon of water every day: who can be hungry with that much water?!

5: TONS of exercise: my walk is Minnie's nap, so I can't miss it, and I love listening to audiobooks while we stroll. My Apple watch has been great to track exercise and motivate me to keep going, too.

What about you? Healthy habits to share?

Big Baby

Minnie is doing SO MANY NEW THINGS all of the sudden.

For example, she is walking with her push toy (It really helped when we moved it downstairs to the carpet. Actually, after MONTHS of complaining that the wifi sucks in Minnie's room while I work on her floor as she played with her toys, I MOVED A BUNCH OF TOYS DOWNSTAIRS and she plays while I sit at the FREAKING TABLE in a CHAIR LIKE AN ADULT.  Talk about an epiphany!)

She is experimenting with FEEDING HERSELF WITH A SPOON!

She can suddenly stand up, and she does it ALL OF THE TIME

Even when it's probably not at all safe

She smiles for all selfies:

AND SHE CAN PICK THE OUTLET COVERS off the outlets.

This morning, I heard her calling mamamamamama, and I found her STANDING UP in her bed!

And then she did this! Crawled to the door and stood up to wave at the boys on their dog walk.

 How is she this big this fast?? I mean, THIS was her ONE YEAR AGO:

Weekend Update

 We had a date night. It was a dream, even though we just went to the restaurant by our house really fast for a late dinner after we put the kids to bed. It has been... a long time since just the two of us went out.

But, I mean, she's worth not getting out much. LOOK AT HOW SWEET SHE IS OMG.

She is also the messiest eater in the universe, even though she can only eat tiny little pieces of food because if I give her normal size pieces, she shoves it all in her moth and chokes.

Lots and lots of sink baths:

Jack and Coop had their first dive meet! (Technically Dorothy is also on the team, but she is still working her way up to five dives)

Jack WON HIS AGE GROUP and got a personal best score. As you can see, he was stoked:

And this guy! At his very first meet! Got second place in his age group! He was so, so, so proud of himself.

WE WERE SO HOT. SO SO SO SO SO HOT.

Ben is not pictured because he was the announcer, something he volunteered to do for all home meets this season. Love it!

Ben and Cooper rounded out the holiday weekend with a baseball tournament, which is the most perfect Father's Day activity I can even think of. HOW CUTE ARE THEY?!?