While much of the country seems to be loosening its restrictions for the pandemic we’re still very much hunkered down here in the mountains. Washington state is doing a phased re-opening by county. Where we are is still very much in phase one of re-opening, which essentially means nothing is open. It’s certainly been feeling like people are trying to move on from being in the middle of a pandemic, but we’re still playing it safe.
It’s been another week filled with strong emotions of extreme joy and sadness. Our family has had an absolutely wonderful week together; however, the events happening around the country have me feeling distraught and like I need to take my own action.
I had already purchased some new books for Ben for his birthday around culture and racial inequalities, so the timing of that purchase worked out well. While I had already intended on teaching Ben more about race and racial injustices, the timing of the most recent Black Lives Matter protests have amplified that. I have a lot of learning and personal exploration to do surrounding race, racism and white privilege, and particularly what I can do and what my family can do. We’re having a lot of really thoughtful conversations in our family and I’m certainly proud of that.
In other news, our four year old has really been acting like he’s four this week. He has been at his absolute best and is just the sweetest. We have had some extremely special moments and conversations with Ben this week.
We’ve had a blast playing with Ben’s new birthday toys. One of them, a build and take apart car, inspired a lot of building. We’ve been building and taking apart the car and doing a ton of playing with Duplos.
One of the kids’ favorite activities right now is running through the sprinklers – Hannah prefers running around while the sprinklers are on next to her.
I took the kids on a couple mid-week outings. It’s been nice getting out and about while places are quiet; however, once we move into phase two of the state’s re-opening, our peaceful and quiet beach will be overrun with campers at the adjacent campground.
Ben and Hannah absolutely love going to the beach. They both love to dig in the sand and Ben lets his imagination run wild and creates scenes from his favorite show, Octonauts.
Late in the week we went into town and did a short hike at Ski Hill. Ben had fallen asleep in the car on the drive there and upon our arrival was too tired to be a walker. Into the hiking backpack Ben went. Which means I got to carry two children on our hike.
Hannah is basically potty trained. I can take absolutely zero credit for this, aside from providing a toilet for her to use in exchange for an M&M. She has the biggest sweet tooth in the family and she’s totally taking advantage of the M&Ms, so we need to re-work that reward. Normally I’m opposed to rewards, especially in the form of food, but for potty training, I’ll be flexible.
Alex and I had the best at-home date night on Friday. We try {and certainly do not always succeed} to have a date night each week where we put the kids to bed then cook dinner together. This week’s date night was extra fun because we “traveled to Spain” – I made pan con tomate {tomato bread} and tortilla Espanola {basically a fritatta with potatoes and onions}. Both dishes are extremely popular in Spain and remind me of our travels together. We had so much fun cooking together and hanging out, just the two of us, in the kitchen.
Our weekend was delightful and very low-key. We headed back into town so Alex could take the kids on a hike {spoiler alert: he ended up carrying both of them for much of their hike, too} while I went for a run.
We ended our evening with a picnic at the base of Ski Hill. After our hike/run, Alex drove down the hill and picked up some pizza from one of our favorite Leavenworth Restaurants, Tumwater Bakery. It was so, so lovely. Ben was in the absolute best mood and kept trying to serve us all – he’d pick up a piece of pizza or pull a piece of sausage off of a piece of pizza and ask if we were ready for more.
We ended the weekend with a relaxing day at home. A major highlight was a little family bike ride we did together. Ben takes so much joy from riding his pedal bike. It was so endearing watching him practice and practice – he even told us he was practicing to get better for the pump track.
Alex has been getting in quite a few bike rides during the last couple weeks. I’ve also been running a ton. It’s been so rejuvenating for both of us to have time to ourselves to exercise.
We’re ready for another week and the start of our fourth month at The Lodge!