Summer’s heat has arrived at The Lodge and we’ve been doing all the things. All the things at home, that is! The coronavirus is raging in Washington state and we’re extra hunkered down. Hunkered down and happy. The kids are having a blast just being kids, running around at home and riding their bikes and scooters.
Despite being hunkered down, we did venture out to the beach on Monday morning. Make no mistake, we were there by 8 a.m. and left by 10:30 and saw very few other people. It’s a huge beach and we largely had it to ourselves. The perfect way to start the week!
Alex took Monday morning off and we eased into the workweek. It was such a treat.
The weather was perfect and we ate the best blueberry muffins and played in the sand together.
It’s been HOT this week. Our yard is largely full-sun, though the kids are getting good at finding the shady spots. Our sprinklers and splash pad are on heavy rotation these days. Also noteworthy is Hannah’s newfound love of sparkling water. I feel you, girl.
Ice pops are eaten on the daily. The one’s we’ve been making most recently are just strawberries, yogurt, vanilla and a sprinkling of sugar, so my kiddos can eat them ’til their heart’s content! Here is the base recipe I use, though I cut the sugar down substantially and I used frozen strawberries. I have a couple new recipes to try this week. And here’s a link to our ice pop mold.
We’re in full-blown summer food mode here, too. The kids helped Alex make burgers one night. It was the sweetest. Neither of them are too into burgers, sadly.
One afternoon I had them help me shuck corn, which really took me back to my childhood.
In other food-related news, I made a winning snack board for lunch one day. The kids gave it their stamp of approval.
I found some burrata and paired it with some tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic, salt and basil and served it with some toasted baguette. It was practically a meal on its own.
Alex and I had two adult-only dinners this week. Friday we enjoyed ribs together, post-bedtime. Saturday I made my favorite Tortilla Espanola. We love our adult dinners and at-home date nights to catch up and try to do them at least once a week.
We’re taking great joy in the little things. Bike and/or scooter rides are daily occurrences now. The days have slowed down drastically, and, for us, in the best way possible.
These little experiences together are extra special these days.
Knowing it’ll be quite a while before Ben steps into a hair salon, I gave him his first “quarantine haircut.” It was getting a liiiittle scraggly. Here’s the before:
I think it turned out pretty well. Far from perfect, but it’s definitely cleaned up.
My cousin, Chris, and his wife and two kids spent the weekend out near us and stopped over for an outdoor play date. Ben had the BEST time playing with Henry and Claire.
It was so sweet seeing him engaging with other kids. There were times where they did okay with physical distancing and times where it was non-existent. This age is so hard for them to give others’ space.
Saturday morning I went for a nice long and hot run, then we took a family bike ride into the farmers market. We set up a little picnic, grabbed some sausages from Frank’s Franks {a weekend sausage stand at the hardware store} and enjoyed our time together. We devoured our berries and tried a few new varieties, including saskatoons and yellow Anne’s.
Alex took his mountain bike into town Sunday morning and did a ride on Freund Canyon. He reported that the ride up was great, as was the view at the top, but the way down was rather nerve wracking after seeing not one, but two, rattlesnakes on the trail!! Yikes.
We’re gearing up for the hottest week of the summer, thus far, along with a birthday celebration for our Hannah on Wednesday! Cheers to the week ahead.
