Nearly done with June and I'm finally getting to my May Round Up. Time flies, as they say. Anyway, they also say "better late than never" so here we go. May started off with a bang with the first full week (plus a day) being our big redwoods trip. Check out those posts, starting here, to catch up on that epic adventure! The rest of the month was just the usual - playing, hiking, reading, living and loving.
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| 5.8.21 (the sign of a good vacation - all tuckered out in Dad's lap as soon as we get home) |
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| 5.8.21 (Read this one as part of the RAR mama book club this spring. I have been wanting to read it for a while, since I heard her on the podcast. Made me realize how many adventures we really are having as a family. And reminded me why I think they’re important (even when I didn’t realize they were “adventures”). Some good ideas for things to try in the future, too (indoor adventures, being a beginner with my kids, etc.).) |
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| 5.9.21 (happy mother's day photo shoot for me!) |
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| 5.9.21 (I don't know when Sam started doing this cheeser face, but he's taken a liking to it and I can't really complain because it's adorable.) |
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| 5.9.21 (we crashed Grandma's mother's day dinner and got some stories and snuggles in the bargain!) |
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| 5.10.21 (Callie has been hired by Grandma Blanchard to catch up her scrapbooks of all the family birthdays - Cal is in heaven to get to do one of her new favorite activities and get paid for it! Grandma says she thinks the deal is a bargain! Win win!) |
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| 5.10.21 (on our way to the library and our mileage is oh-so-close to 100,000!) |
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| 5.10.21 (ta-da! we bought it in 2016 with only 15,000 miles on it, so it has taken us lots of places all over the country and still goin' strong!) |
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| 5.10.21 (arrived at the library one mile over the big 100 thou) |
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| 5.10.21 (nobody cares about these next few shots from the Ogden Valley News but me (and maybe Heather, who I already sent them to) but it makes me smile each spring when all the dyers woad and noxious weed photos and articles show up) |
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| 5.10.21 (This is the story of George Takei’s (he’s famous for playing Sulu on Star Trek) family’s internment during WWII. I think I know a bit about these camps since we had Topaz here in Utah, but I learned a ton more (including that there were 10 internment camps in the US!!) from this graphic memoir. A terrible part of our history, but one I think it is important to know about and learn from.) |
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| 5.11.21 (more scrapbookin' goin' down) |
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| 5.11.21 ("Sam, show me your muscles!") |
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| 5.11.21 (time for this shaggy mop to say goodbye!) |
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| 5.11.21 (before, front) |
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| 5.11.21 (after, front) |
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| 5.11.21 (he's a new man!) |
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| 5.12.21 (I needed some ideas from Cal for birthday gifts, so this is her brainstorming sheet she brought me) |
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| 5.12.21 (blossom trees starting in the neighborhood!) |
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| 5.12.21 (I got this one as part of my redwoods research stack by didn’t start reading it till we were on our trip. And then I only read a handful of chapters. But when we got home I had more opportunity to read it and I’m actually glad to read it after being in the redwoods since I can picture the groves and parks and even some of the trees he talks about. So that was especially fun. But even if you’ve never been there, I think this is a highly readable, entertaining, and suuuper interesting book about the trees and the people who climb and study and find them. And side note: I never knew there were so many kinds of lichens! That was interesting in its own right! I think that little blurb from the NYTimes on the cover is the perfect summation of this one!) |
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| 5.14.21 (she's going to town!) |
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| 5.14.21 (scrapbook aftermath) |
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| 5.14.21 (all caught up - for a couple weeks anyway!) |
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| 5.15.21 (Heather asked for a meatloaf recipe, so I sent her this one from Cal's kids cookbook that we make on the regular (with modifications according to what we have on hand, of course)) |
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| 5.15.21 (and then we made it that week, too!) |
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| 5.17.21 (our faves from this week) |
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| 5.19.21 (pool time (they've been watching the thermometer for weeks, waiting for it to hit 80 so we could put out the pool - I don't think it was quite that warm, but it was close enough to count!)) |
bonus video!
5.19.21
(I love his raised arms celebration at the end!)
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| 5.20.21 (off on a biking adventure to run some errands for Cal's business fair - we stopped at the credit union to make some change and then at the valley market to buy some sandwich baggies (all by herself) to put the cookies in when she sells them) |
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| 5.20.21 (Heather made me aware of this one, and I really enjoyed his writing style and his descriptions of the desert) |
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| 5.20.21 (the kids were facetiming with Grandma and Maggie was there, too!) |
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| 5.21.21 (This was a fun find straight off the library shelf (those are pretty rare for me lately). Cal and I have been reading a few pages a night at bedtime, but tonight Gregg finished off the last handful of “moments” with both kids on the heat vent. The illustrations are great and we learned a lot about so many naturey things in a fun, bite-sized, 2-page-spread-a-day kind of way.) |
5.22.21
(I loved this memoir of this guy's visits to all the national parks in a single year. He's funny and thoughtful and informative. I kept telling Gregg all of these details I learned about parks I’ve never even heard of. But he’s a storyteller at heart, and seeks out the people stories, too, which were a really nice touch. If you’ve ever been to a national park or ever want to visit a national park, I think you’d like it, too. Really enjoyable.)
(I loved this memoir of this guy's visits to all the national parks in a single year. He's funny and thoughtful and informative. I kept telling Gregg all of these details I learned about parks I’ve never even heard of. But he’s a storyteller at heart, and seeks out the people stories, too, which were a really nice touch. If you’ve ever been to a national park or ever want to visit a national park, I think you’d like it, too. Really enjoyable.)
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| 5.25.21 (We had a week of outings/adventures to get us out of the house while Gregg was holding/speaking at/running an online conference for Inntopia. This day was full of shopping stops at Walmart (to get some birthday gifts for Gregg) and DI (to get some summer clothes (and of course books) and tennis rackets for the kids). Then we stopped at the Ogden Nature Center to eat our lunch and pick up Cal's poster from the contest and spend her gift certificate on a little stuffed bluebird (that squawks).) |
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| 5.25.21 (the little park feature was pretty fun to check out) |
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| 5.25.21 (we checked out a backpack full of activities and guides to use while we explored - this was story and rubbing time at the picnic tables) |
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| 5.25.21 (winner winner chicken (bluebird?) dinner!) |
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| 5.25.21 (then we stopped at dino park (cal is pointing to a swan swimming in the pond)) |
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| 5.26.21 (it was time for a new wallet, and a gift card from Amazon made it perfect timing to snag this fun little beauty) |
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| 5.27.21 (Grandma and Grandpa Blanchard invited us to hang out at their house during this Inntopia Conference week and Cal got a lesson in trifle making for an early bday dinner and dessert for Gregg) |
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| 5.28.21 (last day of school means Pat's for lunch!) |
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| 5.28.21 (yummm!) |
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| 5.28.21 (I’ve been wanting to read this for a couple years because I’m a big fan of the author, and had I known what it was about and not just that it was written by her, I probably would have tried to read it a couple years ago to coincide with our North Carolina trip, since it’s a historical fiction story based on the Lost Colony of Roanoke. It is beautifully written in verse, and tells the story of an English girl and a Roanoke girl who become friends even though their people are enemies. It’s heartbreaking and hopeful and just really good. (And don’t miss the author’s note at the end!) Definitely recommended!) |
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| 5.29.21 (good morning from the trailer! we camped out in the yard as another end-of-school celebration) |
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| 5.29.21 (lilac season!) |
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| 5.29.21 (I've never seen this bush behind the basketball hoop so bushy and bloomy!) |
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| 5.29.21 (she's moved onto Sam's birthdays for grandma now) |
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| 5.29.21 (testing out the "new" rackets before tennis camp in June!) |
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| 5.31.21 (driving to Cache Valley for Memorial Day and we spotted a few hot air balloons boppin' about the valley) |
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| 5.31.21 (isn't he the cutest little flower guy?) |
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| 5.31.21 (visiting the Elwood graves in Hyde Park) |
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| 5.31.21 (cousin posers) |
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| 5.31.21 (photo bomber) |
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| 5.31.21 (funny face!) |
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| 5.31.21 (we got to have lunch in Mack Park with the Thornley's after visiting the Smithfield Cemetery, too! So good to see so many cousins and aunts and uncles that we haven't seen in a year and a half (plus)!) |
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