July Activities

L had her week of College for Kids this month.  She only has one year left of CfK.  Both girls have enjoyed CfK, and it will be strange to be completely done with it next year.  This year L took a Photoshop class and the Lego Mindstorms robotics class.  I really wanted to take that class, too!  She built and programmed several different robots.  Parents were invited in for the last class to see the 'Sumo match', in which they pitted the robots against each other to see which was would succeed in pushing the other bot(s) out of the ring.  It was a fun activity, but L decided she didn't want to participate in building a robot "that might get destroyed."  Okay. :-/

She also spent several days in IL with her grandparents, as her cousins were also there visiting from the east coast.  I missed her a lot, and as always, she was fine without us and had a blast with her cousins.  I wish that she had cousins that lived closer, as I did growing up. My cousins are still among my best friends today. She only gets to see them once a year or so, but they always have lots of fun together.  We joined them for the day when we went to pick her up on the Sunday before CfK started. 

We also recently adopted a sweet little girl hamster, Pancake.  She is so sweet, with the cutest little face.  She's quite entertaining and routinely shocks us with the massive quantities of food she is able to stuff into her cheek pouches.

She is living in Luciana's room, in a huge cage (unfortunately, it's the only safe option for her) with lots of enrichments.  She has a playground that she comes out to play in, and L changes the layout of it all the time to keep her from getting bored.

Though she cannot be introduced to another hamster at this point, we thought she may at least enjoy being in the room with the rats, where she can hear, see, and smell other rodents.

Vacation?

We were supposed to have been camping this past week.  The girls had requested a particular site at which we'd camped before that they loved.  However, the weather forecast for that location called for temps of high nineties and over one hundred, which makes tent camping more brutal than we could deal with, so we cancelled.  We then tried to fill the week with other activities.

For the days that were too hot for outside activities, we planned trips to museums in Madison and Rockford.    L also wanted to see Ice Age 3, so we went to that.  Instead of campfire meals, we treated ourselves with dinner at Green Owl while in Madison, and at Pig Minds while in Rockford.

My favorite activity was canoeing, which we did Thursday.  M didn't want to be on the Rock river, so he selected a site in Fort Atkinson.  We went through 2 Rivers, and they dropped us and the canoe at the starting point, and at the end of the day we called when we arrived at the end point, where they met us to pick up the canoe.  It went very smoothly.

We had a great time on the water, where we had the pleasure of having the water to ourselves--we saw no other humans or water craft until we reached the last five minutes or so when we arrived at the exit point.  M counted 26 painted turtles out sunning, a muskrat, herons (both large and a smaller variety), cranes, hawks, geese, and a bald eagle (closer than we have previously been when we've spotted them).  It was a very enjoyable day.

I started out paddling in the front, with M in the rear, and L relaxing in the middle seat.  I was really enjoying the physical activity of paddling in the the beauty of nature.  About half way into the trip, L asked if she could paddle for a while.  I switched with her, assuming she would tire after a half hour or so.  She didn't, much to my surprise.  I kept asking her if she was tired yet, hoping to get back the paddle, but she stuck with it until the end.  I was kind of bummed, as I was really enjoying the workout, but glad she enjoyed herself and moved her body.  We'll definitely do that trip again and will definitely go through 2 Rivers again.  I'm pushing for kayaks next time, so I can get my physical activity for the whole duration, but L is being very resistant to kayaks--not sure why.

We even got a little adventure in our trip.  We reached about the half-way point, where it would be about the same time/distance to turn and go back as it would to continue on and finish the trip, when the sky darkened and we heard thunder.  There was no point in turning around and no shelter, so we kept going and hoped for the best.  It started to rain.  Then it started to pour and the temperature dropped dramatically.  We were drenched--soaking wet from head to toe--and cold.  After about a half hour, the storm moved on and it warmed up a bit, though not as warm as it had been.  For some reason, the whole situation struck us all as hilarious, so we laughed a lot and made it through just fine.  We were SO relieved that there was no lightening with this storm, as we really weren't sure what we would do in that situation.

I'm still hoping the weather and our schedules will coincide, so we can get a small camping trip or two in this year.  It feels like it's been a long time!  Of course it's the first year in over a decade that wasn't dreading putting on my swimsuit, so I have to have at least one day at the beach this year.

L has been working with Sculpey clay lately.  She's made some dragons, a rat, and a cake necklace w/earrings that she gave her sister for her birthday.

I sing the body electric

L and I went to see our friend, Logan's, performance as "Grandma" at his summer school's performance of their play.  He did a great job in his first big stage role.  The kids all did a good job on the play, and survived a performance on a very hot day in their full costumes--most of which looked very warm--under stage lights.  Poor Logan had on a dress, with a long-sleeved sweater over it, knit tights, and a wig.  He had to be sweltering!

After the play, he had returned the dress, sweater, and wig to costumes and came out ready to leave with his mom.  I was struck at that moment by what a special and lucky boy he is.  He is ten, and like most children that age, is fairly self-conscious.  However, his mom has given him the space and acceptance to be who he is and explore and pursue what interests him.  He came out wearing the red and black striped tights that he wore as "Grandma", his shorts, and his Ironman t-shirt (which he earned by completing an Ironman triathalon).  He had not the slightest reserve or discomfort with his non-traditional clothing (other than probably having very hot legs!) and was laughing and talking about the play.  His mom has given him love and acceptance and the room to grow and experience life in a way that is comfortable for him.  I wish all little boys had that freedom!

I think in childhood, our girls have more freedom than our boys.  Boys tend to be raised with much less tolerance for exploring outside of traditional gender boundaries.  Boys need the freedom to be sensitive, cry, wear beautiful things, play with "girl" toys--just as much as they need the ability to run outside and play sports.  Sadly, American culture tends to be very restrictive with boys, because there's nothing worse than being a "little girl" or a "fairy".  I know this will get tougher for Logan as he gets older, and the small-minded peer pressure may make it more difficult for him to march to his own beat, but I think that having experienced this unconditional acceptance through his childhood will eventually allow him to get back to being himself without caring about the small-minded around him.

He's a kind, considerate person, who happens to be a fantastic athlete (he seems good at all of the sports/activities), and I am looking forward to see him as an adult.  His mother is a trailblazer, fiercely independent, and a very non-traditional female who cares little about society's judgment.  It is a joy to see her pass on the same freedom she enjoys to her two young sons.

Last night I tried the first of several new recipes I have plans to try in the next couple of weeks.  I made Black Bean Baby Cakes from my Chloe's Kitchen cookbook.  Mark and I liked them, but L wasn't crazy about them.  She only ate one, which is never a good sign with her.  I will have to try to tweak them a bit next time I make them to see if I can get her to like them more.  She's so picky (not as bad as me, fortunately, but between the two of us it makes it really hard)!  There are several more from that book that I am planning to try soon.  The next recipe to try out this week is one Hannah sent out in the Simply Vegan newsletter--chickpea omelettes.

As an aside, I have to laugh at Blogger's spellcheck.  It flagged omelette/omelettes as being mispelled, because it doesn't recognize the word.  The suggested replacements are:  flannelette, letterbombs, letterboxes, and somersetted.  Really?  It seems a bit strange that the words, flannelette and somersetted(?!) would be included but no omelettes.

Now I'm off to try to get my chores done (while enjoying the Twilight Zone marathon on Syfy) before heading to my mom's for today's festivities.

I've included a shot of one of the cat-feeding stations at dinnertime.  We actually have three different zones where the cats are fed, and they are divided by location preference as well as those who get along best, so eating is as peaceful and stress-free as possible.  In the dining room, Lila, Oliver, Ivan, Tica, Basil, and Charlie eat.  Petey and Mimi eat in the kitchen, and Jasper and Carrie eat upstairs in my bedroom.

I finally have L somewhat on board with redoing the dining room.  She's still not thrilled with the idea, but is finally accepting it.  I'm working on the first phase now, which is to sand all of the woodwork down, so I can repaint it.  The plan was to then move to stripping the wallpaper, which Lila so kindly started for me already, and then repaint the room.  We've discovered a little bump in the road, in that the windows above the buffet really should be replaced.  Rather than repainting then replacing at some later time, we are just going to replace them now.

I tried to get L to help me with the sanding--I offered to pay her--as it gets really painful for my hands, and I can't work very long at a time.  She said she is not going to help in my  efforts to destroy her favorite wallpaper ever.  I'm hoping she changes her mind, because at the rate I'm currently going, this will take me the rest of the summer!

Other shots are of the critters (Vivi, Oona, Blossom, Luna, Fergus, and Fiona) enjoying their daily produce meal in the herbivore room,Fiona,Saffron and Cypress, in the "nest" they spend much of their time in, and Valentino.

Poppies, hollyhocks, pussycats, hydrangeas

The gardening and a couple of consulting projects I'm working on have kept me pretty busy. It is so nice to have a variety of activities to keep my brain from getting soft in the summer, and the gardening is a great balance for that, allowing me to return to a state of Zen. Given the weather forecast, it looks like I will be doing only evening gardening next week. I was quite intrigued, last week while gardening, by all of the bird activity in our backyard. We had robin parents feeding and teaching babies to fly, as well as cardinal and purple finches doing the same. What was most intriguing to me was watching the baby cardinal being fed alternately by her parents and by the purple finch parents who had their own nest full of babies in the Boston Ivy that grows up the north side of our house. I'm curious as to whether this is a rare or typical occurrence in the bird world, and I just now remembered I have a friend/colleague who is an ornithologist, so I will ask him about it.

The cats like to gather outside when I'm working in the backyard gardens and watch.  Lila and Mimi scream repeatedly at the top of their lungs for me to come pet them.  They are quite rude and demanding about it!  The others ask for love occasionally and much more politely than the two loudmouths.

This is the first year in over decade, at least, that our pink and blue hydrangeas have bloomed. I guess the mild winter didn't kill off the old growth as it usually does, and old growth is what blooms. I can't get a single photo that captures the stunning bright blue color accurately. I'm getting very concerned about the drought and the implications on the food supply (both for humans and animals). I'm trying to stay on top of keeping lots of water outside in a variety of containers so the outdoor critters can find the drinking and cooling off water that they are so in need of. I worry for the little guys who don't live near a neurotic human who obsesses over their water needs. My husband returns today from a trip to Michigan, so my chore load will lighten up again very soon. L and I have enjoyed lots of girl time while he's been gone, watching 'scary movies' the last two nights and had one of our traditional no-daddy dinners, where we have cereal and/or waffles for dinner. She and I love a dinner of cold cereal on a hot night, but it doesn't make the husband quite as happy.