Legacy

My grandma was laid to rest on her 95th birthday.

It still feels surreal to write that. 

It also feels strange to say that we were surprised. At 94, the past several years had been difficult for many reasons, but still, hearing the news that Grandma had passed away was a jolt. I nearly wrote that you're never ready...but Grandma was. We lost my grandpa--the love of her life--way too soon, and since then, Grandma awaited the day they would be reunited.

What a reunion that surely was! While none of us left behind can truly know what lies on the other side, I feel confident that Grandpa was waiting for her with open arms and that the two of them danced the polka to end all polkas.

The stories and memories are too many to recount in this space, but my family has been sharing plenty of gems amongst ourselves. That reconnection with my cousins especially has been such a gift in a sad time. What stands out the most from all the memories are the little ways Grandma showed her love for us, and I hope that legacy is what we all carry on. Love of faith and family.

The last time the majority of us got together was when we celebrated Grandma's 90th birthday. At the time, Grandma said it felt like she had died and gone to heaven. Now that she has, I believe that she was looking down at all of us and smiling. All two children, ten grandchildren, and 26 great-grandchildren. A true testament to a beautiful love.

We love you, Grandma. Happy Heavenly Birthday!   

Elsa is TEN!

This year was the birthday Elsa has been waiting her entire life for. 

Elsa turned ten years old on May 10th. Ordinarily, the first double-digit birthday is a pretty big milestone, but when it is also a Golden Birthday? Magical.

Even just the idea of turning ten seems to have resulted in an increase of maturity and insight (with maybe a hint of the attitude and emotions that accompany that growth). Whether we are ready for it or not, Elsa is growing up.

4th grade has been a big leap for her and her classmates as this was the first year they changed classes and had to navigate having multiple teachers. Yet it came as no surprise that Elsa continued to do very well in school. 

She also added to her responsibilities by picking up a couple of new activities this year in addition to ballet and another amazing Nut Remix performance. Elsa participated in her school's chorus (early morning rehearsals took some getting used to) and played her first season of church league basketball. I was particularly delighted that not only did Elsa choose basketball, but also that she proved to be pretty aggressive on the court. (The added bonus was that she didn't seem to mind that I'm a loud sports mom.)

Even with these new commitments, there has still been plenty of time for reading, playing at the park, and riding bikes. And thankfully, the elaborate games of pretend with her sister, brother, and friends have continued as well.

After all the anticipation, suddenly Elsa's Golden Birthday was upon us. May 10th was a Wednesday, so the bulk of the celebrating would occur over the weekend, but there were still some traditions to attend to. Little Sister was so excited that she stayed up late to help decorate and woke up early to be the first to give Elsa a gift. 

The birthday breakfast of choice was fried eggs (from our chickens!) and was followed by the customary socks-underwear-book gift and birthday call from Grandma. Elsa celebrated at school and then passed the time during her sister's ballet class with the annual sheep photo shoot.

When did she get so long?

The birthday girl requested duck at our neighborhood Chinese restaurant as usual, but this year, we actually ate there, which made dinner much more festive. We came home with time for family gifts (thank you!) and macaron treats.

A fun day to be sure, but the big fun happened over the weekend when Elsa hosted her first sleepover. Four of Elsa's friends joined us for the night, and it was everything you'd might expect. Well, it was what I expected. I think Jon was a little overwhelmed.

Elsa and the As--all four guests have names that begin with "A," making them sound like a rock band--did all the traditional slumber party activities down to their hilarious attempts at "Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board." They stayed up way too late and got up way too early, but they had so much fun. I may regret saying this later, but I would be happy to host such a sweet group anytime.

And if that wasn't enough, Elsa finally received the gift she'd been anticipating for years: getting her ears pierced. One of the friends from the party talked her mom into letting her get her ears pierced as well, so Elsa got to share the experience with her, which was really special.

Two brand-new holes in her head

The entire birthday affair was really special. After all, Golden Birthdays only occur once in a lifetime.  

"Skunk, Be Gone!" or Our Camping Trip to the Land Between the Lakes

Well, we did it again. We got our kids and our families excited about a spring break trip out west...only to cancel before we even started to plan. I don't know what we were thinking, but I do know that paying a spring break premium for airfare--five times more than normal--made that trip infeasible.

Luckily for us, we were once again able to salvage our week off of school/work for an epic camping trip to the Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky. Epic because the trip was great, but also because we came up with the idea before checking the weather.

Springtime in this part of the world is nothing short of unreliable, so while it had been starting to warm up, the week of spring break was shaping up to be unseasonably cold. However, we are stubborn people, so once we decided to camp, there was no turning back. Plus, I think we sort of viewed cold-weather camping as a challenge.

The last time we camped in sub-freezing (barely) temperatures, we were only kind of prepared, so we vowed that this time would be different. Jon was giddy to break out all the cold-weather gear he had stashed away, and I got to work gathering all the wool and layers we could find.

We set off on a Tuesday, making decent enough time that we didn't have to set up camp in the dark (which is unusual for us). Due to its proximity to both the playground and the bathroom, our campsite was actually located in the RV area, and I'm sure we stood out quite a bit in our tent. However, since it was early in the week, there weren't a lot of people camping yet anyway. 

Home sweet home

Even though we had everything set up in the daylight, by the time we found firewood, let the kids go back to the playground while we cooked, and then actually ate dinner, it was starting to get dark and cold. We knew that the first night was forecast to be the coldest, and it did not disappoint. Add in some overtired kiddos, and that walk to the bathroom was long.

Until we saw the skunk.

I had never seen a real skunk in the wild before. Sure, I've smelled roadkill remains plenty of times, and I still love to tell the story of the time when my grandpa--who lost his sense of smell as he got older--didn't know when his dog got sprayed, but this was the first time I'd encountered one for real. It didn't take long for me to realize that this skunk had the capacity to ruin our camping trip. The kids did great, though, and stopped in their tracks, not making a sound, until the skunk scampered away.

When Jon mentioned our wildlife sighting to the ranger the next day, she said that there were skunks all over the campground, but they were generally harmless unless provoked. So, for the rest of the trip, we were on "skunk watch."

We made it through the cold first night, relatively uneventfully, although we did hear our skunky friend trying to go through the trash (which we had suspended in the air), and I did have keep making sure that the kids weren't suffocating themselves by burrowing down too deeply in their toasty sleeping bags.

Snug as a bug in a rug

Our resident Boy Scout Jon determined that it was safe to use our mini propane heater inside the tent for short periods of time, and I, for one, was so grateful to have a heat source available first thing in the morning to take the edge off the cold. (I may or may not have stayed in the tent a little longer than I should have...)

Before we started camping semi-regularly, I had always wondered what people do all day while camping. I actually still wonder, but somehow we always manage to fill our days anyway. On this trip, we found plenty of local activities, but we also just spent a lot of time hanging out at the campsite. The kids were pretty good about keeping themselves occupied, and that fire didn't build or tend itself.

On our first full day, we did eventually head out with some fishing poles. It brought back fond memories for me of impatient kids who couldn't help but cast and reel it back in constantly and a dad who spent 90% of his time untangling line. We didn't catch anything, but it was nice to be outside. We rounded out the day with a short hike in the woods and then back for dinner and s'mores.

Here, fishy-fishy!

It was a little bit warmer the next day, and we managed to leave a little earlier as well. We spent quite a bit of time at the Woodlands Nature Station. It was a cool nature center that had some indoor exhibits, including a play area, but also an outdoor viewing area with many rescue birds and other animals. Our little turkeys fit right in.

Meeting his match

We had lots of campfire time that night after another futile attempt at fishing. Jon had aspirations of getting up early the next day to fish solo, but the weather thwarted that plan. Being in a tent while it is raining is always a bit unsettling, but we were nice and dry all night. It did stop raining the next day, but that rain brought with it some cooler temperatures again, so we planned some indoor activities for our last full day.

Our first stop was the Elk and Bison Prairie, a drive-through preserve. We initially resigned ourselves to not seeing any animals and got excited when we glimpsed some bison from afar. But then, as we traveled along the path, we noticed several cars that had stopped in front of us. As we got closer, we realized that they were watching a herd of elk just off the road. So cool!

Elk sighting

Stop #2 was the Golden Pond Planetarium. Not only was the show we watched very interesting, it was also nice to get a break from the chilly wind. Erik took advantage of the cozy dark room and even took a nap! We paused for a picnic lunch before our final tourist destination of the day: the Homeplace 1850s Working Farm. Jon and I jokingly called it "Missouri Town" all day.

Since it was St. Patrick's Day, they had set up a scavenger hunt, which encouraged us to check out all the different buildings. It is not surprising, however, that the highlight for us was the livestock, especially the chickens. We happened to be there toward the end of their day, so the docent invited the kids to help put the animals to bed, which they greatly enjoyed.

Literally carrying a bucket of chicken

We celebrated our day by having dinner at a restaurant in town, and we were definitely in vacation mode because we agreed to a ridiculous dessert.

Vacation sundae!

It was way past time for bed when we returned to the campsite. Familiar with our surroundings by this point, we sent the girls ahead of us to the bathroom. As Jon, Erik, and I were walking back, the girls ran up the path to us out of breath, telling us about a skunk that had invaded our site in the five minutes we were gone.

Even though they were a little scared, the girls did a great job of staying calm. Jon tried a couple of tactics to shoo away the skunk, who by this point was trying to nose through the trash. As a last resort, he called out in a booming voice, "Skunk, be gone!" And you know what--it worked. We all collapsed into giggles as the skunk trotted away.

The only thing left to do the following morning was to pack up our campsite. As we loaded the last items into--and onto--the car, there was a definite feeling of accomplishment and survival. We'd done it! The only thing left to do was celebrate with a giant breakfast at a diner on our way out of town.

Lena is SEVEN!

Lena was not the only one thankful to have a much more "normal" birthday this year. While last year's birthday quarantine was certainly memorable, it was so nice to enjoy the day in accordance with the birthday girl's expectations.

And expectations did she have! I have always appreciated Lena's decisiveness (mostly because I'm usually indecisive), and in the case of her birthday, it took the guesswork out of how to celebrate. Her first grade sense of justice coupled with her adherence to "how things ought to be," dictated that we follow our typical birthday rituals with little deviation. And that was perfectly fine with me.

Speaking of first grade, Lena is doing great in school. I love hearing about all the goings-on in her classroom, like who sits at whose table and what books she got to check out in the library. She is fully a reader now, magically moving from merely sounding out words to devouring chapter books in a flash. She recently described her personality as "reading and art," which make it clear where her interests lie.

One of the arts that she continues to participate in is ballet. This year, she got to join her sister on the big stage for Nut Remix where she made her debut as the cutest mouse ever. Lena also graduated to a bigger bike and can move pretty fast on that and on her scooter...when she wants to, of course.

January 19th landed on a Thursday this year, which meant that Lena got to celebrate with her friends at school. But first was the customary special breakfast and the annual socks-and-underwear gift. After school, she convinced me to take me to take her to a favorite bakery and insisted that we eat our treats outside just like we did last time (two years ago). The girl has a good memory.

Birthday treats in the sunshine

We then snuck in a quick sheep photo shoot, lest we forget that sacred tradition. Again with the good memory, Lena made sure to get things set up exactly right. We went to dinner at a new(ish) barbecue joint in our neighborhood, which was a great birthday meal for our little carnivore, and then came home for cake and presents from family.

In all her birthday glory

The celebrating continued into the weekend with a birthday tea party on the deck. Elsa and a friend were excellent hostesses, leading the girls through a craft and joining them for hot chocolate (in fancy tea cups, of course) and snacks. Fortunately, the rain held off that afternoon, so the girls--in all their tea party finery--were able to play at the park and burn off some of the energy they gained from the butterfly cupcakes.

Everything about the occasion was simply lovely, much like the birthday girl herself!

 

Erik is THREE!

For the third time, we have a "three-nager" on our hands. Erik is definitely living his best toddler life right now, although he detests it when we call him "Todd" for short when he gets into one of those moods. He is growing more into himself every day, and it truly is a delight to be a part of his world.

While he is certainly growing into his "tackle guy" genes, he is also growing socially, emotionally, and intellectually. His language has exploded, his memory is impressive, and he is legitimately funny. As the youngest, he knows how to work an audience (and maybe get away with more than he should), but he is also teaching his sisters the futility of arguing with a toddler.

Erik has continued attending Parents Day Out/preschool two days a week, and we have settled into our schedule of school, DeNeuville (Learning Center, where I continue to teach adult education classes), "adventure day," mom-and-me exercise classes, and errands. He is very laid-back--except when he's having one of the aforementioned toddler moments--and is happiest when digging and driving trucks. One of the highlights for this year was getting to "drive" a real-life excavator when the house next door was torn down.

Another highlight, of course, was his birthday, which was a big one. Erik turned three on the third and truly lived it up on his Golden Birthday. The day began with much celebrating from all members of the family and a special breakfast of pancakes with whipped cream.

November 3rd fell on an adventure Thursday, so once we hustled the girls to school, we were free to indulge Erik in his favorites. We started with some digging time, of course, and then headed to the botanic gardens for...more digging. There is literally a giant pile of dirt with trucks and shovels, and is one of Erik's happy places. While there, we explored some new areas and even serendipitously ran into some friends.

Erik in his natural habitat

We then met Jon for a patio lunch on that beautiful fall day and made it home with plenty of time to frost a birthday cake and have a sheep photo shoot. Since Biggest Sister still had ballet class in the afternoon, we planned a birthday dinner--another outdoor meal--at the pizza place next to the studio. We closed out the day with cake and ice cream and reading/playing with some of the wonderful gifts from family.

Who is this big boy?

But there was more celebrating to be had! For the first time, Erik got to have a real birthday party. On the following Saturday, some friends joined us at the house for hot dogs, park time, and "dirt cake" (complete with gummy worms) made lovingly by Elsa and Lena. The party was even more special because Erik's birthday twin was an honored guest.

I think it's safe to say that Erik will be basking in the glow of his Golden Birthday for a long time to come!

Salvaging Fall Break

We all know that the "best laid plans...often go awry," and our fall break this year was no exception. We had hoped to take one last camping trip before the weather got cold, but fortunately we had not yet gotten so far as to actually make those plans when we were struck with the flu. All of us, one by one like dominoes.

It all started about a week prior when Elsa came home from school complaining of a headache. She clearly didn't feel well, but since she had a playdate scheduled, she tried valiantly to carry on. We spent as much time as we could outside, but ultimately ended things a little early (just to assuage my own guilt, I will assert that had I known Elsa likely had the flu, I would have ended the playdate immediately).

The next morning, Lena joined her sister on her sickbed. It wasn't until later in the week when Jon wasn't feeling good that we began to suspect the flu. Early October is very early for flu season, but I guess we're just advanced.

My body waited until the kids were out of school Friday to succumb to my inevitable fate when I quickly realized that Jon and I couldn't both be sick with three kids at home, who by this point were feeling better and stir-crazy, so I had my suspicions confirmed at Urgent Care and started Tamiflu right away.

All of this to say that we were not going camping.

In our experience, the flu this year was brutal, much worse than our bout(s) with Covid, so even after we were "better," we were still pretty tired and not up for an intense vacation experience. However, we still wanted and needed to get out of town, so we took off for a couple of days and found a cabin in our family favorite Mountain View, Arkansas.

I still had to teach on Wednesday (which would have limited our camping plans anyway), so on Thursday morning, we headed west. We have stayed in Mountain View a couple of times, so we revisited some favorite activities and tried some new ones.

After our arrival on Thursday, we immediately went and checked out a bridge because duh, that's what Jon likes to do on vacation. 

First stop: Historic Swinging Bridge over Sylamore Creek

We went out for dinner at a restaurant on the White River and got ready for adventure the next day. On Friday, we did a cave tour of Blanchard Springs Cavern. We had done this tour before, but many years ago, and it was just as impressive. The tour guides were great, and we even got to see the elusive cave salamander. 

I promise this is not photoshopped and actually us in a cave

We took advantage of the nice weather and hiked around Blanchard Springs for a bit before our next adventure of the day: horseback riding. Both Elsa and Lena are old enough to ride on their own horses, so Jon accompanied them and a guide on a wooded trail while Erik and I relaxed and checked out a petting zoo of sorts on the property where the trail rides began.

Erik got to ride a horse too!

As if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, we headed into town to walk around and enjoy some ice cream. Mountain View is known for its folk music, and it did not disappoint. There were multiple "jam sessions" scattered around the cute downtown square, and it was fun to sit and listen for a bit. Some of these groups were organized with the same musicians playing together often, but we definitely saw more than one person with an instrument just show up and ask to play.

 

We spent our final day in town at the Ozark Folk Center. The Craft Village was full of small buildings dedicated to a number of different types of crafts. Our favorites included the apothecary, the pottery studio, and the Old Time Print Shop. All of the artisans were more than happy to share their skills, which was both interesting and important to preserving these crafts for future generations.

 

It was time to head home after that, which we did, tired and happy to have salvaged fall break after all. And if we're lucky, we got our flu season out of the way early!