Henry Doorly Zoo

All outdoor areas of the zoo were open this time, rather than just one path.  A few of the buildings were open with one way traffic.  We wore our masks in all the buildings.  We then took our picnic lunch down to the river area in the Old Market.  There is so much construction and so much closed due to covid that we ate on a park bench and then drove home.  I suggested we could walk the bridge to Iowa and Maggie said absolutely not!

Schramm Park

We made a day trip to Schramm State Park.  We took a hike that lasted an hour and covered 2.25 miles!  We ate a picnic lunch on a blanket in the grass and then the girls played on the playground.  Their energy seemed to just keep going!

Clothes in Closet

I don’t understand my child. 🤷🏻‍♀️

 Dress & sweatshirt thrown on floor, 🤦🏻‍♀️

 but these shorts are hung up with a tank top on the same hanger. 

Who hangs shorts that way anyway??!??

🤣

Hostas

While on East Campus, I noticed the Plantation Lilies grew in shaded areas.  I used an app on my phone to identify what they were and bought 2 at Earl May.  They were $20 each so I was going to wait until next year to buy more.  Then I saw an ad on Facebook Marketplace that a man in my neighborhood was selling hostas.  The girls each had a friend spending the night.  On our way to taking the girls home, we stopped at the man's sale.  He didn't have many plants left and dropped his price so I got 9 hostas for $25.  I told each of the kids to pick up 2 pots and we loaded them into the car.  Mena and I used the app on my phone to identify what kind of hostas we got.  We had 5 of one kind and 4 of another so we alternated them down the side of the house.  I'm hoping the hostas will grow where the grass has died.  These areas had sod laid and were reseeded twice so grass is not an option!  We'll see how the new plants do!  (As of July 20th, they are all still alive!)

Puzzle

The girls rearranged the living room furniture around the tv trays so we could do a puzzle together.  This was a brand new puzzle from Dollar Tree.  We got to the end and discovered 2 pieces were missing!  We checked all the furniture and couldn't find them, so we're not sure if they weren't in the box or if we lost them!  This was a 500 piece puzzle with little pieces!

Nature Frames

I found a fun idea online to use cardboard to make frames and then take pictures in nature.  We ventured out to Wilderness Park for a fun hike.  We packed a picnic lunch and chose to eat it in the a/c of the car in the parking lot after our hike!

SPK Academy (VBS via Zoom)

Due to the pandemic, VBS was via zoom this year.  They each received a folder of clues and then met with Cathy and the other kids to figure out what the clues told them about Jesus.  Men in Black style really caught the girls' attention.

Allergy Testing

Mena and I were retested for allergies at the ENT.  We'll be going there for shots now.  The ENT just seems more effective than the allergy doctor.

Style

She’s got a style all her own

Ruffle tank top

Athletic shorts

Dory socks

High heel flower boots

And she rocks it all ❤️

Growth

I walked through Mahoney Park this morning and noticed the tree growth as a good model for us. We have a lot of stress with covid-19 and racial injustices. We may think we need to “fix” everything now when in reality God has shown us that we just need to take the next best step. A tree doesn’t grow a whole new branch; it extends from its current branches. I can’t suddenly make everyone around me understand #BLM but I can read more blogs, watch more videos, and become more aware of my biases. As I interact with others, I naturally show my little growths built on who I’ve been. I’m not going to drastically change & I don’t expect you to either. All I ask of those around me is that they take the next best step and we’ll all have a little bit of brighter green at the end of our branches.

Monster Cookies

Mom's monster cookie recipe is huge so I took the time to do the math so we could make a quarter of a batch.  It still made 56 cookies!

Family Bike Ride

We are now able to take family bike rides together.  There's one part of the path that dips down.  Maggie says to herself "woohoo!" every time she's coasting down the little hill.  Mena can continue going straight for multiple blocks.  She still has trouble getting going but she's very determined.

East Campus for Lunch

We went back to East Campus and took Burger King to eat for lunch.  In the shade with a slight breeze it was comfortable to being having a picnic.  We walked around the rest of the arboretum before going home to the AC.