First Lake Weekend

Will and I took our first trip to the lake last weekend! It was not a typical trip since it was just the 2 of us since Phil stayed home with covid-positive Paul and it was a short, busy trip since the reason for the trip was going to my nephew's graduation party. 

We left around 3pm on Friday and actually made good time getting to the lake. Since Will does not need to stop for bathroom breaks, we got to the lake in 3 hours. But that is the only good thing I have to say about the drive because Will SCREAMED for about 2/3 of the drive. I had given him water and snacks but that only kept him happy for the first 30 minutes and then after that there was just a whole lot of screaming. And there is nothing you can do when you are driving by yourself. It was something to just live through, I guess. 

We got there in time for dinner. Will and Maddy got to play together for a bit. They are 3 months apart so very close in age! They look so guilty in the picture above! Unfortunately things went downhill after that. He usually goes to bed so easily, but the combo of a new environment, over stimulation, and probably being overtired meant bedtime was epically awful. Nothing I tried worked and he screamed/cried for about 2 hours until he finally passed out in my arms at 9:40. He usually is asleep around 7! At one point I told Phil I was debating getting back in the car and driving home. 

He was of course up at 5:15 the next day because just because a baby goes to bed later doesn't mean they sleep later. Luckily he was in pretty good spirits. He enjoyed playing with some old school toys that me and my siblings used to play with!

After breakfast Abby and I loaded up the babies for a 3 mile walk. I opted to not pack our stroller and used this basic umbrella stroller that my parents have. He was very happy in it, I just wish the handles were taller. 

It was an absolutely gorgeous day so we spent lots of time outside on the patio and on the dock. There were tons of fish by the dock so he was very excited about that. 

We eventually played in the sand and he got very wet. I should have put him in his swimsuit! So he got a mini bath in a bin before lunch since he was covered in sand! 

He took a decent nap that day and I slept for a bit, too. After my niece was up, we headed to the grad party but made a pit stop to visit my grandma who turned 99 last month! I hadn't seen her since last June when Will was just 6 months old. She loved seeing the babies!

Then it was off to the grad party for my nephew/Godson James. He will be going to college at St. Cloud State here in Minnesota this fall and will study nuclear radiology. I actually had a nuclear scan when I had a scare over a cough that wouldn't go away and a small mass was found on a CT scan so I kind of understand what he'll be doing (the nuclear scan was clear, thank goodness!). He is the nicest kid and was such a great host. We took a picture right away but of course getting 2 babies to look at a camera is impossible! 

We were there for about 2 hours. The kids did better than I thought they would! It's a lot of work to chase little kids around but the party was outdoors and it was a gorgeous day so it was a good set-up for small kids. Will enjoyed some cheetos and boy did the kids flock to my niece when she opened a bag of doritos. Yes, I clearly get an A+ for my feeding standards, but oh well. He did also eat some beans, pulled pork, and half of a bun. 

Bedtime went a little better that night but not great and he was up at 5:15. I took him on another 3 mile walk that morning and then we headed out around 11 after eating an early lunch. The drive home WENT GREAT. Thank goodness. He napped for a little over an hour and then was content after that. 

If Phil can stay covid-free, we will be back in 2 weeks and that will be a more typical low key kind of weekend where we barely leave the house. Paul was so sad that he couldn't come to the lake so hopefully that trip will happen. Fingers crossed. So far Phil remains healthy and has been testing negative so I hope that continues!

What We Read in May

Let's talking about something more fun that covid - reading! May was a stellar reading month for me. I read 9 books and none of them were duds/"just ok." Everything was 4 or 5 stars! I mean I gave a whopping 6 books a 5-star rating! I have sort of loosened my requirements for giving a book 5 stars, though. It's the best way to communicate that I really loved a book and think others should read it. I used to be pretty stingy with 5-star ratings. But I couldn't tell you why! In 2021, I gave 19 books 5 stars and in 2020 I gave 13 books 5 stars. So far in 2022, I've given 11 books 5 stars! 

Here are my 5-star reads which are very diverse!

Goodnight Beautiful is a page turny thriller type of book which is a genre I don't read much of! 

Empire of Pain was an excellent narrative non-fiction book about the (evil) family that significantly contributed to the opioid crisis. 

Lessons in Chemistry is one of my favorite books of the year and I'm certain it will make my top 10 of the year. I loved the characters in the novel, but especially the dog who is a prominent character in the book. And I'm not even a dog person! This book deals with heavier topics, but there is also levity and joy. I especially loved that this was a debut by a 65yo woman! 

Notes on an Execution has alternating narrators - a serial killer on death row and 3 women who were impacted/tangential to his life. It was incredibly well-done but it's a very heavy book. 

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is a novel about grief, written from the perspective of a younger sister mourning the sudden death of her older 16yo sister. 

Love and Saffon was a delightful epistolary novel which makes it a perfect summer read in my opinion as it's so tough to put down. My only complaint is that it was too short as just under 200 pages. 

The next set of books are 4-star reads and were also great! Trigger warning of domestic abuse for Finding Freedom. 

Paul's reading:

We read a lot of great books together in May, all of which came from the library of course. These are the ones that were read multiple times.

Book Hog is a really cute book about a pig who loooooves books and then discovers the library where he learns to read. 

I have Elisabeth to thank for highlighting The Odd One Out. She talks about books on a nearly weekly basis in her Friday post and I always pull up my library account and request everything they liked. This is a fun search and find book. 

John's Turn is by one of our favorite authors, Mac Barnett. We will read anything by him. This book is about a boy dancing at his school's weekly talent show. It was a sweet, heart-warming read.

Wild Baby is about a mischievous monkey. We jokingly said the baby was Will. We are working on reading all of this local author's work as all of her books have been hits!

What did you read in May? Do you rate books? If so, are you stingy or generous with your ratings?

And Another Domino Falls

So much for that optimism about a new month and fresh start. Paul was totally healthy when I dropped him off at school yesterday. When I picked up the boys on Will’s first day back at school since May 20, Paul had the sniffles so we tested him since there have been several cases in his room this week. And, of course, he was positive. You know, since it had been 10 days since Will tested positive, which was 10 days after I tested positive. So we will have a month of someone quarantining. This is the worst most slow moving domino set up ever. 

My sister did not stay with us last night so they don’t risk getting it. I will still see her at my parents this weekend, though. Will and I will head to the lake on Friday after work since we are Covid immune. I did not want to miss my Godson’s grad party. I am a little nervous about a solo 3.5 hour drive (each way) with a rear facing toddler that hates car rides but oh well. We will get through it. One or both of us might cry, though  

At least Paul will be easy to have at home. We will let him have lots of screen time so we can work. He watches educational stuff/uses educational aps so it’s not the worst way to spend his time. We will get outside as much as our work schedules allow. Hopefully his case remains mild so he feels up to walks/scooting. 

And at least I can work from home and have an understanding boss and coworkers. I do have an in person presentation next week and a client call on Friday but I think Paul will stay in his room during the call. But professional economists have had kids break into the room while they are presenting on national tv and we can all laugh about it. So if that happens, people will understand I think/hope (Phil can’t stay home on Friday since it’s his busiest week of the month at work). 

And at least I am immune and can still see my family this weekend and celebrate my nephew/godson. And hopefully Phil will not get sick so all 4 of us can go to the lake as planned in 2 weeks!

But gosh, this really sucks  

The End of May - Yay!!!

May has been the longest month ever. Did it really only have 31 days? It felt like 60 over here. I tested positive for covid on May 10th and felt pretty awful for a good 10-12 days. Paul got a stomach bug/fifths disease the weekend after I tested positive. Then Will tested positive on May 21st and today is his last day of isolation. Thank God. 10 days is just way too long IMO. He was sick for about 1/2 a day. We tested him on Friday and he was negative at that point - he may have been negative even sooner. We tested him so I could feel comfortable taking him to the park, etc. A negative test doesn't impact his isolation period, though. We'll be doing a happy dance when I drop him off at daycare tomorrow! He's bored at home, and we are out of ways to entertain him. Thankfully the weather was nice every day of his isolation except last Wednesday when it rained nearly all day. Can you tell how I've stayed sane during the last 10 days? I did a lot of podcast listening while taking him on multiple long walks each day. 

Luckily he loves walks. He says hola to people we see, gets excited when he sees dogs, and loves this culvert by the creek.

Here's how we filled the time on the long weekend.

- We went to 3 different parks, but I took no pictures! Will is fully walking now so he enjoyed going down the little slides over and over and over!

- We scooted/walked to Starbucks only to find it was closed - probably due to staffing? Luckily the grocery store next door took apple pay so I could buy a donut there (I had promised Paul a donut to motivate him to scoot about a mile). Both boys were a fan of the donut!

- Phil and Paul went to his mom's on Saturday afternoon. Will and I walked to the lake that afternoon after his nap and hung out there with a friend and her boys. I let Will test out the water and he was A FAN! I think he's going to love playing at the beach this summer. He was not happy when I took him out of the water! My friend snapped some pictures of us which was so nice as I am usually the one taking pictures so am barely in any pictures with the kids.

- We went to the Farmer's Market on Sunday morning where the boys shared another donut! We met the friend I saw at the lake and her 2 boys. The Farmer's Market is by one of the 3 parks we visited so it's a great market for people with kids. Paul did not want to leave when I needed to head home for lunch with Will so Paul stayed with them for another 2 hours! The mom is one of my best friends - I would not just leave my kid behind with anybody! They are like family to us (the dad was one of Phil's best men in our wedding). 

- Paul and I made cookies on Monday afternoon. I used an America's Test Kitchen recipe and for the 3rd time, my cookies did not turn out well. They taste good but are super thin. I don't know why the recipe isn't working for me. They used to turn out great (I've probably used this recipe 8+ times). Time to find a new GF recipe. Paul still approved even though they were fragile and very thin. 

- We played in the backyard and enjoyed popsicles on Sunday when it was sooo hot and humid out. Even Phil and I had popsicles. I also enjoyed a DQ blizzard after the kids went to bed. I had wanted one on Mother's Day but it was cold that day/not ice cream weather so we decided to hold off until a  hot day. 

- Keeping it real here - everyone had their meltdowns. I may not have laid on the floor and cried or pouted, but felt like doing so at times. Especially since one or both boys were up around 5-5:30 all weekend so the days were very long.

- We ended the weekend by teaching Paul how to play Uno. We have to play with our cards face up since he's still learning but he won 4 out of 5 games. 

Tomorrow is a fresh month and both kids will be in daycare. My sister flies in that night with her niece! They'll spend the night with us and then my parents will come get them on Thursday and bring them to the lake. Then we head there on Friday as my nephew's grad party is on Saturday! So June is getting off to a busy, but fun start. 

How was your weekend?

5 Things Friday

Happy Friday. We've got a weekend of mostly warm and sunny weather ahead of us which I am excited about since being outdoors is the only thing that is keeping us sane during toddler quarantine. He are 5 things on my mind this week.

1. Uvalde, on the heels of the tragedy in Buffalo. What can I say that hasn't already been said? I appreciated what Joanna of Cup of Jo said about this most recent tragedy. My heart breaks for those poor families who will mourn this for the rest of their lives. I'm planning to read "When Thoughts and Prayers Aren't Enough" which is written by a survivor of gun violence.

After dropping my dancey little boy off at school this morning, fear in my throat, I came back and looked around the house and thought of the parents returning home alone last night. They would fumble with their keys and open the door. They would step over small sneakers, sneakers that probably had Velcro because tying shoes was still hard. They would see crayon drawings taped on the wall. Honey yogurts in the fridge. A wobbly stack of board games. A colorful toothbrush still damp from the morning. The little bed with tousled sheets and the half-full water glass on the bedside table and the fifth book the child had asked to read but it was clearly too late and they were being silly and sneaky and they needed to get sleep for the school day so they could learn and grow and laugh and play. 

2. It feels ridiculous to even complain about our week considering the heartbreak of others. But it's been a struggle. I'm still not quite back to 100% but is it covid? Is it caring for sick and/or poor-sleeping children? Who knows. But gosh I'm tired. I took the day off when Phil had to go into the office because there is no way I can work and care for a toddler. Every other day we've traded off and taken care of Will for chunks of time. He's been waking around 5-5:30 every day so that makes the long days even longer!! I know that this, too, will pass but wow a 10 day quarantine at this age is hard. Long walks are saving our lives! One morning I had logged 10k steps before 9am. Covid barely seemed to bother Will. He was off for about a 1/2 day and that's it. 

3. It's Memorial Day Weekend which always felt like the kick-off to summer when I was little since we finished school the week before Memorial Day Weekend and we'd go to the lake every weekend starting that weekend. I don't really have summer vibes this year, though. Maybe it's being an adult? Maybe it's the delayed spring? I mean last weekend I put the boys in winter hats for our walks and it was downright cold on Wednesday. If our toddler wasn't around, I would have turned on our gas fireplace. So I'm not quite in summer mode but we've got summer-like temps in the forecast so maybe if the weather stays reliably warm, I'll get into summer mode? I think the park pools open here this weekend and it's hard to even imagine taking my kids to a pool when we wore winter hats in the last week!

4. We have no plans for the long weekend since we are still in toddler quarantine. If Will hadn't gotten covid, the 4 of us would have gone out to my MIL's to belatedly celebrate her birthday which was on Tuesday. But instead Phil and Paul will test before going out there for an afternoon and I'll stay back with the crazy, germy toddler. Phil and Paul remain healthy and covid-free so far. I hope that continues to be the case as we plan to go to my nephew's HS grad party the following weekend. Worst case scenario, Will and I will go since we will be out of quarantine by then. 

5. I'll end with something positive - my reading! The last 3 books I read were 5-star books! I used to be really stingy with 5-star ratings but now I am more generous because it's the best way to signal that I really loved the book. I rated Lessons in Chemistry, Notes on an Execution, and Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance 5 stars. The latter 2 are heavier, the first one deal with weightier topics but is delightful. I'm currently reading Love and Saffron and am pretty sure I will also give is 5 stars. Who am I? 4 5-star ratings in a row? But they are all excellent books that are worth checking out - but they are all 2022 publication so may have a long wait at the library.

How was your week? Are you in summer mode yet?

The Next Domino Falls

I had really hoped and prayed that Phil and the boys would miraculously not get covid. But if anyone was going to get it, I was hoping Will wouldn't since he is by far the harder kid to have home for a 10 day quarantine. So guess who tested positive on Saturday afternoon? Will. He was fine all morning but then had a low-grade fever at lunchtime and didn't eat well so we tested him and sure enough - he was positive. Phil and Paul remain healthy and negative. Maybe they had it before and were not symptomatic? Maybe it's coming for them? Who knows. This virus is so weird. 

I thought I was turning the corner earlier last week and then felt like I got hit with a 2nd wave and was back to peak congestion. I ended up logging off work early on Thursday and napped for almost 2 hours. We had planned to take Friday off to do something fun to celebrate our anniversary but I was clearly not feeling up for anything fun. So Phil and I worked on an organization project that morning, did a good will drop, and then got some (delicious) tacos to go. Nothing says romance like organizing your storage space, right?? It was something I had wanted to do since the new year and it made sense to do it while we were both off and the boys were at school. After lunch, Phil went golfing with his cousins and I napped for 2 hours. I hypothesize that I would have gotten over covid faster if I could have slept for like 10 hours a day for multiple days. But of course that is not possible when you have young children. Especially when one of them has a stomach virus! 

On a positive note, Paul moved into a new classroom this week - Pre-K! Last week was supposed to be his transitional week where he spends 1/2 of the day in the new room, but he missed 3 days of school thanks to the GI bug. But I think he'll do just fine. He was excited about his new room. Plus they have a field trip to a local garden tomorrow so that is extra exciting and really makes him feel like a "big kid." I fill out this first day of school board every time he changes preschool rooms. Last year he said he wanted to be a T Rex; now he wants to be a dinosaur! Quite the change!

I'm hoping they let him skip naps in his room so bedtime is better. I know his teachers want/need a break but I don't know many 4-5 year olds that need a nap! 

Now hopefully he stays healthy this week so we only have to manage one kid at home. Phil and I are taking turns taking care of Will. The best way to entertain him is to go for a stroller walk. I imagine he'll go on 2-3 hour or longer stroller walks every day during quarantine. Phil has to go into the office tomorrow so I will take the day off since there is NO WAY I can work while watching him. Luckily this is a quiet week at work as our sales force is at a sales conference, and our client base (financial advisors) kind of checks out as we approach Memorial Day weekend. And at least it's happening when it's nice outside so we can go for hour+ long walks. But gosh I wish my kids were vaccine-eligible so the quarantine was shorter! Allegedly it's around the corner as Moderna has submitted for approval, but I'm guessing they won't be fully vaxxed until the end of summer most likely. 

How was your weekend? Are you staying covid-free? I have heard of so many testing positive lately so it seems like it's really circulating right now.

5 Years of Lisa and Phil

Phil and I celebrate 5 years of marriage today! The days can be long when you have little kids, but the years are short. We packed a lot into the last 5 years! For those who are newer to my blog, Phil and I met in October 2012, then I found out I was being relocated to Charlotte in January of 2013, moved in April 2013, and then moved back to Minneapolis in May 2014 and we picked up where we left off.

Phil and I got engaged in December of 2016, married in May of 2017, got pregnant the next month, and had Paul in March of 2018 - just shy of 10 months into marriage. We were 36 when we got married so knew we'd need to have kids right away but were delightfully surprised that we were able to have our first child so soon after getting married. 

I have the most wonderful memories of our book-themed wedding. I am the least talented person when it comes to decor and craftiness. But my family, especially my sister-in-law, helped us pull together wedding decor that was so perfect for a book-loving couple. 

The parents of Phil's college friend gifted this to us. It resides on our fireplace mantel now.

 

Phil and I had lots of travel adventures while we were dating, so we were ready to embark on parenthood right away. We didn't get any international trips besides Mexico and Jamaica in before having kids, but we had both traveled pretty extensively during our 20s/30s. I'm forever grateful that I took all the trips I did - several of which I did on my own. There are families that will travel internationally with young kids, but it's not for us... So we are on a grand pause from big trips and that is totally ok with us. 

Newborn pics when Paul was about 10 days old

Phil hates this picture because it's kind of cheesy but I think it's cute! Paul was a couple months shy of 2 in this photo.

We have done some travel with our kids, though. We took Paul to the gulf coast of Florida in April 2019 and February 2020 (right before the start of the pandemic!). And this past February we took both boys to Tucson, AZ. We traveled with my parents on all of those occasions which we love to do!

We've also spent quite a bit of time at the lake. Paul isn't a fan of the water yet but I am hoping this changes with time. But he loves going kayaking.

Family kayaking - I was pregnant with Will at this time so we are all in this photo!

We have so few pictures of us as a family, but when your husband HATES posed photography, that is what happens. You learn to pick your battles when you are in a long term relationship. Forcing him to take photos is not a hill I am going to die on. 

Will's baptism

That is why it's really important to me to get professional photos done once a year. Those are often the only good pics of us as a family. Yes it's a total pain to get everyone looking presentable, but it's worth the time and money!

At our wedding, Phil gave the most amazing speech. It was funny and sweet and sentimental. He had people laughing and crying. Phil writes for his job so it was no surprise that he put together an awesome speech. At the end of the speech, he said that there will be good times and hard times ahead, but that we'd face them together as Lisa and Phil. And that has been true. We've had our share of hard times. Losing family members, a miscarriage, health challenges, the pandemic, etc. But we've leaned on each other through thick and thin. 

I wish my younger self who yearned for a partner for years could have had a peak at what was to come. I spent so much time worrying that I'd never find "my person." I watched a lot of friends get married and start families. I was thrilled for them but wondered when it would be my turn. 

But this life I've built with this wonderful man was worth the wait. Here's to many more years of wedded bliss!