2019
2019: In early January Jake and Ayla enjoyed going skiing together.
The rest of February and March passed with not much out of the ordinary at home- just the general "surviving the winter" mode normal for that time of year. Jake's job started a huge change in February when construction started on the Heartland expansion after Jake's position changed back in December 2018. (I think) in March Ayla decided she wanted to join band in 7th grade and subsequently started learning to play trombone.
-Summer of Fudge-Zeke and I read, and reread the Fudge books this summer. Double Fudge, Fudge-a-Mania, Super Fudge, and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. They are the best and it was time I really enjoyed spending with Zekey.
-Green Camaro- around the corned from our house is a small auto dealership. One day I noticed a bright green Chevy Camaro (Zeke's favorite car) for sale there. When I got home I told Zeke about it and we hopped on our bikes and went over to check it out. Zeke was so enthusiastic (as he tends to be!) The best part was that it was 8:30 at night and perfectly light out. I love the freedom of summer!
-Jury Duty- When we returned from the cabin, I arrived to a letter waiting for me summoning me to Jury Duty. I was pretty bummed. And when the time came I ended up being chosen to sit on a jury. The trial was a full 3 days and into the night on the third day. I honestly thought I would hate it, but was surprised to find how interesting I thought it was and how much I enjoyed the process. Imagine that!
-Yoga and hummingbirds- Two other highlights of this summer for me were doing yoga in the mornings on the back deck to the sun rising and the birds chirping, and watching the hummingbirds on the feeder. Definitely two things I am anticipating for next summer.
-Bro Days- Zeke has quite a neighborhood posse of friends. Pretty much all summer he was somewhere up the block at one of their houses or had the gang at ours. One thing he would do is ask me if he could have a "bro day' or go on a "bro date." That means he and Weston or Brady- or both- would bike up to pizza pit for lunch or bike over to Dairy Queen for a cone, or perhaps pack a picnic and head to the park. I appreciate his blossoming independence, plus it was just really cute.
-St. Vinny's- Ayla and I had fun poking around St. Vinny's throughout the summer. Lots of good finds!
-The Usual Favorites- Fireflies and Tennis playing!
-August trip to Green Bay-Jake's cousin Danny got married in Green Bay at the end of August. On the way up we stopped in Sheboygan for a short visit with my friend Tom. Then we headed to Manitowac to the Maritime Museum where we toured the USS Cobia, a WWII submarine. We had fun in Green Bay reconnecting with family and bumming around Lambeau Field.
Obviously in September the kids headed back to school to begin their seventh grade and fourth grade years. On Monday, September 30 Jake took Ayla to Boston. Ayla was really into a few youtube animators. Jake bought VIP tickets to something called "Scribble Showdown" where those animators compete against each other. Ayla and Jake spent a couple days bumming around Boston, sight seeing and hanging out with Evan Arndt.
We of course did our annual Charlie Brown Thanksgiving dinner the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week.
Thanksgiving was very late in 2019 and so the day after we went to get our Christmas tree, something we've never done. We usually wait until somewhere around my birthday. We also decided we wanted to try a new tree farm. I had suggested we try a place that is more rugged- one where you have to hunt a little farther out in nature to find your tree. We got there and it looked very promising. We ended up finding the PERFECT tree in the pre-cut lot before we even headed out into the field! It really was the most beautiful tree and one we all agreed on!
We also went to the fire truck parade.
December was completely not snowy but we tried hard not to be upset about it even though we got all that snow for Halloween! And Christmas we lovely but as always went way too fast and left me feeling like we did all the stuff but like I didn't actually EXPERIENCE any of it. Going through the motions and actually being present to something are two very different things and a constant struggle for a busy parent.
We returned to school after winter break and soon after the weather turned bad. From the last week of January through the middle of February we had a record breaking 6 days off due to snow, ice or arctic temperatures. The windchill was -64 degrees one day. It was referred to as a "polar vortex."
On February 1 and 2 Ayla was the star of the school play, "Annie." Due to the weather they were unable to have the dress rehearsal or the tech rehearsal. (3 snow days that week of school!) But the show went on in spite of that and Ayla did awesome. She was also sick with a bad head cold at the time!
The rest of February and March passed with not much out of the ordinary at home- just the general "surviving the winter" mode normal for that time of year. Jake's job started a huge change in February when construction started on the Heartland expansion after Jake's position changed back in December 2018. (I think) in March Ayla decided she wanted to join band in 7th grade and subsequently started learning to play trombone.
Spring break was VERY late, falling in the middle of April. We didn't do a lot- a short trip to the Kalahari to start it off. In late April Jake got his ears pierced-something he had wanted to do since he was young.
On May 11 Zeke turned 9! Over Memorial Day weekend we went canoeing down the Kickapoo River all day with our good friends the Aslesons. It was a beautiful, perfect day and one I will be happy to remember for a long time to come. Also in May, Ayla got baptized at Heartland. There was an aura around the sun that afternoon-very memorable!
Summer: This is a subheading all it's own. Obviously we do a lot more memorable things during the summer with me and the kids being off school, and therefore I have a lot more to write about it. At the end of August I made a list of things that I wanted to remember from Summer 2019 and that is how I will present it now-in list form-just to make it a easier to recap.
Summer: This is a subheading all it's own. Obviously we do a lot more memorable things during the summer with me and the kids being off school, and therefore I have a lot more to write about it. At the end of August I made a list of things that I wanted to remember from Summer 2019 and that is how I will present it now-in list form-just to make it a easier to recap.
-Up North-We started summer vacation with a trip up north to the cabin. Lots of late nights and bonfires and fishing and boating and movie watching. Zeke enjoyed watching Teen Titans Go! We also did something we've never done up there before and went into Philips and poked around for an afternoon.
-Summer of Fudge-Zeke and I read, and reread the Fudge books this summer. Double Fudge, Fudge-a-Mania, Super Fudge, and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. They are the best and it was time I really enjoyed spending with Zekey.
-Salted Caramel-as in Sassy Cow Salted Caramel Ice cream. I became a bit obsessed with it at the end of the school year and ate way more than I probably should have over the summer. I don't regret it for a minute!
-Basketball and Badminton- two sports we played a lot of. We bought a badminton set and put it up in the backyard. Ayla, Jake and I especially enjoyed playing it. Ayla and I would have ongoing contests to see how many times we could volley the birdie back and forth. Jake got us a new basketball hoop-not a super high one-in the driveway and we would play HORSE. Ayla especially enjoyed getting out there and just shooting hoops.
-Taco Johns- Just before the 4th of July me and the kids drove to Monona drive to get fireworks like Dad and I used to do every year. While there, I threw out the idea to the kids that we stop at Taco Johns for lunch,fully expecting them to emphatically say no. But they BOTH enthusiastically said yes, so the three of us enjoyed an impromptu lunch at Taco Johns. It was one of my favorite memories of the summer.
-Reptile Rapture-also on Monona Drive, I took the kids there randomly one day after visiting with Grandma. It is a really cool store and we had a lot of fun looking at the bearded dragons and geckos.
-Bunnies-each morning I would take the dogs for walks, first one and then the other (in an attempt to train them better.) One time I was walking Lady and she had stopped to smell something. I noticed a small hole in the ground with a tiny, fuzzy white bunny face peeking out. As I watched, a fuzzy grey face appeared, then another white and then another grey-all in a row. It was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. I ran home and got Ayla and walked her down to show her.
-Green Camaro- around the corned from our house is a small auto dealership. One day I noticed a bright green Chevy Camaro (Zeke's favorite car) for sale there. When I got home I told Zeke about it and we hopped on our bikes and went over to check it out. Zeke was so enthusiastic (as he tends to be!) The best part was that it was 8:30 at night and perfectly light out. I love the freedom of summer!
-Jury Duty- When we returned from the cabin, I arrived to a letter waiting for me summoning me to Jury Duty. I was pretty bummed. And when the time came I ended up being chosen to sit on a jury. The trial was a full 3 days and into the night on the third day. I honestly thought I would hate it, but was surprised to find how interesting I thought it was and how much I enjoyed the process. Imagine that!
-Water fun- Ayla and I went to the aquatic center a couple times together. Our family went boating on the Wisconsin River with the Aslesons and they taught us to wake surf!
-Yoga and hummingbirds- Two other highlights of this summer for me were doing yoga in the mornings on the back deck to the sun rising and the birds chirping, and watching the hummingbirds on the feeder. Definitely two things I am anticipating for next summer.
-Bro Days- Zeke has quite a neighborhood posse of friends. Pretty much all summer he was somewhere up the block at one of their houses or had the gang at ours. One thing he would do is ask me if he could have a "bro day' or go on a "bro date." That means he and Weston or Brady- or both- would bike up to pizza pit for lunch or bike over to Dairy Queen for a cone, or perhaps pack a picnic and head to the park. I appreciate his blossoming independence, plus it was just really cute.
-St. Vinny's- Ayla and I had fun poking around St. Vinny's throughout the summer. Lots of good finds!
-Holes- We finished out the summer watching and re-watching the movie 'Holes.' It seems certain things- games, movies or tv shows, particular activities or hobbies inadvertently define a period of life and end up being memorable and special. This is one of those things, just like the Fudge books.
-Toads- We had quite a few toads try to make homes in our backyard this summer. The dogs would hunt them and try to bite them and would suddenly be foaming at the mouths...I guess they react to something the toads excrete as a defense. I would carry the toads out to our front garden to find them a new home but they always came back. Finally I carried one up the block to a neighbors garden.
-The Usual Favorites- Fireflies and Tennis playing!
-August trip to Green Bay-Jake's cousin Danny got married in Green Bay at the end of August. On the way up we stopped in Sheboygan for a short visit with my friend Tom. Then we headed to Manitowac to the Maritime Museum where we toured the USS Cobia, a WWII submarine. We had fun in Green Bay reconnecting with family and bumming around Lambeau Field.
Obviously in September the kids headed back to school to begin their seventh grade and fourth grade years. On Monday, September 30 Jake took Ayla to Boston. Ayla was really into a few youtube animators. Jake bought VIP tickets to something called "Scribble Showdown" where those animators compete against each other. Ayla and Jake spent a couple days bumming around Boston, sight seeing and hanging out with Evan Arndt.
In October Jake and I celebrated our 18th anniversary. We took the kids to Waldvogels pumpkin farm where we went on our first date. It was a beautiful day outside and so fun to be back there with the kids! Also in October we celebrated Halloween with 8 inches of snow and below normal temperatures. What a year for Ayla's costume to involve only a leotard and tutu!
Jake performed two weddings, one in October and one in November.
In mid November Jake and I headed to the cabin for our annual anniversary weekend away. As always it was amazing and wonderful and all good things. We went for an extra day, getting up there Wednesday, leaving Sunday.
In mid November Jake and I headed to the cabin for our annual anniversary weekend away. As always it was amazing and wonderful and all good things. We went for an extra day, getting up there Wednesday, leaving Sunday.
We of course did our annual Charlie Brown Thanksgiving dinner the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week.
Thanksgiving was very late in 2019 and so the day after we went to get our Christmas tree, something we've never done. We usually wait until somewhere around my birthday. We also decided we wanted to try a new tree farm. I had suggested we try a place that is more rugged- one where you have to hunt a little farther out in nature to find your tree. We got there and it looked very promising. We ended up finding the PERFECT tree in the pre-cut lot before we even headed out into the field! It really was the most beautiful tree and one we all agreed on!
We also went to the fire truck parade.
December was completely not snowy but we tried hard not to be upset about it even though we got all that snow for Halloween! And Christmas we lovely but as always went way too fast and left me feeling like we did all the stuff but like I didn't actually EXPERIENCE any of it. Going through the motions and actually being present to something are two very different things and a constant struggle for a busy parent.
We, as always, remain so grateful for our little life together, for our jobs and for the ways the kids grow and change. Here's to 2020!
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