June June what a month . . .

First of all, I need to mention that the kids seemed to have a really good time being up north and staying at the cottage. They played in Glen Lake, went to the Lake Michigan beaches, the Dunes and Glen Arbor. I think it was an adventure for them. Most of the people who see the blog see me on Facebook, too, so I won't bother reposting any of the pics I posted there.

When John arrived, he got some shots of our Saturday afternoon. Joe got the kayaks out of the boat house and took A.J. for a little ride. I am seen here shooting a super-soaker:



I eventually joined in the kayaking, even taking A.J. for a long kayak-ride with me. I really love being in a canoe or kayak. Traveling in a quiet, non-motorized vessel across the water is the best way to go, I think. And Glen Lake, with its expansive size and beautiful blue water make it all the more zen. I don't know why it's taken me so long to try the kayak. (Maybe because I'm not a confident swimmer should I capsize??)



Back at the ranch, the dawg days of summer hit with some temps in the 90°s, which is severely hot for these parts. I got the kids a pool to play in, which they do enjoy.



For those who follow the blog, I know you've seen several pics of Stella swinging. Well, so far Stella had not wanted to swing at all on her swingset. She was terrified, and no amount of coaxing could convince her. But Wednesday last week, she came home from school and just started swinging again, out of the blue. Now she begs to be pushed all day on the swing, and John and I had forgotten how annoying that was, I think. Still, I'm glad she's swinging again, because I think she feels free, not only flying through the air but somehow free of her sensory issues for the brief period she is swinging. I think that's why she loves it so much.

A.J. is talking about his feelings now. Particularly, scared feelings. Yesterday he said, "I scared of dog. I scared of cat. I scared of bird flying." LOL. I don't think he really is that scared of those things, but it sure is cute to hear him speak like that!

Other stuff . . .

I went to a picnic the other night, put on by St. Mary's Circle, which is a group of ladies at my church that do a great job raising money to keep our church going. Here are a group of them. I sit with Betty, second from the left, every Sunday. There was a lot of good food and conversation at this picnic. John watched the kids so I could go.



I made a banana cake with deep chocolate frosting today. The recipe comes out of a cookbook I got from the library: Kitchen Sense, it's called. It's a great cookbook. The cake was just as promised, light and fluffy, like airy banana bread. The frosting is delicious, too, made with cocoa powder AND melted chocolate, truly decadent. John and I both bought a big bunch of bananas on the same day, so I had to make it, so I wouldn't waste bananas, right?



John has been painting like crazy. He painted the popcorn ceilings in our master bedroom and bath – not easy – and today he finished painting the master bath.



He picked the color, a bluish gray, and I think it looks great. We are trying to get rid of the awful pale blue in some of the rooms in our upstairs. Next will be the master bedroom, which is going to be a cream/butter color, and I hope it looks good as I considered the color choice for a year at least. John is a meticulous painter and tapes everything up well. It's nice to have these rooms looking freshened up.



Well, hope everyone has a good 4th! RIP Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Billy Mays, the OxyClean pitchman (I love that stuff). Congrats to my half brother Rye and his new wife K'eolani, who got married this weekend. Blessings to you!

New season

I think June is one of the nicest months. The month of June is like a Friday night...it's the space in time when anticipation and reality meet. The beginning of summer is coming, hasn't really started in fact, but all the benefits are here already. We've been enjoying them.

I took A.J. to our local zoo, Binder Park Zoo, for the first time last Friday. It's probably the best attraction Battle Creek has to offer outsiders, and the day we went, there were hundreds of schoolkids there on end-of-year field trips and it was crazy.

Plus, taking a two-year-old has challenges of its own. I got there early so we could get around the place before he crashes at 12 noon for his nap. Here he is with a peacock.



He also enjoyed the waterfall and bridge.


The zoo has an amazing Africa exhibit, but it's an event unto itself, so we are saving that for next time. I can see the value of having a season pass, but haven't sprung for it yet.

A week ago, John started working rigorously on scrubbing and cleaning our deck, scraping leaves out of the seams and mopping it over and over again with deck wash. Afterward, he put up our patio set, and now it really feels like a new season has arrived. It was such a long and hard winter (a neighbor said over 100 inches of snow, can that be right?, and soooo much bitter cold), and I don't think I've recovered from it completely. I had never really minded Michigan winters until I was cooped up with two small children...brutal. But with the patio set up, it feels like we've arrived, and the kids like having their supper out there. They had Papa Murphy's cheese pizza tonight.



Stella wanted me to take her picture and here is the beautiful girl with her awesome t-shirt.


Her last day of school is June 10th, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't terrified. She's very hard to entertain, and with A.J. (a.k.a. Mr. Demanding), I can get completely frustrated. She does have summer school, but it's only 3 days a week, and she only goes for 3 days in the month of June (more in July and August). Say a prayer for me or send me some good zen vibes.