I've got tons of pictures for this post, and they uploaded out of order (grr). Normally, I'd rearrange them, but not this time, Paco! You're going to have to read to the end to hear about the Fourth of July.
We held my Bingham Family Reunion virtually. It made me pretty sad and a little frustrated. Everyone participated and put in a good effort, but for me, I left without feeling much of a connection. Either everyone else enjoyed it, or they're putting up a good act, because they all gave positive feedback.
We drove out to Stanley, Idaho for the Bonner Family Reunion. Todd's uncle Jon owns a large cabin there that he graciously shared. There was room for everyone. Erika's and Kelsi's families didn't attend, but we had everyone else there for a handful of days.
Our first activity was horseback riding - Gemma's dream come true! She spent the rest of the reunion begging me to take her back to the horses. She claimed it was the best day of her life, even better than her birthday! Jack was hesitant at first (he's more of a tiny animal guy) but warmed right up and enjoyed himself quite a bit. Hazel had a great time and chatted nonstop with our guide during our trail ride. I was pretty uncomfortable and glad when the ride was over; I would have much preferred to hike our trail. Todd's not a huge fan, either. But man, the kids could not stop talking about it!
We had lots of fun at Uncle Jon's cabin. The favorite feature of the house seemed to be the backyard. It has a lovely deck and a beautiful pond. The kids fished, canoed, and swam in the chilly alpine water, and then would warm up in the hot tub. Hours were spent out there!
We spent a morning doing service projects around the place: planting mint, picking up litter in the fields, and moving a giant bird hotel Gramps made from the upper hills down closer to the house.
We brought our elephant nose game for everyone to play. Fun times were had!
Todd was in charge of the shooting range. Everyone thinks he's the bomb when it comes to anything gun-related.
Everyone jumped off the dock into the icy water at least once.
We rode four-wheelers and razors up an extremely dusty road to a nearby lake for a picnic lunch. Some of the rides were more comfortable than others.
Todd led the older kids through an epic paintball battle. It was Hazel's and Jack's first time even holding a gun not made for water. Jack didn't last long, but Hazel really held her own and showed herself to be a fierce competitor.
We spent an hour or two at a lakeside beach. The kids rode kayaks around while the adults soaked up the beautiful scenery.
We went kayaking down the Salmon River. It was lots of fun. The water had enough movement to it that you didn't have to paddle unless you wanted to. Gemma rode with me most of the way, while the rest of our family moved through the crowd and participated in some fierce water fights. There were some hot pots two-thirds of the way down our route, which made a nice resting spot.
We had a wonderful time. It was well worth the drive!
Fourth of July was a fun day, as always, but there was certainly a sad undertone knowing we didn't have a big fireworks show to go watch at the close of the evening. We made our traditional fruit pizza and had the George's over to share our leftover sparklers we dug out of the back of the cupboard. There were enough neighbors illegally shooting off bigger fireworks that there was still a good feeling of freedom in the air.
My kids have got a checklist of jobs they complete each morning, comprised of music practice, cleaning assignments, checking the garden, journaling, and scripture study. Gemma has been diligently reading the scripture story picture books each morning. It's adorable.
The first good friend I made when we moved to Livermore, Maggie Woodland, moved at the end of the month. She and her family have relocated to Maryland. We will miss them. I'm grateful for her friendly outreach when we were just getting established in the area.
Our garden is in the height of its tomato glory. We have been making batch after batch of spaghetti sauce. Some went into the freezer. One week we made so much at once (four batches!) that Todd pulled out the canning equipment. Gemma eats them like apples. They are so delicious.
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Erika offered to watch the kids overnight. Todd and I had a hard time finding something to go and do. It seemed every idea we had hit a wall: the road leading to the trail to this super cool waterfall hike we found is closed on the weekends to limit crowds; Yosemite and Muir Woods are opened again, but you have to have a pass, and they were all taken - of course; we thought about renting a convertible to drive down Highway 1, but couldn't locate one available that day. It was pretty frustrating! Covid stinks. We ended up deciding to drive the 1 in our minivan and pretend it was a convertible with the sunroof and windows open. We spent the night in Pacifica and then hung out on a remote beach reading our books for a huge chunk of the day. Meanwhile, Erika couldn't really take the kids anywhere, so they hung out at home, jumping on the tramp, riding their hoverboards in the culdesac, and playing games. Hazel made scones for breakfast.
The kids and I had a spa day. We wore face masks, listened to nature soundtracks, gave each other back rubs, and lounged in the big tub in the master bathroom. I taught Hazel how to shave her legs, which she was super excited about. I swear, we've got to make stuff up to do these days!
Hazel's 5th grade trip to science camp was cancelled because of coronavirus. Lucky for us, the other 5th grade girls and moms in our ward all banded together and we planned a girls' weekend to replace their missed adventure. We rented a house in Modesto to stay at for a couple of nights, hiked and played in the Stanislaus River at Caswell Memorial State Park, and spent most of the day Saturday floating down the river in a raft. We played games, watched a movie, made yummy food, roasted s'mores, and played in the hot tub at the house.
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Gemma woke up in the middle of the night with a hurting eye. Probably a piece of plum leaf got stuck in her hair when she jumped on the trampoline before bed, then she rubbed it into her eye in her sleep. Todd and I spent over an hour in the middle of the night trying to flush out whatever was bothering her, unsuccessfully. The whole next day she walked around with her eye shut, mostly just snuggling me. When it was still bothering her the following day, Todd came home early from drill and took her to urgent care, where the doctor found that yes, some dirt was lodged in her eyelid, and it had scratched her eyeball. Poor thing had to have eyedrops and wear an eye patch for about a week. Sweet Hazel baked her custom-made cat shaped cookies while she was at the hospital. Luckily, all is well. It has healed up and she seems to be fine. |
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That yellow line on Gemma's iris is the scratch. I felt incredibly guilty that I hadn't taken her in to see a doctor sooner. I'm very thankful she hasn't lost any vision. That is too close to her pupil!
Gemma and Hazel did each others' makeup one day. Kind of scary-looking! But I wanted to document it. My girls have grown so close during quarantine. That's one thing I love. |
Jack has been flirting with the idea of using his allowance money to buy a pet mouse. We've been to Petco four times, I think, in the last month or so, so he can admire them and calculate the price of all their needed supplies. One day an employee let Jack and the girls hold some mice. That was the clincher for me. Nope! They stink and they poop nonstop and there's no way Jack could play with his mouse in my house. But I'm still happy to take him to Petco to look at them all he wants.
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Sadly, this month we lost Nutmeg to a car accident. It has been heartbreaking for us all, the kids most especially. We have shed a lot of tears over her loss. Nutmeg was sweet and snuggly and soft and calm. Ginger misses her also. It was hard to see him pull their bedding out of their house and spend the entire next day or two laying down, looking despondent. We are spending lots of time with him, trying to play with him and comfort him. He has taken to scratching and play biting us, which is not awesome. We know he misses his sister like we do. We are not sure if it would be helpful or problematic to get another cat for him to live with. We all wish we could just turn back time. We've almost never seen either of our cats in the street before. They follow us on the trail all the time, but always stop and wait for us when we cross the street. We'll never know why Nutmeg was in the street that day.
