Freedom Days and Such

(July 2nd-8th, 2023)

The week of the fourth is always a fun one. I really love Freedom Days. I seem to find something awesome every year and this year was no different. Bright and early on Monday, we all went to go play and scout around.

We divided up and each took our own route. Analena, Pearl, and Beau went over to the rides. That is so fun since I never go over there. 

Daisy and I did some shopping and found some great items, including Blue, which makes my previous Blue, a Beta now. (You will understand that if you are a Jurassic Park fan.)

Ivory and Isaac wandered and found puppies. There was much longing and pleading for a puppy, but in the end, we still have a Nova. She doesn't mix well.

Beau also spent some time listening to the live band. It is such a party at Freedom Days. I'm glad we got to go.

Meanwhile, back at home, Daisy and Pearl started a couple puzzles. Except they mixed them together. They took two similar puzzles and mixed all the pieces on the coffee table. Then they would pick up pieces they wanted and come over to the dining table. It basically meant there were three places covered in puzzle pieces. However, the girls are also quick puzzlers, so we made them work double time so we could get the table back. 

We made a concerted effort to finish the garage this week. Dad was involved and we built a new shelf to store some stuff. Ivory worked hard on organizing all the extra doodads we have. Daisy got the paint shelf in order. By the end of it all, I could park my car again. Woot! Currently, it still isn't quite done, but there are only a few things left to clean up and when Tyler is ready to park in the garage too, I assume he'll finish cleaning. 

We made some treats. There were caramel apples left over from the 4th, so we ate those, naturally. I had ingredients for cookies, but not time, so Isaac ended up making cookies for us. What a hero. Right after, Daisy got a craving for strawberry lemon cookies so she made those as well. We had treats for days!

Just a couple other things from the week: Tyler got another condo. He spent some time up there painting. It's already looking very nice.

Beau got a skateboard. She's been trying out some new tricks. I hope she is careful. We have yet to have a broken bone in the family...

Ivory had her choir retreat. As usual, she is the bug whisperer and she found a butterfly that hung out with her almost the whole day. Later in the week, she found a grasshopper that was a little lifeless. She almost fed him to the library tarantula, but thought better of it. (p.s. I'm positive the old tarantula died and they replaced it with a new one. I have no proof, but my Monk senses tell me this is truth.)

The girls and I went antiquing on Friday. There were a few treasures found and then we went out for Blaze Pizza. It is Daisy's new favorite. I just love that you can get your own half with whatever you want. Look how different Analena and Pearl eat.

Finally, Tyler and I got to go see Karen and Mark. That is always a highlight. We had dinner and played Uno. 

Oh, one last thing. We didn't hike this week because my back has been so bad. It has been weeks of slow worsening, but I'm hoping to turn that pattern around with some plasma injections. We'll see. I sure hate being broken.