Safety Third About Sums Things Up Around Here

We had a few experiences relating to being safe. As fans of Mike Rowe, we are definitely a "Safety Third" (i.e., common sense and personal responsibility) household, but we have a few things yet to learn.

Monday, August 5 –

Hallie is happy to not be working Tuesdays this month. Off to work she went with a new yummy breakfast thanks to the granola she bought from Great Harvest last Saturday. Landon attended the first week of our local school district’s Safety Town program. We have all benefitted from learning the new awareness and skills highlighted in the program. Having him attend Safety Town has also really brought home the fact that when summer ends, our baby boy will be going to kindergarten. Ready or not, here we come! Every day after Safety Town the kids and their parents hang out at the playground for about 30 minutes. It sure is a nice release for Landon after sitting for a few hours. In the evening we had family home evening and baked Monster cupcakes.

Tuesday, August 6 –

In the morning Hallie invited Vanessa to the Cardio Drumming class she likes, but the Y would not watch baby Layla. Mike was kind enough to take a walk with Eliza and Layla so that Vanessa could stay for the class with Hallie. As we left for the Y in the morning, a fledgling robin parked himself on our car and squawked at us as we got in: 

Later on, he came up to the door. We don't know whether he was injured or crazy or something else, but it was a peculiar experience for sure. 

In the early afternoon Hallie was asked to pick up a sister from the branch from her job interview in a town 30 minutes away. After Safety Town, Hallie took Landon to American Gymnastics. On the way home from gymnastics Landon told Hallie he was crying. Hallie was alarmed thinking, “What have I done to sign him up for this?” He then said, “He was crying happy tears because he did a back flip.” What an amazing boys! Landon seems to be enjoying the new challenges and conditioning he is receiving there.

Wednesday, August 7 –

Hallie did her time at work. The missionaries taught Otto at our house. The sister missionaries were on exchanges and we met a new sister that was really great! Today Mom had her own Safety Town experience when she attended the parent orientation. It’s a little harrowing to hear some of the war stories from the public safety officers. Landon has made quick friends with a little boy named Isaiah, and it is fun to see them play together. Mike conducted some business up on campus in the afternoon. During the time he was out, Landon discovered that dry baby wipes are flammable, much to Hallie’s horror. Mike came home from work to the smell of burned kitchen rug, teary-eyed Hallie, and subdued Landon. Coincidentally, the Safety Town parents had learned about fire safety at their meeting. Too bad the kids have not covered fire safety yet.

As a random aside, Fergus seems to enjoy his big furry bed. 

Thursday, August 8 –

Hallie took the kids to Extreme Gymnastics in the morning and Landon to American Gymnastics in the afternoon after Safety Town. Coach Joey said he has already seen an improvement in Landon from Tuesday to Thursday. Landon is working hard and seems to be liking it. 

Mike had a meeting with the local school district superintendent about a research project (exciting!) and afterwards tried to corral the girl while Mom and Landon were out.

Friday, August 9 –

Hallie worked in the morning. We had hoped to be able to watch the new Planes movie that came out today, but Landon needed some cooling down time after his time at Safety Town. We anticipate that he will earn his way to the movies next week.

Saturday, August 10 –

Hallie had Activity Days with the 8- to 11-year-olds at church this morning, and Mike took our beasties to their swim lesson and to Lowe’s Build and Grow, where they built replicas of Dusty from the movie Planes. This had to be one of the more difficult projects we have attempted, and some of the parents helping their kids started getting a bit testy. Fortunately, Mike was not one of them, having been well worn down by many projects that failed to go as expected. Nowadays, if we build something that vaguely resembles the intended outcome and have a few laughs along the way, it’s a win. 

The rest of the day consisted of putting laundry away, making a run to Costco, and then Hallie sitting in on a missionary lesson with our neighbor named Jeff. He likes their company and asks for them to come back, and he even said he would take them to dinner. So we will see where this will go. During the time Hallie was with the missionaries Mike took the kids to the last “After 6 on Kercheval” activity where they enjoyed some yummy treats, both of the food kind and of the music kind.

Sunday, August 11 –

Church was nice and saw a few folks that we haven’t seen in a while along with the kids' familiar favorites. 

Brittany came over after church to complete work on her college application, as did Zoë from next door to visit and play with our kids. We made a potato leek soup recipe in the crock pot with our CSA veggies. As of this writing the soup is not done so we are hoping it will taste yummy.