2021, May 24-30

Last week of school! We made it! Both kids did great this year, and we are so proud of all they have accomplished. 

Landon made the Honor Roll, and Eliza got all E’s. 

Eliza hasn’t had many times to see her teachers in person. We drove over to see Mrs. Buchanan before she heads over to her new school now that remote learning is over. 

Eliza’s last official day of instruction was Tuesday, but her home-learning teacher Mike kept her on the academic path with trips to the library and a nature walk along the nearby creek. 

Mike also took a trip to campus and dropped by his soon-to-be new office. He’ll be getting new furniture, including a standing desk to take advantage of the mountain views. 

We had another couple of ideal afternoons for kite flying. 

Hallie had an after-school work meeting, so Mike got to take Eliza to her riding lesson Wednesday. 

Lily graduated from preschool too, and Eliza and Mike got to celebrate with Lily’s parents. 

On Friday after horseback riding, we took a road trip down to Cedar City so we could explore the sights in and around southern Utah. We arrived Friday night at our hotel to news from Landon that he wasn’t feeling well. He then puked up his dinner (and a bunch of his day’s food) mostly near the bathroom. We spent into the wee part of Saturday morning cleaning it up and looking for cleaning supplies at the only available store in town, a Maverick convenience store. 

Landon spent most of Saturday in bed, and the rest of us ran errands and otherwise whiled away the day. At least we had a pool, so Eliza got some water time. Hallie saw this Memorial Day display at a local Starbucks.  

On Sunday we ventured down to Zion National Park. Not surprisingly, so did most of the rest of the Western US, or so it appeared. After waiting an hour in line for a shuttle to take us to the park entrance to take us to get another shuttle, we decided to eat the street parking fee and drive up to Kolob Canyons instead. It was lovely, and Eliza earned a Junior Park Ranger badge. 

After we came back to the hotel, the kids got more pool time. Everyone seemed happy, but Landon started feeling under the weather again in the afternoon. 

2021, May 17-23

The kids still technically have another week left of school, but for all intents and purposes, they're done. 

As Hallie and Landon drove to school early in the week, they saw a little old man selling flowers on the road side, so she bought some. Landon said the man was smiling and Hallie needed to turn around. The two were already late, but she made a U-turn and went back. The picture below does not do the peonies justice. Hallie had help getting the flowers half way to work. After she dropped Landon off at school Hallie had to figure out how to get two vases of flowers to school. With a little bit of water spilled on her pants, Hallie and the flowers made it to her work where she proceeded to give a vase away to a family she knows.

As a final extra credit project for his science class, Landon illustrated the concept of force by using bending from Avatar, the Last Airbender. Landon came in third place in class and earned himself a King Size Kit Kat.

For her birthday, Hallie got an Apple Watch and custom sugar skull wristband (that also happens to match her Tom's shoes). 

Fergus frequently perches like this on Mike's lap. He's gotten cuddly in his old age. 

Eliza does not normally perch like this on her mounts. But when bareback riding, it is a comfortable position! Eliza had a great ride this last Wednesday, and as a treat Eliza and the other little girl who rode with her got a chance to ride bare back, which both girls really like to do.

As her final writing project, Eliza wrote about how she will spend her summer annoying her brother. This includes giving him hugs, incessantly telling him, "I love you!," filling his pillow case with LEGO bricks, and TP-ing his bedroom. We had to take a couple of staged photos as part of the project. 

A bit of a mystery was solved this week when Mike's Aunt Janeen brought up a box of old 8 and 16 mm film reels that used to belong to his Aunt Karen prior to her passing. We weren't sure who they belonged to, but Mike recognized his Grandpa A.'s handwriting, and the dates matched vacations Grandma O. remembered from her childhood. Now to see if we can get them converted to digital media! 

 

2021, May 10-16

We can tell that people around here are done with Covid. 

Fergus has gotten to be more "bleppy" of late. Perhaps he's getting to the point that he doesn't care. 

Mike had a retirement party/luncheon for two colleagues who will be sorely missed. Eliza came too and hung out. 

Landon got some cool new glasses. 

Grandma Dorey sent us some knitted plush insects: Bees for the grown-ups and a ladybug for Eliza. So adorable! 

This is a typical nighttime read to wind down. Right now, we're reading Nation and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. 

Eliza decided to make "cinnamon and powdered sugar" toast. Fortunately, she only ate about half of it. The war paint and spear just add to the flair. 

Open-mouthed Fergus, again. 

For a writing assignment, Eliza is writing about her summer plans. The current title of the book is "My Plans for How I Will Torture My Brother". This is the cover photo. 

On the way to get dinner at the Spanish Fork food trucks, Landon got his first Covid-19 vaccination. As always, he was a trooper.  

On Saturday, the kids and Dad hung out at home playing with robots (Thanks, Grandpa O.!) and otherwise not getting much accomplished. 

Meanwhile, Mom and Grandma went to see a performance at the Eccles Performing Arts Center of music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. 

On Sunday the kids and Mom hung out with the Hall kids and mom at the Spanish Fork river trail. Meanwhile, Mike baked some giant cookies he has been meaning to try out in the toaster oven. They turned out really well! 

In the afternoon, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa M.'s to celebrate Hallie's birthday with a turkey dinner and lemon poke cake. The wildflowers are in bloom in the fields around their house. Eliza had to get some to share. 

Happy birthday, Hallie!