2022, August 22-28

August is going out like a lamb. Or some other hot-weather animal that is not as fierce as the dragon August rode in on. We participated in activities modern, athletic, artistic, culinary, and historical this week. 

Fergus found lots of laps this week. He doesn't often sit on Hallie's, but this week we caught him on her lap at least twice (usually when Mike was gone). He had nowhere else to go except for her lap. Poor Fergus!

Eliza went with Hallie to the Springville Junior High PTA meeting. She was thrilled, not. We were not sure how long the meeting was going to last, but we now know two hours is too long for Eliza even with coloring and Hallie's phone. She's still winding up to when she goes to Yates Place, so we're doing ad hoc school in the meantime by reviewing her skills and getting her set up with the online materials she'll be using. Below she is taking selfies with Hallie's phone while trying to pass the time.

In the afternoon, she went riding at Guide N Gallop. Amber, one of the trainers who works at the stable, has been helping Eliza learn a bit about barrel riding. Eliza is so happy to be learning something new even when it is 95 outside.

Hallie and her mom ran some errands and did some window shopping.

Landon loves that Fergus sometimes chooses his lap. 

All this week, Mike has had university conference in preparation for the coming academic year. On Thursday, Mike had his department meeting. We spent the very end of it bowling. Mike did pretty well, relatively speaking, bowling 115 and tying for second place. 

Here is his colleague (and former professor), MacLeans Geo-JaJa, who had never bowled before. The guy was a ringer though! He bowled a couple of strikes and a 113 overall. 

Our team did not win. We weren't last, but we still didn't get the winning "Nacho Average Bowler" shirts. 

Another part of our department meeting included a presentation on the art of kintsugi (金継ぎ, "golden joinery"), also known as kintsukuroi. We're familiar with the art form and its metaphor use encouraging us to keep growing and moving forward. This article does a nice rundown of what it is and some of the philosophy around it.  We didn't have time to actually do kintsugi on Thursday, so after Mike got home, he set to work on materials he received at the meeting. 

This is kintsugi-inspired rather than actual kintsugi, which requires special resins, actual gold powder, and plenty of patience and skill.  

Here is the finished product, the "gold" drawn in with a gold metallic paint pen. All of the spirit with quite a bit less work! 

On Friday evening after Landon got done with gym, we went to Thanksgiving Point to participate in the Utah Renaissance Faire. It's a large event with many activities and vendors. It's not quite as big as the Michigan or Southern California Faires, but it holds its own. Landon brought a sword and shield, and he said that maybe next year he will wear a costume.

Eliza is a good sport for taking pictures.

Here we see the royal court on the way to the joust. 

We ate some (not quite) authentic medieval fare. 

The girls got henna paint. 

Landon found his place. 

After spending a few hours at the faire, we drove by a shaved ice truck in American Fork for some treats. With September on the horizon, a lot of food trucks and favorite places are closing for the season, so we have to catch some of our favorite treats before they are gone until next year.

They had a nice setup with corn hole games and Adirondack chairs for relaxing.

  

Saturday morning found us enjoying a mostly quiet day at home. Landon worked most of the day and had a closing work party in the evening, and Eliza had chores. Hallie ran errands and did plenty of her own chores at the house along with trying to encourage Eliza to do her chores. Fergus had to get his beauty sleep. 

In the afternoon, Mike and Eliza drove up to the Michael's in Orem to do one of their art projects. This starry-themed one was the take-home project. 

These were the paintings we did at the store using white paint and chains. We're not sure anybody knew what they were supposed to be doing. 

Later in the day, Hallie and Eliza went out for frozen bananas, then they picked Mike up and they got Slurpees for a 7-Eleven promotion. 

On Sunday morning, Eliza decided she wanted to cook eggs. She did a great job! Eliza said she loves scrambled eggs.

Later, she went fishing and found a tadpole and a small fish that she put in the same container of Mom's she used for her Slurpee last night. Hallie may not be totally impressed with Eliza's thinking out of the box.

GQ Landon loves knowing he's a favorite. He said, "If I died right now, I'd be happy." 

2022, August 15-21

School has begun. Before starting, we decided to have a last little bit of fun in Salt Lake (tied to a doctor's appointment for the boy). 

We drove up Monday night to Salt Lake, where we stayed at the Little America Hotel. For dinner, we went to Hires Big H. Landon ordered a double chili cheeseburger with chili cheese fries. He may have overdone it on the chili. He said, "I didn't know it was going to look like soup!"

Later in the evening (because somehow Hollow-Legged Boy got hungry again), we went back out for ice cream at Cloud Ninth Creamery. We got a little bit of everything: Dole whip, gelato, and ice cream! Landon repeatedly said how much he liked the ice cream and was a bit surprised at how much he liked the ice cream. Come on, Landon! Give your mom some credit. She knows where the good stuff resides.

We stayed in a somewhat dated room at the hotel. These bathroom fixtures had their charm, despite (because of?) their vintage. The whole room had a 1960s vibe.   

The kids enjoyed time at the pool in the evening, and while Landon went to the doctor in the morning, Eliza got in a second dip. 

After Hallie and Landon got back from the doctor, we had a late breakfast at The Coffee Shop at the hotel and then returned home to take care of the rest of the day's errands. 

Eliza enjoyed some riding time in the afternoon. This horse is Rue. Creekside had a Rue. Rue was the first horse she rode at Creekside, so it is fitting her first horse she is to ride at Guide N Gallop is Rue too.

This is a fairly typical scene: Fergus loves a lap, whether on the couch or in a bed. 

Landon took both of these pictures. Thanks, boy. 

Wednesday, the first day of the new school year, dawned sunny and warm. 

Look at these happy young scholars! Landon finally was willing to take a picture this year. He was amused at the fact that Eliza is in 6th grade and that he is in 9th grade. Something about how the numbers would show up in the picture. . . .

Some of Eliza's school work consisted of practical math as she helped Mom roast veggies, make salsa, and bake cookies. We had orange chicken and chow mein noodles along with oatmeal chocolate chip raisin cookies for dessert. Our CSA box provided us with almost everything for salsa this week. Thanks, Tagge's Farm Box!

Landon continues honing his art. This is the piece Landon started when we all played Nailed It! art edition last week.

We found this worm above the lady who was taking our order at Sodalicious. 

On Friday, Eliza and our neighbor Lincoln went to the skate park. Eliza had been begging Hallie all week to take her to the skate park, but it has been really hot, and Hallie didn't think that was a good idea with it being so hot. 

On Saturday, Hallie got some individual time after she dropped Landon off at work. She took advantage and did a little dining and shopping. 

Hallie first tried Dippy's out of their backyard in Orem. After several years, they were able to make a food truck a reality. Hallie was number three in line and got a free Dippy and a free Horchata.

This cute shop named Harmony on Center Street in Provo has always been a place Hallie has wanted to go. When Hallie realized she had a bit of extra time before picking up Landon, she made a quick U-turn and headed in to see what the shop offered. Hallie will definitely come back. Great service and great items!

The Provo Farmers Market had a great purchase that Hallie used for the rest of her purchases.

Later in the day, she took Eliza out to buy some Western gear. Eliza has decided that she wants to try out Western-style riding now that she is familiar with English style. Of course Eliza wanted to buy it all, but we are trying a bit of restraint and talked about not buying things at the first place we see,  researching what you like and want, and so on. It is hard to digest and understand that sometimes, but we keep trying.

Landon had woken up on Saturday not feeling super hot. We tested him for Covid (negative) before sending him to work. On Sunday, we let him sleep in and convalesce. In the afternoon, the rest of us went over to Grandma and Grandpa M.'s for some supper. Eliza took some more pictures. Very artistic of her.

 

On the way home, we caught sight of a rainbow that we followed all the way to Springville. 

Eliza took inspiration from that to draw one of her own! If you look closely into the picture you will see the rainbow we followed home in the top of the picture.