2023, June 19-25

Spring transitioned into summer, and Mike transitioned into a new job. We had Kai for a few days, and Eliza and Dad camped in the front yard. 

We took Kai to the groomer on Monday, so now he looks like a Teddy bear. He even posed for you. 

While we took Kai to the groomer, Eliza was taken to BUH by the neighbor. While there she learned Pickleball and did some yoga. 

Mike got offered a job as a financial planner with TomiPlan in the afternoon. Landon thought this image he took of Dad looked dramatic and epic. Mike thought it looked like Dad was tired and Landon needed to clean his camera lens. Fergus liked having a warm lap to sleep on. 

Hallie likes Kai. Hallie says Kai is soft to pet and he snuggles up to her and follows her around the house (unlike our feline critter who definitely belongs to Mike).

Tuesday and Wednesday Eliza did Taekwondo (currently she is doing tricking and then her regular class). Two hours of continuously moving is good for this energetic 12 year old. 

Our Sorento is in need of serious repairs, as in at least a new transmission and possibly a new engine. We're contemplating whether to pay for repairs or buy a new-to-us car instead. We need something for Mike's new commute. 

While taking Kai for a walk, we came across this mother duck and her brood of ducklings.  

Mike took Landon to Dr. Campbell (sports medicine/orthopedic)for another check-up. Landon hasn't been wearing his brace, so the doctor chided him a bit, and he's on a plan to get back to full activity in the next six weeks. 

In the afternoon, Mike needed to chill out with some kite time. 

He tried to persuade Fergus to join him. Ferg is content to sit near Mike rather than with him. 

Eliza and Hallie joined in (Landon was at work). Kai likes playing tug-of-war with anyone who is willing. As the late afternoon approaches it is fun to have other neighbors walk past our house while we are outside. We met at least one family we had not known before. Two cute kids and their own dog. It was nice.

He's a good travel companion while we run errands. We took him back to his other family on Thursday, where he'll stay until early July. 

Mike started his new job on Thursday. He was feeling anxious until he realized it was 6/22, a number that he has a weirdly uncanny way of seeing in all sorts of places, like clocks, calendars, and (today of all days) on his rental car's odometer. It's probably a coincidence. . . . Or is it?! Whatever it is by the end of the first day at his new job a lot of the anxiety had left. Our family is proud of Mike and his new endeavor. 

 On Friday while doing work from home, Mike heard an unusually loud bird. Turns out the bird was sitting on a shelf in the open garage (the back door from the house to the garage was open too). By the time he got a camera, the bird had noticed him and flittered over to the van parked in the driveway. It kept chirping and keeping its distance until it found a companion with whom to chitter. 

Hallie helped the lady who does her nails to clean her house in preparation for showing it to sell. Here she is working away. It's always more motivating to work on someone else's house than one's own, right? Good music and new people to meet and talk to made time go by fast.

Here is Landon after a long day at Splash Summit. The hot weather hasn't really hit yet, but it's still a grind at times. 

On Saturday, he got the chance to spend most of the day with friends celebrating Sonny's birthday at an escape room and going to the mall. 

Eliza had BUH lessons on Friday, and we got a picture. Ivy and Aspen are great at getting pictures and videos. Eliza came out of the lesson smiling from ear to ear. Hallie asked her what was so amazing. Eliza responded that she got to pole bend in her lesson. The most we can tell you is that it has to do with weaving around poles and that they do it in rodeos. We have to laugh. We are still learning. 

While Landon was partying, the rest of us went out to dinner and for shave ice. Eliza is eating a kid's size.

Landon neglected to let us know his plans for the evening after Sonny's party. Apparently he went to a stake dance. We had to remind him of the importance of communicating his plans, but he didn't seem convinced. 

The dance was held outdoors on account of the pleasant early summer weather. We could hear the music from our house until about 10:30. Coincidentally, Eliza (who likes to camp out on occasion) decided she wanted to do so that same night. She eventually fell asleep. Mike kind of slept. Sleeping in a tent on the hard ground with mosquitoes and a cat who likes to attack the tent at random isn't his favorite. 

Eliza is taking music/ukulele classes at BUH. To distinguish her uke from her peers, she has embellished it with stickers.