Recap August - A little break from the blog

Since being home, I took a little break from the blog. We were getting caught up on all the normal household chores as well as getting the Airstream cleaned and put back together. I was super excited to be able to pick up my wedding ring, which had been getting resized while we were gone. It felt so good to put it back on. I also got back into working out. I am doing a 30 day challenge as well as some sort of cardio 5 days a week.

I have also gotten a little overwhelmed as many have with all the talk about school plans and the mask debate. I have said my piece on social media, but I usually keep to myself. My only hope for our country is that people act with compassion and grace as the many people in charge that are trying to keep us safe are doing what they think is best based on the information they have. I truly believe everyone is doing the best they can. It has been a crazy year and it doesn’t seem like it is slowing down anytime soon.

After getting quite a bit done at the house and in the Airstream, we took time out last Saturday to go kayaking with our family and Josh’s sister and brother-in-law. Kayaking is a great way to social distance and still be out and active. Our family has LOVED kayaking this summer. We are on the hunt for a couple to purchase so we can do it more often. After kayaking for the afternoon, we decided to do an outdoor shrimp boil. It was a fun Saturday. We didn’t get much done, but we had a lot of fun.

Sunday, August 2nd, we headed down to my parents to enjoy a day at the pool and celebrate my Dad’s birthday. We grilled out and had a wonderful dinner and family time. I have enjoyed our down time being home without crazy schedules.

This week I started making several appointments that had gotten cancelled at the beginning of COVID. I feel that we can safely do some of those things because there are strict procedures in place to keep us safe. We are still venturing out very little, but do need to keep up with some medical appointments that were needed. We took our dog to a dermatologist. She has been having HORRIBLE ear infections since last October. I am happy to report that I think we have a great plan now. I am hopeful we can get them cleared up. Ella also learned how to make latte’s. She even made me one! She is super amazing. Friday I was able to have some great girl time with Ella. We needed that. We even did pedicures and manicures. Friday night was make your own pizza night. We haven’t done that in a while and it is always a fun, family night.

Saturday was a BIG day for me. My HOT TUB was FINALLY being delivered. I ordered it over 3 months ago. I have been anxiously awaiting it. Josh and I worked on getting the pad for it all set up. Then, Josh, Micah, Ella, Emerson, and I carried it to the backyard. That was NOT an easy feat, but we got it done. We started filling it up and were able to get into it that night. It was a little chilly, but still worth it.

Sunday we spent the day moving the Airstream over. We wanted to try spot next to the driveway to see if we could utilize the garage a little better. I love that Josh and I can work on backing it in and out without killing each other. We make a pretty awesome team.

Monday, August 10 - We went to my parents to hang out and spend some time in the pool. We were going to work in the garden too, but discovered an animal had chewed 3 holes in the gas tank of the tiller. We ended up spending most of our time in the pool. Then I saw and was reading the weather reports about a potential storm headed our way. Winds had been clocked in Iowa at 112mph and was headed to us. We quickly got out of the pool and secured everything at Mom and Dad’s house before heading home. Josh beat us home and started getting our house ready just in case. We secured or put everything away outside. Just as we finished the tornado sirens started. We headed to the basement for about 30 minutes. The power went out and we could hear some wicked thunder and lightning. Josh and I were both having a hard time not going up and checking on things, but the weather definitely warranted being in the basement. When it was clear to come up, we came up to assess the damage. The power had gone out and it was apparent it would be out for awhile. We lost a pretty big limb in our front tree that crossed the driveway, but thankfully missed all the cars and the Airstream. After we got our house cleaned up, thanks to some awesome neighbors help, and generators running the things we could get hooked up and running, I called to check on a couple of our friends. One had no damage and still had power, the other had 2 trees down in the front yard, but still had power. After we secured our house, we went to help clean up her trees and yard. All the kids came and helped. It was quite a job. We worked for about 2 hours. Ella found 3 live baby birds that had been thrown from the trees that came down. There was one that didn’t make the fall. We searched and searched for the nest, but no luck. We got as much cleaned up as we could, and then had to head home to check on our house. We took the baby birds with us as there was no way to put them back. The trees were gone. Josh was able to get all our important stuff hooked up to the generator. Ella and I looked up how to care for nestlings. She got up every hour the first night to feed them. Our ETA for restored power was Saturday at 4pm. It was a long night without a lot of sleep, but we were safe.

Tuesday, August 11 - Josh had to get up and go to work. He had some meetings and things that he had to take care of. He was able to come home a little early to help with the generator and our lack of power. He managed to get our refrigerator in the house and the garage, as well as our basement freezer working. He also got our stove and oven working. We also had friends coming to visit with their Airstream. I had also promised Emerson BLT sandwiches. We were able to bake the bacon in the oven to make BLT’s. Emerson had had them at my parent’s house and couldn’t wait for the rest of the family to try them. THEY WERE AMAZING! I haven’t had a BLT in a long time. Josh was also making Shrimp and Grits for our friends that were coming to visit. Everyone was super excited when they backed their Airstream in the driveway. Unfortunately, we didn’t have power to offer them, but we had an AMAZING visit. They were on their way home to Virginia. We met them in 2016 camping in our Airstream in Acadia National Park. We have been friends ever since. Greg and Linda have become the kids’ adopted Grandparents. We enjoyed our shrimp and grits and a fire in the backyard before everyone tried to get some sleep again.

Wednesday, August 12 - Today was still another day without power. Josh went to work and we tried to get some things done around the house. The power company was on our street trying to restore power. That meant taking the tree down that had fallen on the power lines in the back of our houses before they could work on the lines and the transformer. They were able to restore our power about 5pm on Wednesday. It was such a blessing! The first thing I did was start laundry and vacuum the house.

Thursday, August 13 - Emerson had an appointment, so Brayden took his girlfriend and her brother, Emerson and Ella to my parents to hang out at the pool. Ella also had horseback riding lessons. Brayden was able to take her to her lessons and picked her up on their way back to our house. Ella is loving being able to horse back ride. Animals are definitely her passion. She has been diligently caring for the baby birds. Unfortunately the littlest one did not make it. We even called a wildlife rescue, but they wouldn’t take them and they were not very helpful unfortunately. She takes animal care very seriously and really had a hard time losing one.

Friday, August 14 - We slept in. We have all been exhausted with all the excitement this week. Ella had horseback riding again today, so she and I headed down to lessons. She is hoping to be able to participate in a horse show in September if it is safe. She has been practicing barrels and poles with lots of other skills as well. I am SUPER proud of her. Friday evening was spent relaxing. Josh and I spent the evening in the hot tub with a bottle of wine which was amazing. It was exactly what we needed.

Saturday, August 15 - Today we decided to take it easy. We did do some yard clean up. We had to cut up all the branches that came down and bundle them so they can be picked up on Monday. Unfortunately, another one of the nestlings passed away. It has been really hard on Ella. She is so compassionate. It hurts Dad and I because we can’t help. She has worked SO HARD to keep them alive. This has been such a difficult task. She now is focusing all her attention on Melody, the last of the baby chicks. We spent plenty of time in the hot tub. The kids are loving it too. It has gotten LOTS of use over the last week.

Sunday, August 16 - Today was a day of projects. Josh went to pick up wood while I completed some things around the house. He has some woodworking projects and deadlines. He did the cutting and I was able to come out and help him sand. It was a good day, but also a busy day. Micah had his first soccer practice and we had a team meeting. His soccer organization is going to great lengths to keep the kids safe and we are trying it out to see how everyone is adhering to the rules. They are only doing drills and no games, but at least they are getting to play and get some coaching. Overall, we had a great weekend. I hope everyone else is getting into a new groove and finding some peace in their lives with all the uncertainty that is surrounding us.