Record Breaking Heat Wave!

Well, we managed to survive the worst heat wave in Western Washington history.  It was a doozie and if it hadn't been for our basement, I don't think that we would have survived.  Although we have had nonstop sunny weather since the last day of school on June 16th, the temps really started to crank up last week into the high 80s by the end of the week and into the high 90s on Saturday.  The biggest shock of them all was to head into the 100s both on Sunday and Monday.  Although I can recall the temperature hitting 100 degrees a few times in my Washington life, I have NEVER seen it go a degree or two past that point.  So, to have temperatures forecasted past 110 degrees was just unfathomable.  Although these kind of temperatures are quite common in other parts of our country, they just are not normal here which is a good thing since the majority of people still do not have AC in their homes.  As a result, our house turned into a total hot box by Saturday.  To top it all off, I came down with a wicked head cold on Friday night that fully blossomed by Sunday.  Needless to say, feeling sick and weak does NOT combine well with a house that is over 90 degrees.  

Although Ron, Logan, and Ella moved down to the basement to sleep on Saturday night, Lia, Emmett, and I stayed upstairs.  Since Emmett has slept horribly in our pack 'n play the last several vacations that we have gone on, I just didn't want to have to deal with him waking up several times in the night.  But after the main floor of our house reached 90 degrees on Sunday morning, I knew that our upstairs was easily 100 degrees which just is not safe for a napping baby.  As a result, I moved his pack 'n play down to the basement for his Sunday afternoon nap.  After he napped great, all six of us decided to move to the basement on Sunday night after seeing that our main floor thermostat read 93 degrees.  The main floor and the upstairs were simply unbearable at this point.  Although we moved all five of our fans to the basement and slept in our underwear on top of our sheets, we still were a little hot down there which is saying a lot since our basement is normally frigid even in the warm, summer months.  After a somewhat restless night sleep on Sunday night (partially due to how sick I felt from my bad cold), we forced ourselves to pack up all of our food, clothing, and gear in the heat of the morning to head out on our camping trip to the Olympic National Forest that I had luckily scheduled way back in March.  Although it was predicted to be almost as hot as the rest of Western Washington today (which was the worst day of the heat wave), the temps were predicted to drop over 20 degrees by bed time out there.  It must have been due to the fact that it is much closer to the coast.  As a result, we escaped the worst day and night of the heat wave which I was so grateful for.  I honestly don't know if we could have survived another day in this scorching hot house!

The 7-day forecast as of Friday, June 25th.

The predicted high temperatures as of Friday for Western Washington for Sunday (which turned out to be hotter).

The predicted highs as of Friday for Monday (which ALSO turned out to be hotter).

Un updated, 7-day forecast for the second half of the heatwave on Sunday and Monday which turned out to be more accurate.  The 113 degree day (today) is the day that we managed to escape from thanks to our camping trip.

Although the time is incorrect on our thermostat on the main floor of our house (it was really around 10 p.m. on Sunday night), the 93 degree temperature was accurate.  Holy Cannoli!

We mainly hid down in our basement or floated around in our pool to survive the hot temps on Saturday and Sunday.  It was just so hot in the house!  Although Emmett has totally grown leery of being in the water this summer, he loves standing on the pool ladder and watching all of the action going on inside!  He also loves getting splashed and being able to bend over and to play in the water.

A close-up of my naked cutie who I didn't even bother to put a swimsuit on during our Sunday night float.

Another shot of the four siblings floating around on their flotilla of floaties.  The tip of Ron's head is barely visible behind Logan's left shoulder.

Father's Day 2021

We just wrapped up a glorious Father's Day weekend last night.  After the sun came back out on the last day of school, the weather has just continued to get warmer and better with every passing day!  As a result, we were able to do most of our celebrating outside which was just so wonderful after so many rainy days earlier this month.  Since Ron prefers to spend his Father's Day alone with just our family, I came up with the idea last year to host a Father's Day Eve party with my family the day before.  This gives me the chance to see my dad in person and to celebrate with my family.  We had so much fun last year, that I decided to host another one this year.  Thanks to the weather, we spent a glorious evening in the backyard where the kids were able to play in the pool and run around with their uncles and cousins.  We made carne asada tacos with all the fixings and everyone chipped in and brought other side dishes, desserts, and drinks.  Everyone had such a great time and I was so grateful that I was able to host this party outside!

On Sunday, I made Ron his favorite breakfast of bacon and an egg scramble with lots of veggies.  He then opted to stay home and watch online church in peace and quiet while the kids and I went to in-person church.  After a slow afternoon where Ron had the chance to binge watch a new show he found on Netflix, I made a Filipino feast for him to enjoy out on the deck with the children and me.  We finished off the evening with dessert and some gift opening. 

Trenton trying out Logan's new, mega water gun with Emmett and Logan at his side.

Riley, Bryce, and Lia posing for me for a brief moment while trying to dodge the spray from Logan's attacking water gun.

The big kids hiding behind the floaties while the little boys sprayed them.

One table of family members enjoying their dinner on the sunny side of the deck.

Sweet Emmy posing for me in between bites of food.

The second table of family members enjoying their dinner in the shade.

Trenton and Logan eating at the little table.

Ella was a good spot and ate dinner alone on one of the deck benches.

After much play time and eating dessert, the group gathered back on the deck for my dad to open cards and gifts.  Here he is reading a card with Ella and Logan at his side.  Oh, how they love this grandpa of theirs!

Although I didn't take any pictures earlier in the day on Sunday, here is a picture of Ron surrounded by his children before opening up our gifts to him.

Ella explaining the gift she made for him at school.

Logan and Ella looking on as Ron opened up their gifts they made for him during a Primary activity a few weeks ago.

Ron reading our family card to him.

While Ron opened up his gifts, Emmett kept on asking me to take pictures of him.  This is the darling headshot that I took while he was standing directly in front of me.  I just love his sweet smile and chubby cheeks.

Last Day of School!

All I have to say is GOOD RIDDANCE!  This challenging and frustrating school year is officially over as of today and I couldn't be happier to close the door on this one forever.  Although the kids and I stuck with the program and did everything the teachers asked us to do at home, we definitely all can say that homeschooling is NOT our thing and that we are all looking forward to in-person school returning five days a week in the fall.  Since Logan is still not allowed to go to school on Mondays, both he and Ella were able to go to in-person school together their last two days of school this week which was fun for both of them.  On the other hand, Lia's last day of in-person school was on Friday, June 11th, since she only goes to school two half days every week on Wednesday and Fridays.  Since a 9th grade assembly was scheduled for the last day of school and only 9th graders were allowed to attend, Lia was literally prohibited from attending school on the last day of school.  Oh well.  It's just one more reason to add to the very long list of why her 7th grade school year was such a ridiculous joke.  As a result, Lia finished school yesterday for good after her final online class ended at 10:30 in the morning.  

After days and days of rain, we woke up to beautiful sunshine today!  The weather could not have planned the beginning of our summer break any better!  After dropping both Ella and Logan off at school at 9 o'clock, I drove Lia and Emmett directly to RHS so that Lia could receive her second Covid vaccine shot.  We then drove to the grocery store to purchase food for Lia's end-of-school-year slumber party that I promised her several weeks ago that I would host for her if she stayed motivated with her online school and got straight As (which she did)!  After coming home, Lia and I spent an hour cleaning up the basement so that it would be clean and tidy for her slumber party.  After lunch, I left to pick up Logan from the bus stop since Ella had been invited to go directly to a friend's house after school to attend an end-of-the-year tea party.  After picking Ella up at 2:30 and delivering her to the neighbor's house for a second end-of-the-school-year party with Poppy and Daisy, I came home to start getting ready for Lia's party.  After the friends started arriving at 5 o'clock, we had a busy and hopping backyard for a few hours while everyone ran around playing in and out of the pool.  It made me so happy to watch all of these kids running around in their swimsuits on a beautiful, summer evening having such a good time after such a long and difficult year!

We finished off the evening with a BBQ dinner with all of the fixings in our backyard.  All of the girls (Ella included) chose to eat dinner on the grass while the boys ate on the deck with Ron and me.  After eating ice cream treats for dessert, the girls all moved inside to change into dry clothes and watch one of Lia's and my favorite movies of 2020:  Enola Holmes.  Since Ron has his huge graduation ceremony tomorrow, we decided to treat this first night of summer like a regular school night and put the three younger kids to bed by 9 p.m.  After saying goodnight to the 'big girls' in the basement, I crawled into bed and crashed since it has been a very busy and long day starting at 5 a.m. when Emmett woke me up this morning.  Such is life as a mom...

Although Lia wasn't going to school today, I asked all four kids to pose for me out on the steps for their last day of school picture.  This was Lia's last day of 7th grade, Logan's last day of 3rd grade, and Ella's last day of 1st grade.  It's all just going too fast...

  

Logan and Ella standing outside their school gate before heading off to their last day of school.

Logan running to greet me after getting off of the bus.

A close-up of my very happy, now-4th-grader heading into summer break!

Lia lounging in the pool with three of her friends who had already arrived--Mollie, Elle, and Sienna.

Lia splashing away!

Emmett and Ella played with our neighbor girls, Poppy and Daisy, until dinner time.

Logan pulled out his new, gigantic water gun to spray the big girls in the pool.  He sure is good at being the pest when Lia has her friends over. :-)

The chaos of all of the kids in the pool with the gigantic, unicorn floatie that "exploded" into a giant ball at the end of last summer.  It now is this massive floatie that the kids try to jump onto and stay on for a few seconds before falling off!

Lia and her four closest buddies from school enjoying dinner out on the lawn.

Ella perched above the girls on the playground to eat her dinner.

The five girls all ready to watch the movie in the basement.  I am so happy that we were able to provide this fun experience for these girls after such a crazy year!  Now it's on to 8th grade (gasp)!

A Final Girl Scout Outing!

Well, it is hard to believe that Lia's EIGHT year journey with Girl Scouts came to a close today.  At the same time, I am also amazed that it lasted this long.  The main reason why this entire Girl Scout experience lasted so many years was due to the fact that she was always blessed to be in one troop or another with some of her core group of friends--dating all the way back to her PreK year at Celebration Preschool.  In addition, her Girl Scout troop was going to dismantle for good last June when the girls all made the transition from elementary school to junior high.  However, due to the pandemic and all of the girls being forced to stay home and complete online school this fall, the two troop leaders decided to break the Covid rules established by GSWW (stating that in-person meetings were still not allowed) and graciously offered to continue for one more year so that these girls could have a social outlet twice a month.  Needless to say, all of the moms jumped on this opportunity except for one who works in health care and needed to be really careful about exposing her children to unnecessary germs.  

Fast forward several months and a text was sent out from one of the troop leaders in April announcing the remaining dates for the last few meetings of the school year.  The last meeting was scheduled for May and there was no mention of any big, end-of-the-year activity in June using up the hundreds of dollars of unused cookie reward money that the girls never had the chance to apply towards a fun activity last year due the pandemic.  This immediately raised a red flag for me and I quickly texted back this troop leader and inquired about my concern.  She responded back by telling me that she and the other troop leader were just too burned out to plan any large activity that used up the rest of the cookie reward money and, as a result, they were just planning on donating it to a "good cause."  Since the girls (and their moms) worked so hard during cookie sales winter of 2020, I knew right away that this was wrong!  These girls had earned this money and they deserved to be able to use it for something fun!  As a result, I wrote back and told her that I would plan a large activity myself and take care of everything if she gave me her blessing which she happily did.  So, after doing some research, making some calls, and taking a poll from the moms on an available date, I planned a picnic lunch on Commencement Bay followed by a pottery painting activity at a studio in Tacoma for eight Girl Scouts and three siblings who wanted to come (including Logan and Ella).  

After several rainy days in a row this week, we woke up to sunshine today which was such a blessing as I was going to have to host the lunch for all 13 people in my house which I did not want to do.  All of the girls were dropped off at my house at 11:15 and we piled into two cars and drove into Tacoma.  We then spent the most pleasant four hours eating lunch down on the water front and then painting in a studio.  The girls all had a great time and really enjoyed being with each other one last time.  I was so grateful that I was given the opportunity to make this last activity possible and to allow the girls to close this chapter of their lives on such a positive note.  

The eight Girl Scouts, plus Logan, Ella, and Gabbie enjoying lunch on the lawn.

A close-up of Lia and Mollie who have been friends since they were four years old.

Logan and Ella eating their lunch on the blankets.

A group picture of the entire gang out on the pier.

All eight Girl Scouts lined up in a row.  Everyone was able to come from the troop except for Mila who sadly was out of town with her family.

From left to right:

Sienna, Ella, Leila, Eva, Mollie, Ellie, and Lia

One group (including Lia in the front and Logan in the back) sitting around a table working hard on painting the ceramic figurine of their choice.

The second group (including Ella in the front) painting at the neighboring table.

A close-up of Ella painting her little elephant.

Logan working hard on painting his very intricate pirate.  Since he always is so careful whenever he paints and colors, he was the last one in the group to finish and it showed in how great the finished product turned out!

Lia painting her little fish.

The darling picture I took of Leila, Lia, Elle, and Sienna as they walked back to the car at the end of the day.

"Our Own Expressions" 3rd Place Winner

Many months ago, Lia's English teacher gave her class the assignment to write a myth.  It was a pretty open ended assignment with very little specific instructions.  After Lia brainstormed an idea with Ron about writing a myth that explained the creation of the Philippine Islands, she sat down and spent several hours writing this paper.  She allowed me to read it when she was done and I was totally blown away by how creative and beautifully written it had turned out.  Since Lia has had a great love of reading and writing from a young age, it should not have come as a such a surprise to me, but it totally did. Her myth just sounded like something that a high school student would have written!  I was so impressed with her and was also totally shocked when her very strict English teacher (who we are not big fans of) gave her a B on the assignment.  As former English teachers, Ron and I both totally disagreed with this teacher's assessment of Lia's story and told her that she had definitely written an A quality paper!

A few months later, I was reading through Lia's principal's weekly newsletter that he emails out every Friday.  Buried in the middle of this email, I found an announcement of a teen writing and art contest that was being sponsored by the Pierce County Library System.  After looking into it, I realized that Lia's myth could qualify for the short story portion of this contest (due to length and content) and submitted it without telling her.  Since Lia has tried to win other contests and elections in the past and not been selected, I knew that this would be a touchy subject with her.  As a result, I decided not to mention anything to her unless she was chosen as a winner.

At the beginning of May, I received an email from a Pierce County librarian announcing that Lia's short story had been selected as the third place winner for her age group in the short story category!  Since I had figured that this was a big contest since it included such a large region of Washington, I was really surprised and also so thrilled for her!  After sharing the good news with Lia, it was just so rewarding to see a huge grin spread across her face.  The librarian stated that her story would be published in a book with all of the contest winners and would be given to her with other prizes and even a sign to put in our front yard.  In addition, we were invited to join an online celebration a few weeks later to be held in honor of all of the winners.

Since I knew very little about this contest, I did not realize what an honor it was for Lia to be chosen until this evening when the two of us sat down together to attend this online meeting.  This contest called "Our Own Expressions" is a teen writing and art contest available to patrons of 73 libraries in our county.  This year was extra special because it was the 25th anniversary of this contest.  Over 700 applicants submitted art work or written pieces and only 12 winners were chosen for each age group--three winners for each of the four categories of photography, drawings, short story, and poetry totally 36 winners for the 7 and 8th grade, 9 and 10th grade, and 11 and 12th grade age groups.  I was so blown away that Lia's story was chosen to be a winner out of so many other teenagers in our county.  In addition, we learned that this contest usually hosts a recognition ceremony in the beautiful Lagerquist Concert Hall at Pacific Lutheran University.  So, if it hadn't been for the pandemic, Lia, Ron, and I would have dressed up and driven into Tacoma to attend this ceremony in a fancy concert hall with all of the other winners.  We have never had the opportunity to participate in an event like this with one of our children.  I was so disappointed when I learned about this through the online meeting!  Just one more thing that Covid took away from us...

Regardless, Lia and I spent the next hour together sitting side by side in the kitchen while every winner was recognized by two librarians through a PowerPoint presentation.  Although not all of the winners chose to attend the online meeting, the librarians encouraged every member who was present to speak up when their piece of writing or art was shown on a PowerPoint slide.  Although Lia was too shy to say anything when her story was presented, I was still so proud of her for receiving this award.  Since we have no idea if she will ever have the chance to receive another award like this again, I will just try to treasure the fact that something she wrote all on her own, alone in her bedroom, in the middle of the pandemic was worthy of being recognized in a regional contest.  Well done, Lia!  I'm so very proud of you!

Lia watching the online celebration on my phone from our kitchen table.

A picture of the PowerPoint slide recognizing Lia.

The Pierce County librarians in charge of this contest announced that they would be posting one winner on their Instagram account for the next 36 days.  We found Lia's posted the very next day.

A screen shot of the first paragraph of Lia's short story that was included when she was recognized her on the PCLS's Instagram page.

A few weeks later, her goodies arrived at the library for me to pick up.  These included a copy of the published book with all of the winning entries, a gift card for Amazon, a journal and very nice pen (in a case), a certificate, and a sign to put in our yard.  After Lia opened up everything, I immediately ran outside and put the sign up in our front yard.  Here is Lia standing next to it holding all of her prizes.

A close up of Lia's sign!  How cool is that?!