getting up to Devil's Lake

Getting outside has always been the name of the game. Are you stressed? Bored? Feeling lazy? Frustrated? Sleepless? Get outside. Even breathing fresh air is better than nothing. We went to Devil's Lake this weekend to celebrate a Birthday outdoors-style. 

Devil's Lake is by far my favorite place in Wisconsin. It's God's Country. The thousand foot rock faces, the crystal clear lake, all the types and shades of trees just remind me that we are merely specks on a map and only one part of a bigger picture. You pick a bluff and you start moving. Soon it's just you and the sound of your beating heart against the wind, trees, and rocks. 

You have to focus and watch your step. You have to walk cautiously and keep your balance. When you're in the bluffs, don't step back too far or you're going down. It's like a naturistic, poetic lesson in life. The whole time you're climbing, the beach may be packed or the campgrounds may be booked solid, but you would never know.

We have been hiking here with our daughter for at least 3 years. Each year she gets more confident and stronger, so we can go further. Each year she gains more endurance and adventure. It's a lovely progression to see how far she has come in all the pictures. She has to pay attention. She has to watch her step. She has to pace herself and be patient. Hiking is teaching her things that I sometimes can't. 

Next year she wants to climb up the side of the rock face to reach the top. She wants to rappel. She wants to be adventurous and because of her sense of adventure, I will look into it. We want to encourage her as long as something is safe. She wants to come back and do more which makes me so happy because I love it!

We had fun with minimal effort. No money spent. No reservations made. We wore old shoes and smiles on our faces. I can't wait to see how far we can go next year. Remember that nature is good for you. And free!

rubik's cube has a game!

We got this game because Y care has it and, "It's just SO fun!" It was worth the effort. If you need to just sit down and take a quick 10 minutes, then this is your game. There's no logic, rhyme, or reason to this. It is simply colors and patterns.

You put the tiles in however you want and leave an empty spot in the middle. Then shake the plastic case and see where the mini tiles land. The first person to move their big tiles to look like the mini tiles without picking them up or pulling them out wins. Super simple. We both notice colors, patterns and designs well, so this is a fun little game to play. 

Summer is coming to a close so we will be playing as much as possible. This includes games and other fun. I couldn't handle a real Rubik's Cube so this works!

we love science

We are science people. We just love science experiments, shows, museums, anything we can get our hands on. We even hosted an 8th birthday party with a science theme for this cute little diva. STEM camp is a summer must, even though camp was canceled this summer for obvious reasons.

We had the chance to go to Tommy Bartlett's Exploratory in the Dells. Yes, we wore masks. Yes, we social distanced. Yes, we used hand sanitizer at every spot. And, yes, we had a safe and fun time. The tickets were "free" and expire this winter, so now was as good a time as any!

The displays are similar to that of the Discovery Center in Rockford, just smaller. There are tons of interactive displays and hands-on learning displays. I firmly believe that children should be exposed to learning through fun whenever possible, especially girls with the sciences. Running after this one to the tune of, "Look at this! What's that? Oooh, I want to try!" was worth the effort of the masks, getting prepared for the day, and excessive amounts of hand sanitizer.

Anyone looking for science fun should check out any STEM camps, girl scout camps, Rockford's Discovery Center, Rockford's Burpee Museum, Tommy Bartlett's Exploratory, or the thousands of other midwestern offerings for science fun with the kids. Science kits and experiments helped get us through the quarantine. Never would I have expected to watch webinars and spend the days creating marshmallow launchers, tents, robots, games, and other fun creations. Most options are free online. Check YouTube or google STEM. You will thank me!

the new fort

Welcome to the new fort we got! The beauty of social media is that people give stuff away for free. For freeeeee! The original owners had it painted purple and put new roofing on. We sided it, painted the bell tower and painted/decorated the inside.

Now we have a girl hangout, a beanie boo school, a tiny house. If we would have moved it ten feet closer to the house, it would even be Wifi equipped! In an unsure world we can be sure of one thing: smiles are still available at my house! We are still making fun any way we can!

flower mazes are the best

Has anyone noticed that their phone might be listening in? I KNOW I am not the only one. We heard about a sunflower maze that was fun and by dinner three different Facebook posts for sunflower mazes popped up and I saw two ads in my emails. Oh, they're listening, all right. And if I am that entertaining, then carry on. I will turn the volume up :)

On to the sunflowers, though. Hebron, Illinois has a maze with a petting zoo and we heard it was fun. We were also going to tack on an afternoon of swimming because I have a friend who lives 10 minutes from there. What are the odds? Well, Sunday a storm blew through and it wasn't good. We changed plans Monday morning right at go time.

We ended up at Skelly's in Janesville, WI. Now, as a local girl, I should be up on local activities and such. I honestly only just heard of this place recently and visiting has never really come up. We figured we would give it a go. It had a cute farm feel that was very reminiscent of Edward's West. The maze had 2 options and the one we chose had a free sunflower (you choose it and clip it) plus a free donut in the shop. What more could these girls ask for?!?

We had an apple cider donut sundae and coffee cookies n cream ice cream. It was heaven! Smelling the various wax melts wasn't the easiest with a mask, but we picked a citrus sage scent to finish off summer break nicely. Everyone was pleasant and it was better than I could have expected. My only regret was not buying the tea towels with the funny, kitschy sayings.

It's almost August, which means it is almost back to school. We are still smiling. We are still grateful for all the extra family and bonding time we have been able to have. We have enjoyed summer. And we can all agree that sunflowers are happy flowers, so every time we walk past our new bouquet, we have more reasons to smile than ever.

back to school attitudes

My favorite time is around the corner. Back to school shopping is so much fun. All the colorful notebooks and post-its signify all the fresh, new starts. The lovely lines on the notebook leave room for notes, lists, hopes, and dreams. Fresh pens and pencils with cute designs... we love it!!!

However, this upcoming school year is going to be interesting. We plan to buy all the supplies. We even have masks in various styles, colors, and patterns. We all have one for each school or work day. We are looking forward to 4th grade with a cool new backpack and a positive attitude.

We have practiced wearing masks,  discussed decorum, and questioned who future teachers will be. We have discussed how things will be different this year. I hope PE with masks will be effective. I hope the sparkle and shine of a new year will still be the norm despite social distancing and masks. I hope my school loving, smiley little lady will still have the thirst for learning and the excitement for new experiences and new knowledge.

The funniest part of it all is the school supplies list. We are only required to buy ONE notebook and it has to be red. So all those lovely unicorn notebooks, funny emoji notebooks and glittery notebooks get put aside for red. Plain old red. The most disappointed face I have ever seen is when I read the list and said, "One red notebook." And she said, "No! Can't you call someone? Maybe they will let me try another color!"

THIS IS GOING TO BE A GOOD SCHOOL YEAR! We are going to make it that way no matter what. If the only glitch we have is a disappointment for a red notebook, then it is going to be okay! And, of course, we made a red mask to match the red notebook :)

an ode to a messy kitchen

The fresh zucchini meant fresh zucchini bread and I have an amazing recipe for Zucchini carrot bread. Everyone loves it (thank you, Pillsbury!!). Since we had time, the junior chef decided to pull out her new cookbook and chose to bake mini apple bundt cakes. And since we don't actually own bundt pans, we did mini cupcakes with shaped, silicon cupcake tins.

This is what a kitchen with two bakers now looks like. I must say, it wasn't as messy as I expected. The apples went to compost and the egg shells were crushed and sprinkled in the garden (we teach being green AND being resourceful here!). She read and followed her recipe and I read and followed mine. I even generously shared the use of the Kitchenaid mixer for her ease and I mixed by hand. Now THAT is love!

A rule of thumb is to call out the measurements as you go so you don't miss anything. Once my breads were in the oven, I assisted her work. We realized that 6 tablespoons of oil is NOT optional and that got added. In addition to the 3rd egg. She thought it said 2...

She measured and mixed the powdered sugar glaze, put the food in the oven AND pulled it out by herself. She measured: math. She baked: science. She had to troubleshoot: real life! She cleaned messes: Health??? I was so proud. She even licked the entire batter spoon clean.

So it was hot this afternoon, yet we baked. Mistakes were made, but we laughed about it. Spills were made, but we laughed about it. Ever spilled flour on a black lab? It was kind of hilarious. Ever watch a dog get excited to eat spilled flour and then realize it's NOT sugar? It was kind of hilarious.

If all my days were spent like this, I would be the happiest ever. I would love to bottle up the 9-year-old-going-on-19's cute sweetness and keep it forever. Rumor has it they don't stay little for long :( If letting her cook, bake and also clean keeps her happy, content and glad to hang with mommy, then bring on the next baking project! 

Follow up: zucchini bread is fantastic. Apple cupcakes are unique and chewy. We will try them again when I can supervise fully on the measurements!

produce season is here!

It's produce season! My little lady tends to our garden everyday. She waters it and refills the bird bath while I weed and tend to the bird feeders. We got these plants from our local plant stand, Bud and Sue's, in Roscoe. I have been riding my bike to Bud and Sue's since I was 10. That's almost 30 years and they're still going strong!

We picked out 4 kinds of bell peppers and 1 zucchini plant. The tomato plants came from a neighbor who started them from seed himself. We wanted to plant a spaghetti garden in year 1 just to make it easy. Unfortunately, we couldn't find any onion plants, but we did plant chives and basil. We will definitely be ready for canning season!

Watching a nine year old get excited about gardening and nature is kind of fun. She has a morning routine that includes the garden. She gets to pick the plants when they're ready. She has her own gardening gloves. We had picked all the black raspberries that grow on our lot and made jelly. Now it's time for gardening.

She doesn't mind getting dirty. She actually enjoys crushing up the egg shells we sprinkle on each week. I am hoping this will be another skill or hobby she will pick up and enjoy due to all the Covid/quarantine stuff. It would be one more positive thing to come out of all this. And ALL the spaghetti sauce we will be enjoying :)

a little hike

When you're driving through Wisconsin, you take every opportunity to stop and see nature. We have a truck full of bikes and where do we stop? A trail that doesn't allow bikes! Go figure. Yesterday was the day to get out and about, so we decided to do the red route on the trail (say THAT name five times fast!).

It said it was about 2.3 miles, so despite sandals we all had on, we did it. Lots of rocks, lots of slopes and hills, lots of cool nature sounds. An hour later, we had seen the lookout bluffs and I came to the conclusion I need to workout more. My favorite part was reminding my little hiking buddy to stay quiet so we could see and hear lots of animals. And what did my hiking buddy do? She growled. And snorted. And giggled. 

We didn't see any animals, but we heard lots of things scurrying away from all the foreign sounds they were hearing from us. All in all, it was a success. Another park checked off the list. Another trail accomplished. Another memory made amongst the year of memorable events. 

Nature is still open, still free, and still good for you. I would rather have a growling, giggling hiking buddy than have no one to hike with at all. My hope is that she is always free spirited, always adventurous, and always down for some nature therapy. Fingers crossed :) Happy hiking everybody!

the power of YET

The power of YET. I read this today and it was so powerful. I need to hear this, read this, remind myself of this time and again. In all that we have seen and experienced since March, it has been difficult at times to stay positive. YET, I know better days are coming. 

We make plans that get cancelled. We book things that don't happen. We play the waiting game on a lot of things. Yet, despite it all, we are okay. We stay positive. We stay informed. We stay humble.

We use the term YET when we get disappointed about cancellations. We use the term YET when thinking about school, special outings, trips, our futures. YET is powerful! I needed to read this line today. Rachel Hollis knows her stuff.

If you aren't familiar with her blog, social media, books, jump on it. Immediately! You will feel better. You will feel the power of YET. You will enjoy it. I promise :)

pirates and memories

Nothing screams "camping trip in Michigan" quite like a pirate ship! Or maybe it doesn't?! We were able to drive a few hours away to Michigan for a quiet little camping trip. Minus parts of the drive through Chicago, it was a good drive with lots to see. Northern Illinois is so close to so many great vacation spots that a short drive is worth the haul.

Camping for this family is the usual: grilling, hiking, biking, games, and an outing of some sort. We hit up a lighthouse in a quaint little town and as we secured prime spots on the docks for pictures that were socially distanced, this pirate ship rolls past. It was huge and everyone did a collective gasp as they stared in awe.

Add this to the ice cream stand we found on the beach and it was a successful sightseeing outing from the campground. The beauty of Google is that you can stay in a rustic campground and feel tucked away from society, but still whip out your phone for a quick outing (and check the rising temperatures!).

I hope my daughter still embraces the nature first, low tech camping trips we have established as she grows up. There is nothing more bonding or refreshing as cold ice cream paired with silly giggles and nighttime smores over a roaring fire with campfire games. These are the memories that we are creating. These are the memories that will last. 

Not to mention all the life skills, cooking lessons, fire safety, and camping tips that we have taught her along the way. And, sometimes if you're lucky, you'll see the occasional pirate to top off a great, low key vacation.