Shark Week 2021

Did you know there was such a thing as SHARK WEEK? I didn't. But, there is - and it's this week. THIS IS SHARK WEEK!!!! Can you feel the excitement? 

Bre is doing a week of fun and activities with the kids centered on Shark Week - and she's sending me photos too cute not to share. LOL 

 This a big shark head and evidently one tries to get the fish out of it's mouth before it closes on one's hand....

Annie (2)

Bella (5)

Shark Masks

Gideon (4)

Shark headbands

Cuter than a shark...

Jojo - 8 months

Yikes - Bella is shark bit! 

And shark TATOOS...."Just like Daddy!"

Mondays are for Sib Gaming

 Monday is the day Arielle and the boys come over to hang out with Grandpa (respite care). The last 3 weeks we have had something going on....appointment, wedding, guests....I was determined to take advantage of the 3 hours of respite....but Michael had a chiropractor appointment scheduled. He needs these to help with the pain from degenerated discs.  We talked about it and I simply could NOT skip a four week. 

We told Arielle to come over anyway.  I went out on my own. I grabbed lunch and met Krista at Luke's where the movers were packing his things to move him to base.  It was a nice visit - could have been much longer, but the movers decided they needed to go back to base with 1/2 a load? Who knows? 

I went to the community gardens from lunch....and then I sat in a car and read. It was good. 

Back at home...the kids were enjoying down time as Grandpa decided to take a nap. Arielle had asked about taking Grandpa outside and I thought it was a good idea. I warned her he tends to want to go out and then decide to take a nap when it's time to do it. LOL  Yep, he opted for a nap. This left the kids to enjoy some sibling gaming time. 

We ended the night by watching an episode of "Home Before Dark"...What are some of your favorite shows to stream?

Sunday Afternoon

 There were only 4 of us going to church this Sunday from our home. Stacia needed to stay home with Millie. Nolan was working.  It was a good message on surrender and awe...much to chew on.  Allie pointed out to me Bre, kids and Alex were in the back....Alex caught up with us for lunch. He is surely enjoying his driver's license. 

After lunch Arielle and the boys stopped by to visit. It seems most were content to lay around....Benny came inside with a handful of strawberries. He remembers from last year. Fairly amazing as I've not weeded the strawberry patch and it is full of cottonwood and dandelions. He remembered. 

I need to research what to do with these. They grow fairly wild. They are sweet and TINY. There are a lot of them...maybe I need to thin them out somehow....anyway I went out with Benny and we foraged more more strawberries. I showed him how he wants them all dark red for the sweetest berries. The problem is the birds and animals get to them if we wait for them to be perfect. LOL 

Next, Benny headed to the garden with me. I wanted to show him how it was growing. He was very skeptical when I told him we could eat the "rashes."  

"Roots? You eat the roots?" ::snort:: 

The cauliflower is just starting to put on tiny heads....it will be a race this year to see if we get food to EAT, but the garden is serving a purpose anyway. LOL Therapeutic. 

We checked in with Papa and he said we could feed the chickens. These chickens are spoiled, but we like having them around. 

I made some yummy kale chips in the air fryer - fresh from the garden. I seem to be the only ones who likes them. 

Benny took a bunch of radishes home to give to Bella. Bella is the one who planted the radishes with me. I need to thin them out and am waiting for her to visit to do the job. 

In the Throes of PMS Millie Eats an ENTIRE Pan of Brownies

We walked in the door and Michael mentioned that Millie had been a little out of sorts all day. She wanted in, she wanted out, she wanted in, she wanted out.  She's been in heat and a bit moody. 

He also mentioned  she had thrown up. He was busy writing and hadn't connected the dots until he was recapping the day with us. 

Michael's next question  was, "What WAS in the glass pan in the kitchen?" It seems he found a glass pan on the kitchen floor. It had been a pan of Keto sugar-free brownies. 

Millie, In the throes  of PMSing, ate an entire pan of sugar free brownies. We all connected the dots at the same time. 

She continued to throw up, while we called the poison hotline and the vet. Saturday night our only option was drive into a pet hospital in Anchorage, or the Tier-1 clinic out here in the Valley. We found Tier 1 to be very helpful.  The vets  good sense of humor is manifested by these pictures - pretty sure the vet tech wasn't so thrilled. 

Most discreet shot - 📷 by vet

Millie was in sad shape. She threw up, she pooped, she was dehydrated and had IVs and lab work for her liver and pancreas enzymes. She's now at home on a bland diet. She's only allowed small and frequent meals. She's also not allowed to run or be boisterous for a week. They said her GI system,  intestinal tract and several of  things are all inflamed. The hope is  she can transition to normal food in a week, but we were warned she may need to stay on a bland, home made diet for a lifetime.

 All in all we were very lucky. She did not have to be admitted. She required no surgery. And if the sugar substitute had been Xylitol, instead of Erythritol,  we're told she would have died. The poison control center said erythritol is just the scientific name for stevia . I don't believe that based on what I know...but... Anyone else heard that before???? LOL 

Cake, Summer Faires and Festivals

 Saturday didn't begin with a lot of plans. The only thing on our agenda was delivering Stacia's Spring Fling cake to Eagle River.

 She put the finishing touches on the cake, and she Allie and I headed to Eagle River.  We learned a LOT making this cake...it was a good experience. We like the idea of a pretty, springy, fruity cake in her portfolio...not sure this will ever be our favorite "cake"  cake. LOL 

As pretty as the picture we were given! LOL 

We checked out Jamin's new 4-plex and headed back to the valley.  Carrie and Josiah had mentioned meeting  up sometime today but no plans were set. Michael decided to stay at home with Grandpa and work on a writing project with an approaching deadline. 

Josiah and Carrie decided they would like to go to the Pyro summer Festival. They planned to meet up with Bre and the kids and head over late afternoon.

 We still had a couple of hours before they all wanted to meet at pyrah's, so the girls and I turned in at this sign and discovered another annual local event we'll want attend again. It was a beautiful day for a  Midsummer Fair.  Friday fling seems to showcase food trucks, the midsummer Fair had vendors of All Sorts. We could have spent much longer just Meandering through the Stalls. Our only purchases were a couple of delicious mini macaroons, and a coin purse made from flat bicycle tires. 

The girls and I stopped for lunch and on to Arielle's to pick up her and the boys.

A couple of selfies of our group! 

Me, Stacia, Arielle, Benny, Allie and Danny is in the stroller

Gideon, Annie, Bre, Jojo in stroller, Cy
Carrie, Annie, Bella 📷 by Bre

It was super easy to find each other at the farm. AND I ran into a gal from Misawa AB PWOC....what a SMALL world. I need to make time to get into Anchorage for a bit more of a visit.  The Pyrah Summer Farm Festival is a simple $5 per adult....there were a few food trucks and such, and LOTS of free, fun activities. I enjoyed walking through the fields...and realizing they were simply letting the weeds grow up with the plants. WHAT??? Revolutionary. 

Josiah's shoulders were popular! LOL 

Benny thinks axe throwing is simple!

Annie and Bella liked the trikes

The maze has a totally different dynamic if you are too short to see over the top - just saying....

Josiah and Gideon

I finally realized to find the flattened weeds/grass and go that way. ::snort::  The petting zoo was a hit. 

Carrie and Benny

Livie is a pro at golf

Oh - look DUCKS...now how do you use the 
clubs on them? 

It was Danny and Jojo's first farm festival 

Such fun! 📷 by Bre

Carrie and Bre 📷 by Bre

📷 by Bre

Precious cargo - 📷 by Bre

It was a fun day...and then we got home. To be continued.....

Friday Night Visitors!

Izaak is on an overnight fishing trip. Bre and the kids came over this evening. Bre brought some dough with her  and let the kids make their own pizzas - always a hit.  We purchased Papa Murphys - making use of that military discount. LOL 

All the BIG girls ate at the Island - Bella (5), Stacia and Allie

We had fun chasing kids around, visiting, listening to kids....and doing a bit of a catch up. Annie is hard to catch in a shot...but here's one. Gideon was moving far to fast all evening for me to catch him. I have no excuse for missing Jojo. 

We had hoped to light the fire and have s'mores - but it was raining. We'll keep making our best use of clear nights. LOL 

This was a nice way to end the day...most of the day was filled with CAKES.....trying to get that cake from The Market RIGHT. LOL 

Alex's Adventure

 Woot! Alex's driving test began at 9:45. He was at the office at 9:30 as requested. Grandpa said, "I think Alex is going to do good." 

Alex said my voice was ringing in his ears as he took his test. "Put your tail on the line!"  Michael said he nailed the parallel parking on the first try.  He went on to pass the driving test with flying colors. 

The funny thing is  I was taking Allie to work about 15 min after Alex's test began. He passed me two or three times as I dropped her off, picked up a drink, and headed home. LOL  He looked cool and collected and was driving well. 

The first graduate of our CURRENT batch of students at the  driving school. ::snort:: Two to go.....