The Saturday 7

1. My sister, Niki, recently went to part-time at work so she can help with the childcare for her granddaughter (Nova), and it has ushered us into a fun new phase. You've heard me gush about how fun it is that my kids finally have some cousins close to their age. And now that Niki's home 3 days a week, all 3 of us sisters can get together with our kids/grandkids! We kicked it off this week with a trip to the zoo. I had Ruby, so between us we had 6 kids - practically a zoo of our own! Haha. 

The zoo has a Lego exhibit going right now. There were all kinds of amazing animal creations like this lion.

It was princess day! 

That's a real tiger eyeing Levi and Nash. Terrifying.

Penguins

We made the mistake of doing the iconic John Ball statue picture on our way out when all the kids were hot, tired, and done. Haha. Lesson learned.

2. I stumbled across the book Virgin River recently, and then discovered there's a Netflix series based on it. There are actually like 20 books in the series. I've read the first 6 or so. The first one was definitely the best (and they all have some rated R material that I flip past, so fair warning). The rest start to feel a little repetitive. Anyway, I binged the Netflix series this week, and was so annoyed at how different the show is than the books! And I can't stand the actor they chose for the leading man! The perils of watching something based on a book, I guess. Honestly, the show itself wasn't that great. The acting is a little cheesy and the plot is a little slow. It's kind of a combination of When Calls the Heart and Hart of Dixie (the same actor even plays a Dr. in Virgin River and Hart of Dixie).

3. I have been having terrible back pain this week. It randomly comes and goes. Last time it was this bad, I finally broke down and went to physical therapy. Of course, then Covid hit and I stopped going. This time I think I'm going to try the chiropractor. There are two within a mile of my house, so I'm hoping that at least one of them takes my insurance or will work with me. I can't keep living like this. Picking up my house or making dinner totally kills me and I have to spend the rest of the day on the couch! This morning I woke up in agony before I even did anything! I really need to go get groceries, but I can't stand to be on my feet that long. Ugh. #34goingon84 

4. When I got my hair cut last week, I asked my stylist if she had any advice for dealing with Lucy's hair. After I explained it, Julie said that she would tackle the beast, so I called this week and made her an appointment. As a sidenote, the girls have been obsessed with looking at old pictures this week. They keep showing me pics from years ago and I've been shocked at how straight Lucy's hair used to be! I remember taking her in for a haircut when she was probably 5 and the stylist said, "she's got curls on the underside of her hair. She's going to have curly hair." I was so excited! Little did I know 5 years later it would look like this:

That section in the back is just as long as the front part, but it's completely matted into that nasty mass. It is so thick and impenetrable that I'm pretty sure animals could be living in it and we wouldn't even know. *shudder* Anyway, her appointment is on Monday. Julie said, "I can get her in at 10:45, but I have to leave by 2" so apparently she expects it to take a while. Honestly, it's a life lesson for Lucy. The reason it got this bad in the first place is because she went through a very rough phase of refusing to shower and/or brush her hair. I let it go so she could face the natural consequences. But we will never be doing that again. Wish Julie luck for Monday! Haha. And stay tuned for the after pics.

5. Levi generously shared his sickness with Lena this week. And then it moved on to Nova and Nash. So obviously we suck at quarantine and social distancing. Although it's funny because both of my girls told me at separate times, "I haven't been sick in a long time." I said, "Yeah, guys, because we've been quarantining and sanitizing - and so has the rest of the world." Haha. Amazing how that works. So far Ruby, Lucy, and us adults have avoided it, but I feel like it's coming for me any minute.

6. I think I've mentioned before that the house we currently live in is directly next door to the one that Justin grew up in. When he was a kid, the street was a dead end, and he and his siblings roamed the neighborhood playing with all the other kids. When we bought this house, Justin's dad asked numerous times if our kids were making friends with the neighbor kids and I kept insisting that there aren't that many kids on our street. The houses on either side of us are old people with no kids. A couple houses to the south is a family with teenagers. A couple houses to the north is a grandma who occasionally has her 6 year old grandson over. But we're not very sociable, we don't hang out outside that often, and we rarely see any other kids outside either, so my kids have never played with the neighbor kids since we moved here over a year ago. At least until this week. 

One day, Lena and Levi were outside riding their bikes when another boy rode up beside them. He started chatting it up with them and the next thing I knew they were all on the trampoline in our backyard. I kept an eye on them, but was more concerned that his parents didn't know where he was than anything. The next day the same thing happened. Only this time, he asked to come inside our house. We were just sitting down to dinner, so I said no. But he came back an hour later. Finally, I asked him how old he was (8), and told him to go ask his parents if he could come inside. He came back a few minutes later saying, "My dad said it's fine!" I was honestly shocked. He told me which house he lives in. I've obviously driven by it a thousand times, but it's probably 5 houses down from ours, so I've never talked to the people who live there. They've never met me. They know nothing about our family. But they're willing to let their 8 year old come in our house without a care in the world?? I let him in, but kept a pretty close eye on him. Then today a little girl came riding down the sidewalk with him: his six year old sister. Again, they played outside for a while, the boy went down the street to a different neighbor's house, and the girl asked to come in. Again, I sent her home to ask permission, and she came skipping back saying it was fine. Who lets their six year old daughter go play at a stranger's house??

She was here for two hours before her brother came back to ask about her. I thought he'd tell her she needed to go home, but no, he was just looking for her. She went home for lunch and came right back. It seriously boggles my mind. She's very polite, has been kind to my kids and respectful to me. She even offered to help clean up in Lena's room. But in this day and age, I can't believe there are still parents out there that don't have "stranger danger." I don't consider myself especially overprotective. I let my kids go to sleepovers. They play in the front yard unsupervised. But I would never let my kid wander the neighborhood and go in anyone's backyard - let alone their house!! What are your family's rules?

7. Pics

Up close and personal with the construction equipment down our street (after hours)

Nova levitating

A whole train of kids in the pool

Lena got out of the pool one day saying, "my tooth hurts." It is soooooo loose that it's just dangling there and randomly bleeding, but she refuses to pull it out!

Thanks for the ice cream, Grandpa!