So it’s been a while. I took a couple weeks to get that last post up. It’s been pretty chaotic. Before we really get started, HAPPY PRIDE! We’re not doing much to celebrate this year. Work schedules aren’t lining up with local events, but we’re still celebrating in our ow small ways.
I was sick for a little less than a week, and I was absolutely drained… but the worst part of it was the worst sore throat I’ve had in a long time. I was taking ibuprofen around the clock, because the pain was waking me up in the middle of the night. I ended up going to urgent care for it (which says a lot for me, I tend to just try to let things ride out when possible) but everything came back negative, and it went away on its own a couple days later and I was cleared to do my usual activities.
Last weekend, my wife and I went out to eat to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We went back to the Maggiano’s location we’ve been able to eat at safely. This was our first trip without the whole crew, as my wife’s mom and sibling were babysitting the kids. We had side Italian salads to start, leaving cheese and dressing off mine, and croutons off both. I was pretty bummed that all the dressings there were made with soy, but I was able to use olive oil and seasonings to make my own dressing. We both ordered steak (which they cook without butter for me), and asparagus. I also had broccoli, while she got mashed potatoes (a no for me because of dairy). The sous chef at the Annapolis Mall location, Joel, is fantastic at accommodating our allergies. He even remembered that someone in our usual dining party has a severe capsicum allergy and made sure to check with us that that peppers were okay for us, as there’s peppers in the salads we orders. For dessert, I got strawberries with a strawberry sauce and powdered sugar – it’s not on the menu, but it’s something the manager here suggested for me last time, and it is absolutely delicious. My wife ordered her favorite dessert, creme brulee. After we ate, we went on a short walk to the Container Store. I was in heaven. I loved all the different products and color coding systems. I was able to price out a couple products I need for my kitchen, found a potential replacement for our old IKEA laundry system (which is starting to slowly break down and parts are no longer sold for it), and found some really cool LEGO storage for the middle kid’s bedroom that we’re looking at for his birthday.
We had our usual playground homeschool meetup this week, and I was super proud of the kids. The older kids did fantastic with my youngest. A group of them took turns spinning with him around on the merry-go-round. My middle kid, who is very hesitant about new people and experiences, is starting to warm up to the other kids. He invited a couple of them to play with him when they were feeling left out, and when a kid who wasn’t with our group was being unkind to one of the kids he stepped in and asked the child to apologize for hurting his friend’s feelings. It was a super awesome mom moment for me, because this kid has usually struggled in situations with other kids, preferring to play by himself, but this was a whole different situation and he absolutely lit up playing with the other kids.
We also checked out a new playground this week too. Another parent invited us to Watkins Regional Park, near Washington DC. This park is really well known in the area and features a Wizard of Oz themed playground, but we’d never been as it’s a bit of a hike from our area. We also learned that there’s an antique carousel, train, mini-golf and a bunch of other things there that were completely unexpected. My wife took the youngest to the Nature Center while the big kids stayed with me. The oldest hung out with a few of her friends, and the middle kid (who I’d hoped would meet some new kids his age) stuck by himself. He was really overwhelmed – I’d forgotten to pack his blockers, and there was a big field trip group there that was really loud. When the school group left, he played a little on the swings, but was also disappointed that there wasn’t a big climbing structure like he was hoping for.
I’ve also gotten back into Pokemon Go recently. I spun some Pokestops while we were at the mall for the anniversary dinner, and I’ve done some Pokemon searching while at the playground for our homeschool meetups. I had gotten out of it for the better part of a year because I was getting really frustrated with trying to beat Giovanni and never winning. But finally last week, I did it! After spending a few days really focusing on powering up my Sylveon and a couple of my other strong Pokemon, I beat Giovanni, and I don’t feel so stuck any more. My middle kid has been playing with me, and we’ve gone on a couple short walks in the evening when it’s cooler out to see who we can catch. It’s been really fun spending time like this with him, with lots of high fives and “check this out!” moments.
Access the Mouse 