Weekly Wrap- Up: The Week We Went on our First Kayak Ride of the Year

May 19, 2017

It has been such a weird week. We started the week with rain, clouds, pants and sweatshirts and ended the week with temperatures in the mid to upper 90's! So we took advantage of the nice weather and headed out for a kayak ride, a day at the beach and a fun day of playing in the lake.

Friday the boys finished up school and we set up a plan to finish all of their books within the next month. Alec put together a strawberry and a vanilla cake; making both from scratch in the hopes of making a Neapolitan cake for Mother's day. Alec and I also worked on making some melted bead sun catchers for the garden.

The younger boys had two jobs to do on Saturday; check on their grandmother's cats and return soda cans. They were both thrilled to have an opportunity to earn some extra cash. They also tried to help their older brother clean up their great grandfather's yard but rain, broken equipment, and time were just not on their side. Alec came home and finished up his cake; making up some yummy chocolate frosting and trying his hand at cake decorating.

Sunday the boys showered me with gifts and love. I got some new flowers for our patio, some nail polish and a cute bracelet set along with some chocolates and a few gift cards for dining out. I didn't have to lift one finger all day and even had an amazing steak dinner made for me by my wonderful husband. We had invited my mother and step father for dinner and afterwards Ian asked to play Uno and Trivia Crack.

My new flowers

The Neapolitan cake; fresh strawberry cake, vanilla cake and chocolate frosting.

It was raining, once again on Monday and the younger boys needed me to drive them to their grandmother's cottage so they could take care of the cats. One home we settled in and finished up a bunch of schoolwork. By lunch we were all done and all of us had found 30 minutes to exercise. The rain stopped so we spent some time outside in the afternoon. We have so many flowers that are finally starting to bloom! After dinner Ian helped his father do some wiring in our shed. He was a big help.

Tuesday the sun was shining and I just knew I wanted to spend the afternoon outside. The boys finished all of their schoolwork before karate and as soon as were done with our lunch we headed out for a kayak and canoe trip. We paddled around the lake a bit, enjoying the relaxation. It was our first trip of the season! We then re-potted some plants and spent a bit of time outside; until all the caterpillar welts and itchyness sent us scurrying inside.

We had planned to meet up with my sister and some friends at the beach on Wednesday. The temperatures were supposed to get into the mid to upper 80's! After a quick morning of schoolwork we packed our bags and headed out. It was low tide when we got there and the kids all found themselves in the water for most of the day. Unfortunately, I got rather burned (even after using three applications of sunscreen!) added to the bug bites and itchy welts from the day before and I was quite miserable all night. But the wonderful day at the beach was totally worth it!

Ian dug a hole complete with seats and cup holders!

By the end of the afternoon the cup holders were turned into a huge tunnel system

Thursday morning I headed out early to get some grocery shopping done. The boys worked on their schoolwork and did their chores. My sister came up with her two boys. The kids swam for a bit and found a baby turtle. They headed inside for a late lunch and spent most of the afternoon inside. Once my sister left for the night we headed to the pet store, Target and out to dinner.