Stinkin'

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Things accomplished today: biked 30 miles (with Janie Penfield Rasmussen), loaded onto the trailer and then unloaded at the dump the enormous pile of wood that was the remains of our back deck (removed on Saturday), went to Costco and the grocery store with Brandt and Brick along for company, vacuumed and mopped the main floor of the house after tidying up much debris lying around, made delicious dinner, had family home evening, read a chapter of Harry Potter to Brandt.

Thing not accomplished today: having a shower.

I'm stinkin' up the joint.

Beginnings or The Before Pictures

We had had a wooden deck attached to the back of our house.  It was not maintained during the years our house was a rental so it has looked horrible since we moved in.  In addition, it was a bad height--too high to comfortably climb on and off of comfortably.  It needed one more step, or something.  We haven't liked it and have been talking about what to do instead.

Yesterday our neighbors began the excavation of their new home and so there is an enormous pile of dirt in the empty lot across the street.  We know the guy who is doing the excavating and he told Kent we could have as much of the dirt as we wanted.  So Kent said to me yesterday, "What could we do with a bunch of topsoil?"  I mentioned that we would need a bunch of dirt to fill in under where the deck has been when we removed it to bring it up to the level of the grass, and Kent said, "Well, maybe I'll start working on removing the deck tomorrow."

Secretly, just between you and me, I was delighted.  I really want to make big changes in the backyard, but the first step really needs to be the deck change.  We want to put in a paver patio.  I have been unable to find someone to even come out and give us a bid on how much it would cost to have the work done for us, so we may end up doing it ourselves which will save us a lot of money but will probably be a big challenge.  We've had grass torn up in the front yard for a year now waiting for a paver path to be laid, and that hasn't happened yet, but perhaps I need to be more positive about it happening.

Anyway, today we deconstructed the deck.  We began by trying to unscrew all the screws and remove each plank, but the screws were not cooperating and both Kent and I were getting really frustrated.  Then Kent realized we were making it more difficult than it needed to be and got out the electric hand saw.  He cut through the boards along the underneath supports and the whole thing came apart quite nicely.  It was a big job, we encountered spiders and all sorts of garbage, but by the end of the afternoon, we were deckless and the space underneath was tidied up and ready for the next step.  We do have a HUGE pile of wood in the driveway next to the garage, but Monday morning I'll get a trailer and haul it all to the dump.

Hooray for project progress!

These are the before pictures.

Boring, non-maintained, slightly too high deck.

 

These are the after pictures.

No more deck, only three huge concrete pilings we aren't sure what to do with or how to remove.

We may rent a jackhammer, we may ask our neighbor to come over with his tractor and smash them,

we may look for a skidsteer in the neighborhood we can appropriate for an hour and break them up.

The stuff along the house isn't entirely finished either, but we'd been working for like five hours and we were tired.

Really, really tired.

And hot.

Really, really hot.

This is the pile of wood from the deck.

Not only that, but the people who lived here before us had a bunch of barn wood stored under the deck.

It had largely rotten and had all sorts of nasty critters living underneath it.

We killed three back widows (they give me the heebie-jeebies).

I should have taken the time to go get the trailer today so we could load the wood directly into it,

but I didn't so Monday morning I'll have to deal with this all over again.

But it's going away, which makes me happy!

We Hike to the Y

I've wanted to take the kids to hike to the Y for some time now, and today I decided we should go.  It was slightly overcast, not too hot, and a day with nothing on the schedule.  We got up, I made the kids a good breakfast, and then, inspite of an awful lot of whining, we hoped in the car to go hike.  Both Brandt and Blythe said they didn't want to go, they were staying home, they wouldn't do it no matter what, but Kent went to work and they are too young to stay home by themselves, so they got in the car in the end and came along.

By the time we got to the trailhead, they were excited and ready to go.  The hike is hard; it's steep and climbs without break.  There are twelve switchbacks, and very little shade.  I told the kids we would go slow, we weren't in a hurry, we were just going to enjoy the hike.  We took a break at almost every switchback, had a drink, looked at the view, and caught our breath.  Then we began again, going slowly all along.

In just under an hour, we had made it to the Y.  It is steep and a bit scary, but Brandt and Blythe were both so pleased with themselves that they had made it.  We called Kent to say we were at the top, and Brandt asked if he could see us from work, eight miles away across the valley.  Brandt waved his arms wildly so Kent could see him better.  We crawled around on the Y, Blythe hunted for roly polys, and we had the snacks I had packed to see us through. We tried to see our house through the trees, we pointed out the rec center, Grandma Sue's office building, three temples, the lake, and the kids' school next to our church.

The return hike was good.  We went lots faster down than up.  We didn't have to stop at every switchback, but we did take our time.  I worried about Brandt enthusiastically racing ahead then falling and hurting himself, but we all arrived at the bottom unscathed.  About fifty yards from the parking lot, when we could clearly see the end, Blythe said to me, "Mom, will you carry me?"  She had been looking down at the ground to see where she was going, so I told her to look up and see where we were.  She was surprised we had made it to the end, and I was glad I didn't have to carry her.

As a reward for being such great hikers, we stopped and got a snow cone on the way home.  It was refreshingly cool after our long but lovely hike.

Brandt saw a bus and was pointing it out to Blythe.

 

Provo and environs from way high up

At the top, the very top, of the Y.

The kids were panicked we were going to fall backwards and roll all the way down the Y.

I held on to them.

We all had our hats on in the first picture. 

I thought our faces were obscured so I had the nice guy take another picture.

Same people, same view, no hats.

If you look really carefully, you can see our house from here.

If you live in north Utah County, you can probably see your house too.

I like how this looks like they are sitting on snow.

Really warm snow.

 Happy Y hikers 

Gardening

Back in March we planted the beginnings of our garden in the garden spot we had worked so hard to create last year.  Around Mother's Day we finished planting, adding tomato plants, a zucchini and yellow squash plant (one each), two cucumbers, some herbs, and several rows of green beans.  When we left for our trip to Lafayette and Chicago, we programmed the sprinklers and left our plants, hoping everything would survive.

We were astonished upon our return to find our plants all huge and thriving.  There seemed to have been an explosion of growth.  Everything looks fantastic.  Our tomatoes are waist high, we've harvested zucchini and yellow squash, the tomato plants have tomatoes and blossoms all over them, the herbs are huge, and the lettuces are going to seed because they are so abundant we can't eat them fast enough.  We have tried to garden in grow boxes and pots with very little success, so to have everything doing so beautifully well is a pleasure, a really delicious pleasure.

Zucchini, tomatoes above with

cucumbers, herbs, leafy greens, beans, peas, and carrots below.

Hooray for green growing things!

Today's haul:

lettuce, zucchini and squash, and peas (to shell).

I could have harvested five times that much lettuce, but we won't eat that much at dinner.

Concerts in the Park

We love the June Sunday evening concerts in the park.  We love the music, we love sitting out under the trees, we love being together at such a fun venue.  And we love seeing people we know, like Craig and Monica or neighbors or long-time-no-see friends we fortuitously encounter there in the park.  We wish the concerts were every Sunday in the summer, not just June.

Utah Premier Brass, an English brass band

Fellow concert attenders

Brandt, Kent, Blythe, Craig, Monica, Mary (Monica's mom), and Sue (my mom)

I was sitting in the blue chair.

We are all eating popcorn.

A Cherry Party

Today we had a yard sale.  I've been cleaning stuff out of the basement, trying to organize and rearrange with the end goal of finishing the basement (perhaps next year).  We didn't make a lot of money, but we did sell some things and the rest we hauled to DI which made me oh so happy.  Really, just having it out of the house and the garage was wonderful.  I'm trying to lighten up.

The children were very good about participating, in fact, Blythe had a whole table of little toys and things she was selling for 25 cents each.  She made about four dollars.  I have spent the past three days, since our return from our trip, making preparations, and the kids have been good about letting me work.  I promised them we could go swimming at Grandma Sue's as soon as the garage sale was finished, and so we all went over for a dip.  We took along our neighbors, Jarom, Sarah, and Sam Oyler.  It was cool and refreshing and fun to play in the water.

My mom has a cherry tree in her yard and all the kids wanted cherries.  They picked as we swam, but then as we were preparing to go, they wanted to pick some to take.  Mom got them two grocery bags and they picked and picked and picked until both were full.  Upon our return home, they informed us they were going to have a cherry party.  Preparations for said party were minimal and the activities fairly low key.  We washed all the fruit and set it out in a big bowl with a second bowl for pits and made black cherry Kool-Aid.  The kids got out white paper plates which they colored (cherry themed pictures), and they played Hi-Ho Cherry-O.  They ate the enormous bowl of cherries and Kent and I were certain they would be sick most of the evening, but their digestive systems seemed unscathed.  Voila!  A cherry party.

A sinkful of cherries.

Cherry Party Attendees

Blythe, Sarah, Jaroom, Sam, Brandt

Pie

Today was the last day of our mid-west trip.  Our flight didn't leave until about 3:00, meaning we didn't have to leave for the airport until about 1:00, and so we had a morning free.  Alisa had been in charge of food for youth conference and had brought back a box of apples, about half full.  She wasn't sure what to do with them all, so I suggested we made apple pie she could freeze.  With more than one person preparing, the work goes quickly.  She agreed that would be great, so after breakfast and making sure all our stuff was packed, Alisa and I made pie.  

I did crust while Alisa peeled and cut apples.  When I make pie at home, I use my food processor to make the crust so it takes about two minutes from start to finish to whip a crust together.  I also have an apple corer/peeler/slicer that makes apple prep super fast too.  Alisa didn't have those kitchen tools, so we our work by hand.  Even so, we were able to make seven pies, six to freeze and one to eat, with enough time to bake and eat one before we left.  I find it tremendously satisfying to be so productive in such a short amount of time, and I might have convinced Alisa to get a food processor.  

Yum!

Our flight home was uneventful.  The flight wasn't too long, the children were good, and Mikayla came to pick us up.  I find it so fun to go away on vacation and have new and interesting experiences, and then I find it so delightful to return home.  And we returned to find that the tomato plants had exploded in the ten days we were gone and were nearly up to my waist.  Hooray for travel!

As I have actually written this post in September, I would like to add that the children talk about going back to see the Brinkerhofferschofferdos regularly.  Most of them weren't there when we were, and they want to go back when we can all be together.  A trip to Chicago and Lafayette may need to become an annual pilgrimage.

The Field Museum

We had to return our rental car this morning but planned on spending the day in Chicago, so we took the train into the city.  It was a commuter train with an upper level on each car (too cool!), and so we sat up above and watched the suburbs whoosh by and we went in.  The kids loved it.  It took about an hour because of the stops, but it was certain stress-free and even funner than being in the car.  

We planned on going to the Field Museum, a natural history museum filled with lots of dead stuffed animals.  We were able to catch a bus from the train station that let us off right in front of the museum, and the riding of the bus was super fun too.  Ah! Public transportation.  It's always a treat for our non-public transportation riding children.  I am pleased to report that the cost of the museum (usually very high) was free because of an annual pass I bought to Thanksgiving Point and a nation-wide agreement with similar museums.  It made the pass totally worth it.  

These two pictures were taken across the street from the museum in a little park.

We ended up spending most of the day in the museum.  It is very large with lots of exhibits, and we also saw a 3-D movie about the ice age.  The Field Museum has the most complete skeleton of a T-Rex, man-eating lions from Africa, an Egyptian exhibit with quite a few mummies, and several special exhibits.  We were shrunk for an underground exhibit where we saw giant bugs, and walked through and exhibit about bodies and how they work.  The children liked most of it and only wished they could have spent a lot of money in the museum store.

Blythe is "asleep" on an Egyptian bed.

Shrunken children only half an inch tall.

Ready to wander around under ground.

Clinging to a root.

In a bug pupa, or something.

Not a good picture, followed by what could have been a better picture

if someone had actually been looking at me.

Horribly disgusting spider automaton.

It freaked us all out.

While in the underground exhibit, we learned that earwigs are excellent mothers, very attentive for insects. 

Didn't make me like one tiny bit more.

The Field Museum has a whole section devoted to children with lots of hands-on activities.  It's called the PlayLab.  There is an art center where you can create cards with stamps and markers, there is a percussion section, an adobe house, lots of bones and shells and others bits you can touch and handle and learn about, animal costumes, a place to dig for fossils, plus masks and other fun things on the walls.

The children had a great time in this part of the museum.  Blythe colored, Brandt stomped, and together they planted, harvested, and made corn soup in and around the adobe house.  Kent and I jammed on the percussion, and we all had a short rest before launching into the final exhibit before heading for home.  

That's Blythe in there.

Kent drumming

There were other kids in the adobe house, but mine were in charge of the play.

Brandt especially was directing corn and soup production, although Blythe held her own too.

The other children allowed themselves to be swept up in the somewhat frenzied activity.

These last pictures are of the bodies exhibit, The Machine Inside: Biomachanics, about movement in bodies.  There were machines that simulated the bite of a crocodile, the leap of a kangaroo, the heart of a giraffe, and the wings of a bird.  It was almost totally hands-on and the children really liked it.  Kent and I really liked it too.  We adults could have spent a lot more time there, if we hadn't had the children.

Blythe and Brandt are propelling themselves in circles on a swivel chair using a wing.

Can you tell who's having a pout in this picture?

We got on a bus headed for the train station to catch one of two trains.  One went about 20 minutes earlier than the next and didn't make as many stops, meaning the return trip would be shorter than the going.  Thing was, it was going to be tight time wise.  As we went along in the bus, I told Kent I didn't think we should try and make it because it would mean running frantically along the sidewalk and through the train station.  But then, the closer we got to the train station, the more I didn't want to be hanging around with the kids trying to figure out what to do with ourselves, so we got off, I grabbed Blythe's hand, and we started running.  Kent grabbed Brandt and followed.  We dashed into the station and down steps, found the platform and ran towards the train.  I saw the conductor just getting on to the train signalling they could be on their way, but I gave a shout and he held up departure so we could get on.  It was a close run thing.

We made the train but discovered that it was absolutely packed.  There were here and there an empty chair, but not more than that.  We hopped on the last carriage car, so we began walking towards the front.  We went through many cars before we came to one that even had four empty places, and none of them were together.  I said to Kent that we should just sit apart, but Brandt and Blythe didn't want to.  I stood at the end of the car and knelt down to explain to Brandt that we were not going to find four seats together because we got on the train so late, but two men sitting in a foursome seat overheard us and kindly and graciously offered us their seats and went to sit in single seats elsewhere.  I was very touched by that generous act.

Alisa picked us up at the train station.  When we had first arrived, I told her that I wanted to buy a particular brand of sausage while we were there, a brand they used to carry at Costco but didn't anymore.  She had bought eight packages for me, and a couple extra we could have for dinner that night.  We had a lovely bit of pasta with sausage, salad, and bread.  

After the kids were in bed, Kent, Alisa, Ethan, and I watched a movie.  Kent and I so rarely watch films, it was fun to munch on popcorn while watching an exciting action film.  It was a good day from beginning to end.