Mid Summer-life

Sean's birthday is always a landmark of summer.  July 31 means summer is almost over, and you'd better get the rest of your summer party plans done!

 For Sean's birthday, we went on an exciting date.  We spent several hours in the DMV to get his license renewed (reading side by side, while waiting for you number to be called can be very romantic!)  then fun stop to a game shop to try out a new board game, and back to the DMV to finish the license process due to a computer glitch.

DMV Birthday Fun!

We celebrated with the kids at home, with a carrot cake, topped by sprinkles ala Ephraim.  The candles are arranged for 5 on one side, and 1 on the other (51).

I started up our homeschool in August, and dug out "Paddle to the Sea" by Holling C. Holling  to read with both kids.   We are reading two pages a day, and doing activities or watching youtube videos about the topics covered.  It is a fun adventure story of a little carved wooden canoe, that gets launched in Canada, and makes it's way through the Great Lakes to the sea.  (Geography adventure lessons.)

Here we are, launching our own popcicle stick canoes, down a creek, under a a bridge and through a culvert to see who wins on the other side.

Sylvia also took some cool water photos on that outing.

The end of July also gave us flat tires and a retaining wall that toppled over onto the sidewalk.   (In case you thought our life was entirely a bed of roses.)   Sean was amazing in sorting out the retaining wall problem.  If you arm him with tools and youtube videos, he can do anything!

The tumbled down wall...

Sean, chipping the old mortar off each block.

The heat and humidity were brutal.  Sean had to dig the dirt back several inches, and haul it to a pile in our backyard before he could start prepping the lower level of stones.  Each stone weighed around 300 pounds!  It took several days, a lot of backs aches, and couple of dollies to get them moved.

Sean gearing up to attack the wall.. again.

Once the site and the stones were prepped, Sean mixed up cement, and started re-stacking the blocks.

It has been a multi-week project.  The mortar can't get wet for a couple of days after it is put on, so keeping an eye on the weather was key for scheduling the different steps.  The finished wall is amazing.  No cracks, even and straight blocks.. it looks amazing! 

Mattias also came home from his summer internship at Cornell, so he was able to help with parts of the process.   Mostly, Mattias studies and bikes. Ephraim was so excited to show him he could bike without training wheels!

  We have gone on lots of bike rides because of this.

Which is good.. because whenever Mattias comes home, my butter supply vanishes, and things like full cream are requested from the store. Here is delicious an off-the-cuff-Mattias-dessert creation with creme pat, homemade jam, and candied almonds.

 It is fun to see what he creates in the kitchen, and good that we are biking at least some of it off!