Thankful Tuesday

1. It's SPRING! Winter is my least favorite season. It not only officially became spring on March 20, but the weather turned nicer that day. Milo and I have logged a little more than 21 miles total over the past four days! Yesterday I took one walk with Oliver after I got home from Ian's orthodontist appointment, and then I took a walk with Nadia after dinner. Today Oliver rode his bike while Milo and I walked to the playground in our town that is the farthest from our house. We'll probably take the day off tomorrow because it's supposed to be cooler and rainy, but it's supposed to get up to 72 degrees on Thursday!! Getting exercise and fresh air on a pretty day is a balm to my soul.

2. Millie's knee replacement surgery went well on Friday. 

3. I tried a new recipe today - Swedish Apple Oatmeal Pie. If you like apple crisp, I suggest you give this recipe a try! Nadia and I thought it was delicious. 

4. Paul and I were able to watch a recorded Zoom performance of Nancy Blue, Girl Detective this weekend. Nadia was one of the members of the cast.

5. We've finally gotten into a good habit of playing games together as a family at least once each weekend - usually Saturday afternoon.

6. We enjoyed watching Sight and Sound's production of Samson. The kids and I finished it this morning. Yesterday we tried waiting until Paul got home so that he could continue watching it with us, but considering he got home a little after 9pm and Oliver usually goes to bed at 8:30, we couldn't wait for him. We aren't going to see any productions at Sight and Sound this year, but they are going to do a new show in 2022 and will be revealing what it will be on April 2. We are curious, and we're hoping to attend the new show in 2022! 

7. Although our absence greatly distressed Milo, we enjoyed a play date at a friend's house on Friday afternoon.

8. The earliest Milo has gotten up since the time change was 7:15 (today). Every other day he woke up at 7:30, and prior to the time change he had been getting up at 6:45 almost every day. 

That doesn't look very comfortable, Milo! What a goofball!

9. I'm thankful I was able to play a flute solo at FBC on March 14.  I miss playing my flute and appreciated the invitation.

10. We enjoyed our virtual Chick-Fil-A tour on March 18 and learned about the history of the company.

11. The kids were thankful to be able to participate in an egg hunt for the first time in two years at the Alliance Church on March 20. Most egg hunts have been cancelled for the second year in a row so we aren't taking it for granted.

That looks a lot more comfortable, Milo!

12. In January 2020 I purchased a membership to Six Flags thinking we'd visit five different Six Flags parks. Two of the ones I thought we'd visit never opened in 2020 due to COVID, and we couldn't cross the border into Canada for La Ronde. We did make it to two Six Flags parks a few times last year (MD and NJ). I saw recently that three parks that didn't open at all in 2020 are opening in May 2021! Although we stopped paying for our membership a few months ago, we were given extra months this year due to the closures last year. So I'm hoping that in May- July we'll visit the one in Maryland again (just because my sister's family lives near there and they also have a season pass) and also visit up to three Six Flags parks that we've never been to before  - two in New York (one near Buffalo and the other near Lake George) and one in Massachusetts.  Now if more National Parks would open up - not just out west but even in New York. I recently pushed our plans to see the Blue Angels to 2022 because of COVID so it's nice to contemplate making some new plans to visit some amusement parks for the first time in light of cancelling so many other plans over the last year. 

13. Oliver is finally reading chapter books independently! He probably could have started sooner than he did, but I really enjoyed having him read aloud while sitting on my lap. He's currently reading books from the Dragon Masters series. Speaking of books, the kids have all been enjoying the Frog Princess series by E. D. Baker. We're almost done with the third book in that series.