Here is the mental images I will have of remote learning for the last year plus: each of my kids on their beds with a laptop and a napping cat.

After our twelve-hour adventure Mother’s Day, I was ready to spend Sunday tearing apart the failed water feature and begin the 2.0 version. Enter sledgehammer…and really cute husband to help me move 300# rock.

Wes was still grumping from the long Saturday when he didn’t get to play any video games, and had to walk instead. And there was pretty much nothing on my plate he liked eating. But I thought it was perfect! Dwayne and Piper cooked dinner and then Piper made lava cakes for dessert.

I’m not nearly done yet but I’ve made some improvement. Project on!

I wanted to celebrate my mom by doing what I desired, which this year was to take my parents to Bainbridge Island for the day. Fortunately, my parents are spontaneous, adventurous and tolerant!

The goal was Bloedel Reserve, but first, we fortified ourselves at the creperie in Kingston.

We made it to the Reserve just with seconds to spare for our timed entry. My parents hadn’t been there before, and our only time was last November for my birthday. Oddly, the weather in mid-May was almost as nice as that weekend last November. Oh, Puget Sound, you amuse me.

I love this place! So many different ecosystems and plenty of wild flowers and formal gardens. The main house is still not open to visitors, but we did see a frog in the marsh, so there’s that.

The problem with Wes and my relationship is that the things I like best (stories, adventures, physical activity, and working outside) are the very things that make Wes most grumpy. Try to decipher this from his expression.

Piper usually just can’t expend enough energy to be grumpier than Whiney Wesley, so Happy Mother’s Day to Mom and Me!

This was not supposed to be the highlight, but after Bloedel, we drove to Poulsbo, and walked around the cute town just a bit before we got a table at The Loft, a restaurant that checks all the boxes for Dwayne. It was the first time we ate at a restaurant in a long time, but with three of the adults fully vaccinated, one mostly vaxed, and kids who are safe enough, we got to play cribbage over drinks, split appetizers and a bottle of wine, and get seven forks for three desserts (no blood was drawn, even over the cheesecake).

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What a delightful day! I adore my parents and being a parent myself. Now, on to Father’s Day.