what's up weekly (and Laurelai turned seven!).

What's up, party people.

I only have a few items of note this week, but they're BIG items of note.

First, we are continuing to party like it's 2020, which means CoronaSaturdays at the park (#covidcares).  This week we ate gourmet food overlooking the.most.picturesque. view - we sat high on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River at Golden Hour, and could see trees and farmland for literally miles around.  It was indescribably beautiful, and photos of it just seem so lifeless compared to the reality.  Also, in true Missouri fashion, this particularly scenic area is called "Boone's Lick."

The kids have spent their playground time perfecting their monkey bar form.  Penelope is really getting it, Rocco is really not, and Juniper hasn't even tried because she's too busy looking like a perfect park angel to bother herself with trivial feats of physical prowess.

We hit the week running, trying to get as much schoolwork in as possible before leaving on Wednesday to head up to Iowa for a few days.  With Todd working remotely now, we decided to spend a few more days than we typically do, since he can work from anywhere.  So we drove up Wednesday night.  On Thursday, I took the kids over to my sister's in the morning, and we played Clue and spent some time outside in the afternoon.

Juni discovered the joy of swinging.

On Friday, my mom and I took the kids to a nearby park where they played on the playground, waded in the lake, and many of them got to experience peeing in the woods when they suddenly realized they hadn't gone potty before we left.  (Park bathrooms freak me out, so I'd much rather just let them find a private spot to pee in the grass.)

Saturday was full of fun - first and foremost, this perfect, precious, tiny girl of mine turned seven.  

She is just the sweetest thing, always looking out for others and looking for ways to serve.  She loves hard, and hugs harder.  She has a funny giggle that sounds like "kkk-kkk-kkk-kkk."  She has a tender conscience, and hates to let anyone down.  She is whip-smart, and has taught herself an entire year's worth of math without help.  She has listened to The Mouse and the Motorcycle on audiobook no less than ten times.  She loves telling jokes, and is the best bed-maker in the house.  She is a magpie, storing literally everything that has ever held value at some time in the distant past, might possibly hold value in the distant future, or, on the flipside, that is so inherently valueless that it's pitiable, which then makes it valuable.  She has the heart of Christ toward all the worthy and unworthy junk in this house.  She is a fast runner, which makes sense because she's fueled by all the candy that she loves so much.  She is beautiful and fun and pocket-sized, and we couldn't love her more.

Back to Saturday news, my brother-in-law was also kind enough to take family photos for us, and I will share those with you soon.

After that, we came home to celebrate Laurelai's birthday with a whole day of "her."  She chose donuts for breakfast, and then grilled cheese and Spaghetti-O's for lunch.  For her llama-themed birthday party, she requested that Penelope bake her a cake with Skittles on top.

Penelope saved up her money to splurge on this sweet jewelry box for Laurelai's birthday - something that she knew she has been longing for.  Lolo has filled it with 'treasures' already, including the ripped styrofoam padding from an empty ring box.  #luxe

Somewhere in there, Juniper fell in love with this Coke bottle, and from then on, the only way to get her to go to sleep without crying was to let her cuddle it in her crib.

Todd didn't know it at the time, but he captured on film the moment Juniper fell in love for the first time.

After naps, we headed to my sister's house for dinner.  While the grownups chatted, the kids had a blast pretending to drive a pickup (Atticus' dreeeeeam), blowing bubbles, and doing a bunch of yardwork.  Kids are weird.

These cousinsisters were thick as very cute thieves.

On Sunday morning, we made the drive back home, and basically collapsed into bed the moment we walked in the door.  We had a popcorn party for dinner, and then hit the hay again in preparation for Monday. 

And since then, life has been pretty uneventful.  Catching up on last week's missed schoolwork, resting, cleaning, and making the world's most beautiful loaf of sourdough bread that I forgot to photograph (doh!).

Whew.  So few days to cover with so much news!  I think I need to go take another nap just thinking about it.