Detroit Zoo, Kensington, and more

In between trips up north to the cottage and our camping trip in Traverse City, we've been able to do a few fun things out and about during the month of July, in addition to really establishing our summer routine at home.  The kids are busy working on their summer learning with their Brain Quest workbook, reading for 30 minutes, writing in journals, and doing educational apps.  It's not always easy getting them to complete everything, but they're getting better about it.  It's been hard many days trying to come up with things to do with the kids at home, as we've done most of our favorite things many, many times since March. 

Sean got to attend a golf camp one morning with his friend, Corey, at Idyl Wyld Golf Course in Livonia. 

While Sean was at golf, Evan and I bought tickets ahead of time to go to the Detroit Zoo for the afternoon.  I thought the mask expectations were a little vague and I wish they would have been more strict and told people to wear them the entire time with the exception of eating or drinking.  I would have personally felt more safe if it wasn't an optional thing at outdoor exhibits.  Other than that, we had a great time and enjoyed some of the new updates to the zoo since we've been two years ago.

We took a family trip to the beach at Kensington this week to enjoy the sunshine and were pleasantly surprised at how few people were there.  They had opened the Farm Center up too so we made a stop before heading out.  And of course, we had to get ice cream from Dairy Queen on our way home.

I've rejoined Weight Watchers since I've put on 15 lbs give or take during this pandemic and am committed to getting the weight off...once again.  So, it's been fun making lots of different WW friendly recipes and some not so WW friendly desserts for the kids to enjoy.  

We've been polishing our Petoskey stones like crazy and finding different techniques to make them extra shiny.  We are also making 4 stepping stones with Quickrete to put in our backyard that include pretty colored stones we found in Traverse City and some Charlevoix stones too.  Projects like these are helping keep us busy and outside.  The kids even made calm down bottles this week with glitter and glue that we are all obsessed with right now!

But, mostly, we just have lots of days where we have a hard time keeping everyone entertained and happy so we celebrate the little moments that bring us joy...reading time, watching birds visit our feeder at lunch, and playing street hockey with the neighbors.

We're living those dog-days of summer trying to enjoy a slower-paced summer than we are used to while also holding our breath waiting to hear what this upcoming school year will be like for all of us.  With 3 different districts in the house, it's concerning not knowing what our jobs or the kids' school years will be like.  Will there be soccer?  Catechism?  Boy Scouts?  Who knows...

But, we have one more month to try and relax as much as we can before the chaos begins.  Hang in there, friends!