I meant to write a post about the lovely Father’s Day we had, and at several points during the week, I’ve intended to blog about things we’ve been doing but I’ve been to busy, well, doing. Brent and I each spent a day this week wiped out from a stomach bug so that’s added to the chaos. So instead, a single post of various things we’ve done over the past week:


Brent loves cashews, so on Father’s Day, M and I made these amazing Double Chocolate Espresso Cashews cookies* from The Great Book of Chocolate by David Lebovitz. They were amazing, crisp on the edges but soft and oozing of chocolate inside. The roasted cashews were the perfect complement to the sweet chocolately-ness.
We took a Father’s Day hike at one of our favorite stops along the Blue Ridge Parkway and managed to walk for an hour with no meltdowns and only a bit of whining toward the end. Something to celebrate indeed. The terrain was rocky and full of big roots but C proved to be as intrepid a hiker as her sister was at 2. She walked almost the whole way.
C went to her preschool for 2 mornings this week. She had a wonderful time and M got some much needed mommy time. Both mornings, M and I went to coffeeshops after dropping C off, and I read to her while shared a muffin or a cinnamon roll. During the school year, we’d often done work at our favorite bakery, but we’d never done a long read-aloud session outside the house like that. It was wonderful. I had to stop both days when my voice started to give out even though M was begging for more. We also did some math and a bit of phonics review.
After we came home one of those mornings, M worked on various creations in our craft room while I finally hemmed the last a set of napkins I’d cut out ages ago and cut out the pieces of a dress for M’s friend’s doll, a belated birthday present.

We took an excursion to Kid Senses, a kid’s science museum about an hour away from us. Our favorite part was their new Discovery Garden. We got to explore lots of plants, eat strawberries that were growing there, make these butterflies, water plants, and climb through a tunnel on top of a rock wall. There will eventually be a section with bees, worms, and ants as well. The inside of the museum was a whirl of chaos with several summer camp groups visiting, but once we retreated to the 0-5yo Alphabet Trail room, we were able to explore in peace. The girls loved the barn, caves, and pretend hollow trees, lots of places to hide or snuggle. We spent some time curled up reading in the ladybug tower.
Yesterday we headed to the pool. M had a private swim lesson with a wonderful friend whose been our babysitter for years and also works at the pool. Then we stayed and played until C was thoroughly worn out and we had to get home for a nap.
We also managed to fit in plenty of playtime at home: play dough, animals, Playmobil, Little People, rocks, magnets, dress up, etc.
Today M’s going to a friend’s birthday party, and we’re headed to a family bonfire tonight that should be a blast. We’re going to make brownies and sauteed greens to take to the bonfire (not to be eaten together) and turn the cherries we have into candied cherries. But first, I must go make waffles, M is giving me a “stop typing and make breakfast look”