Fun with Friends

Saturday, July 25, 2020

One of Emily's friends from the rink, Maddy, has a birthday coming up this week so after freestyle ice today the girls hit the town to help her celebrate!  Maddy, Emily, Elle and Cate went out for pizza at Pies & Pints with birthday cake for dessert.  We had the whole back of the restaurant to ourselves, so it felt pretty safe.  It was only the second time we have eaten in a restaurant since the Coronavirus outbreak.

Since these three can't get enough time together, after the pizza, salad and cake, they went across the street to Ellen's for ice cream too!  They close Capitol Street on the weekends and put out tables and tents for folks to have more space for eating and distancing.  It was actually really pretty neat.  I kind of wish it was that way all the time...during good weather, of course.  Glad it was such a nice day for this crew.

  

The New Normal for Figure Skating

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

When the rink re-opened on July 4, it had a mask requirement, so we complied.  Thereafter, the Governor issued a state-wide mask requirement anytime you are in a public space indoors.  So, again, masks.  Luckily, we have a fabulous mom at our rink who has an amazing embroidery sewing machine.  She bought our skaters masks, embroidered the club logo on them and even put some bling on all of them!  They came out fantastic and the skaters love them!  She also made matching t-shirts for them that are equally fabulous.  Kind of makes the new normal of skating feel (and look) a little better!

My birthday!

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

It's my birthday!  What a nice day I had!  I got to actually go into work this morning (kinda nice to see the office again) to get some work done, but then I had to turn my computer over to the IT department for updates so that meant an afternoon off with no computer!  Yay!

For dinner, we ordered carry out from one of my favorite Mexican restaurants and then (after skating) it was time for cake and presents!  I got soooo many gifts for Mother's Day that I did not have much on my wish list for my birthday, but I did get a Hallmark gift card for shopping at the Ornament Premier, a new dish drainer and a bag for my camera and lenses! 

And my biggest wish was for a birthday cake from Sarah's bakery!  And wouldn't you know it, after skating there was a special cake just for me from Sarah's!  Yummy birthday to me!

Kayak Adventure!

Saturday, July 11, 2020

We've been trying our best to find new things to do during the Coronavirus outbreak.  Outside things are safer than indoor or crowded things.  Well, it turns out that kayaking on the Elk River meets all the appropriate criteria: 1.) outside 2.) social distance and 3.) super fun with friends (Molly, Abby and Josie)!

We went to a place Molly knew about up on the Elk River near Clendenin.  It took about 40 minutes to get there so it wasn't too far away.  When we arrived, we got all checked in and chose our boats.  Emily got a small whitewater kayak, Daniel got the green boat that I think belonged to the owner of the company and I took an orange boat that had space for our little cooler and dry box.  And with that, we were off!

   

   

   

   

   

From time to time, we pulled the boats off of the river and let the kids swim and have "duckie wars."  This is when Molly would flip her inflatable kayak over and the girls would climb on top and try to knock each other off.  I think they liked that more than kayaking.  They also liked swimming in the river.  We had a gorgeous day and the current wasn't super strong (which was both good and bad, really).

   

We paddled about 4 miles from Queen Shoals down to Beulah and by the time we reached our destination, the kids were pretty tired.  Turns out that the whitewater kayak that Emily got was really hard to control.

Once we were back on land, we were all really hungry so after we took off our gear and returned our boats, we headed to a local shop for lunch - Frostbite Dairy Bar!  It was kind of cute and old fashioned.  They had burgers, sandwiches, fries, really good onion rings and lots of ice cream and shakes!

We had so much fun that on our way home we had already started talking about when we might get to go again.  I definitely think there will be more kayaking for us this summer.  We had a blast!

Food Truck Friday

Friday, July 10, 2020

This whole Coronavirus pandemic has really put a damper on a lot of things this summer, so we try to find small joys wherever we can.  This week, we found Food Truck Friday at the Ronald McDonald House.  I needed to meet with the Executive Committee and Executive Director before this week's Board meeting anyway so what better way to do that than over some greasy food from some local food trucks!  Honestly, though, Emily likes the food truck concept so she enjoyed getting to order not only a pizza, but an ice cream cone too.  Like I said, small joys.

Fourth of July

Saturday, July 4, 2020

The best thing about today was that the ice rink finally re-opened!  Finally, after 6 months, we have ice!  Emily was second in line to get in this morning and she was soooo excited.  We were hoping the crowds would not be bad, and they definitely weren't.  Even with the new bumper cars on 1/3 of the ice, there was still plenty of room for skating.

New bulletin board!

When we got home, it was time to prepare for our annual cookout and dessert party - complete with sparklers and fireworks!  First up dinner.  The Johns joined us again this year for all the festivities.  We had burgers and hot dogs on the grill, sour cream potatoes, watermelon, corn and baked beans.  For dessert we had Oreo Fireworks cheesecake, dipped rice krispie squares and sugar cookie cups.  Yum!  

   

 After dinner, the fun began!  We got the girls some festive streamers and they had fun swirling them around in all different directions.

   

Then it was time for water balloons and all things water fun...all over the Johns' backyard.  So much fun!

   

   

   

A quick change of clothes and then it was time for the main attractions - poppers, sparklers and fireworks!

   

   

I didn't get as many pictures this year, but it was every bit as fun.  Love nights like this!  Summer fun at its best.