Lazy Days

Other than the couple of exciting events in early July, our summer has been filled with lazy days at home. Here are some things we get up to on a daily basis:

Gardening. Now that the garden is ready for harvesting, I'm typically out there every other morning, harvesting raspberries, beans, kale, chard, and zucchini. Coming soon: tomatoes! On days that I'm not harvesting, Steve is usually watering or weeding. Sadly bugs ate quite a few of our seedlings and lettuce in May/June, but otherwise it's been a good garden year.

Sunrise harvest ♥

Exercising. Whether it's the treadmill, yoga/pilates/stretching, kettlebells, calisthenics, or strengthening exercises, Steve and I are in the gym nearly every day. I love my daily workouts and really see the improvements in my strength and cardio abilities.

Playing Mario Kart. Ever since we got the Nintendo Switch in April, the game of choice for the whole family is Mario Kart! We like to play at least once a day and attempt to get triple star in all the cups (currently working on 200cc races). Entertainment for all!

Watching Survivor. Speaking of entertainment, watching an episode of Survivor every day is still a family favourite. We just finished watching the most recent season, 44, and are now checking out season 23 for fun.

Crocheting. Jessi's still going strong on her new crocheting hobby. She sits at our living room craft table randomly throughout the day to add a few stitches to her projects. She completed the jellyfish, then followed it up with a turtle, and now she's working on a collection of eggs. I also recently (finally!) finished the peach I started back in June.

Walking Lucy. We rarely miss our daily walks with Lucy! It's hard to believe we've been walking our neighbour's dog for over three years now. Lucy's age is definitely showing (she's 12!) as we used to walk 3 blocks, then lowered it to 2, and now only 1, especially on hot summer days.

Swimming. A few times a week we head over to our neighbour's pool for a refreshing swim. We are so grateful for this!

Playing. The girls often spend a couple hours a day playing with their neighbourhood friends. If their friends are not available, then they happily play their own games in the basement or upstairs. Their imagination is still strong!

Coding on Scratch. Scratch is a kid-friendly coding program that Emily and Jessi use to make their own games. They usually get 30 minutes a day on Scratch, and even though it's extra screen time, something feels wrong about saying no to coding/learning. 

Throwing Frisbees. I love my daily practices with Steve!

Eating. We are in the kitchen for three meals a day and snacks in between. It takes up a lot of our day, but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Reading. Reading happens on a nightly basis for all of us. Emily is currently reading through The Heroes of Olympus book series, Jessi just started re-reading the Harry Potter series (for the 7th time!), I recently finished The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and Steve loves helpful books like Deskbound, Outlive, and Do Hard Things.

August will definitely be more exciting with relatives visiting, our 15th wedding anniversary, a quick road trip, a skydiving adventure (for Steve), a wedding, tickets to a musical, Emily's birthday, and orientation days at the girls' schools. Then before we know it we'll be in back-to-school mode!

Ultimate Frisbee Update

June marked one year since I started playing Ultimate Frisbee! It's been a positive addition to my hobbies and with each season I see improvements in my skills.

And I really do mean seasons: I played in Kingston Ultimate leagues in the summer, fall, winter, and spring, in all kinds of weather and with lots of different people. It's been a great variety of games too, including women's leagues and co-ed leagues, 4v4 and 7v7, on grass fields, turf fields, and in indoor domes.

I even had a chance to play in a recreational tournament last fall, where we lost all but one of our games and had lots of fun. 

Kingston's Goosebowl Team "Marrow" - October 2022

The most memorable season so far was the spring 7v7 hat league with Steve, where we played in freezing temps and pouring rain, and ended up league champions! Our team captain was very encouraging and often placed me in a handler position to help me gain skills and confidence. My parents even made it out to one of our (rainy) games. 

My favourite teammate ♥

Watching our captain play a competitive match

Steve and I still practice our throws daily -- and what a difference that has made. My accuracy, distance, and comfort have improved significantly. I also enjoy watching instructional videos on YouTube to learn more about the game. Great channels include: Rowan McDonnell, Excel Ultimate, RISE UP Ultimate, Ryan Lowe, and Brodie Smith.

Throwing/catching continues to be my favourite part of the game, more so than the running, strategy, and defense. I suck at defense! 

Last night I experienced my first sports injury (while attempting to improve my defense): an opponent and I crashed into each other going after the frisbee. I got a cleat scratch/bruise on my ankle and a bump on my cheek! I felt pretty badass and texted Steve these pictures right away:

Steve and I don't play together in the summer; I play in the women's league on Mondays, then play with a tier 3 co-ed team on Wednesdays. Steve has been playing for so long that he's in tier 1! But we both agreed that we missed each other and would play together in tier 2 next summer. ♥

Cleaning up my battle wounds

Looking much better today

I imagine I will keep playing Ultimate Frisbee as long as my body agrees with me. So far it's just a lot of sweat, sore feet, bruised fingers, and a little bit of blood. I can handle that!

Hello Summer!

What a start to our summer break! First we said goodbye to Daddy so he could make his way to Las Vegas and play in the World Series of Poker Main Event -- his first time playing in a live tournament since Emily was a baby.

We had daily FaceTime chats with him and enjoyed hearing his updates. Unfortunately he only made it to Day 3 of tournament, finishing around 2,500th place out of the record-breaking field of 10,043 players. 

Best of all was Daddy coming home on Tuesday and getting to see pictures of his time in Vegas, including one of him meeting the iconic Survivor contestant, Boston Rob!!

Feebs & Boston Rob!

When he wasn't playing poker, he and his travel mate Aaron did a lot of hiking in the mountains around Las Vegas. Looks like a fun time!

Wild Horses

Our "Main Event" of the week was a day trip to Charleston Lake to visit my sister's campsite. We saw a presentation about snakes, had a picnic lunch, went swimming, caught frogs, played at the beach, and checked out the Nature Centre before heading back home in time for my Ultimate Frisbee game. Success!

Yikes!

During the rest of our week without Daddy we hung around the house, swam in the neighbour's pool, started re-watching season 33 of Survivor, and saw the Cirque du Soleil show Corteo with my parents. It really felt like summer! And there's more to come.