So maybe I should just embrace that we’re going to be one week behind from here on out. In fact, if I look back at other time periods in the blog, I sometimes missed 2 MONTHS, so maybe this is better? Anyway, to keep us on the same page, this is from week 31 (aka Oct 5-11).

Sure, I could blend the past 2 weeks into one post, but then I’d feel like a failure. And I know you don’t want that. So here goes.

Let’s start outside, shall we?

Our sweet cousin Cathy sent Zoe a garden kit for her birthday, which included that cute metal pot and all you need to create (and decorate) your own personal garden. SO CUTE! Zoe was thrilled when her seeds magically started turning into (gulp) PLANTS! I can’t wait to see them bloom.

I also realized we haven’t spent as much time on our deck lately because of the heat (it’s been 92-102 for the past forever weeks, it seems). Still, the girls have eaten lunch outside at an IKEA kids’ table every single day, as they would have at school. Now that my sweet husband has gifted me the back room for work, my view overlooks a different table. So I decided it would be awesome to put the girls there, complete with Halloween placemats and some cool orange flowers (thanks, Shawn)!

Seemed like a great idea until the second day, when I watched them eat a pat of butter with their hands… Even better? They can’t hear me through the sliding glass door as I yell, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Oh well. Best laid plans. Now I just wave and try not to watch.

Speaking of spooky sights, I’m committed to making Halloween memorable. Zoe has wanted to set up a Spooky Scavenger Hunt, so we went to a huge local Halloween pop-up shop and walked out with glow in the dark spiders, fake white rats, spider webs, and more. If you’re interested in the experience, let me know. The clues are all ready to go, and I think my mom (their guinea pig) will admit it’s pretty fun.

Equally fun? The Halloween shop, where apparently neither of our small children are afraid of anything…

Ella posed for that picture on her own, with no prompting. Creepy, right? But wait, there’s more.

Spooky. Also spooky: A pumpkin patch during a pandemic. But we did it anyway, because Halloween is not Halloween in our house without pumpkins. We decided that even if we drove 30 minutes to get out there and came back only with some pumpkins to carve it would be worth it – and it was.

This year, the pumpkin patch couldn’t have its normal, extensive fun. Usually they have face painting, temporary tattoos, corn maze, tiny tractor rides, pig races, petting zoos and pony rides (and more). This year, they had pumpkins, a wagon ride (which we did not take) and animals you could look at through a fence. That explains the llama behind Zoe.

As I’m sure you noticed, they also encouraged costumes. So count this as costume change #2 for the Johnson girls. And as we do every year, I got the pumpkin pose:

Two little ladies. Ha! This next one’s from 2 years ago, same patch:

See? Nothing’s changed. We also brought a wagon of our own this year to carry our pumpkins, and commissioned a princess to (reluctantly) pull it along. In fairness, she insisted when she thought only her sister would be “allowed” to pull it… Oh, and we paid her in pumpkins.

A week later, we still haven’t carved those pumpkins, but we’re ready. Plus, a whole week has passed with new adventures to share! But before we wrap up the week before last (that sounds terrible), I’ll share two new additions to the Johnson family:

I’m sure someone on Etsy could teach me how to take an appealing picture of a large crocheted blanket, but those will have to do. I’ve in fact crocheted 4 blankets during COVID: one for Ella, one for Zoe, and two for my husband to replace some aging blankets in our living room. My hands are best when they’re not idle.

Hope you’re all finding ways to make the most of our current situation and staying healthy. I’ll leave you with more flower photos from my neighborhood walks–I swear I notice something new almost every time. It’s amazing what you see when you take the time to look. There’s a lesson in there I bet. Maybe for another day.