Whidbey Week: Work and Play

 

Whidbey Week: Work and Play

I credit Kyla with us taking the last week of summer/ first week of school at the cabin. In the 8 years we’ve had the cabin now, this might just be our third time we got a week here.

Kyla’s birthday was a Tuesday; Wednesday, online school started. Because our district did a slow start of the school year, the kids had a lot of extra time on their hands.

I didn’t.

Just for my own recording keeping, here are most of the tasks I managed to do this week:

1. Restain and spar varnish deck furniture
2. Add red spotlight to outdoor furniture
3. Seal hole and paint exterior door red
4. Hang Heartsease sign
5. New planters
6. Wash all downstairs windows in and out, and screens
7. Cleane front gutter
8. Paint front exterior trim
9. Move rocks and clean off concrete slab
10. Work on dryer
11. Take down bunk beds, sell bunk, clean up room
12. Sort through extra linens
13. Wash and wax wood floor
14. Clean out under fridge
15. Drawers
16. Painted shoe bench, cleaned out floor underneath
17. Plant a few more plants,
18. Weed
19. Prune cherry tree
20. Prune grape vines
21. Wash ceiling beams
22. Paint hobbit door with black chalkboard paint
23. Sand wood coffee table to remove markers and crayon
24. Adjust window latches

But, luckily, my kids encourage me to do other things besides work. One evening, I ordered Jim’s Oven-Fired Pizza ahead of time, rounded up the kids, and picked up the pies on our way to Double Bluff Beach sunset picnic. For the first time ever, my kids wanted to walk along the beach, not just frolic in the water and build driftwood forts. The youngers climbed the bluffs, and Kyla just Kyla-ed, which meant I usually, but not always, knew where she was.

I texted Dwayne pictures of the sunset over Seattle and Mr. Rainier and wished him here, but loving all the rest of it.

When Dwayne did make it over for the weekend, he got roped into a few chores I needed help with, but mostly he was responsible for exclaiming appreciatively of my work.

We definitely earned our candlelit dinner at Friends’ house that weekend, and Piper, now habitually drenched, threw herself into the pond for a late night swim, mostly so I would have more pictures of my crazy middle child and her friend.

Hoping to do more of these Whidbey Weeks soon!