Parents Day Off? Ha!

September 14 was Parents Day Off. Ha! Too much to do. I even made dinner even though the menu plan said FFY (Fend For Yourself). And Jeremy had to go to work.

I did go for a walk that morning, though.

 

We needed some necessities so among my other errands that day, I went to Costco and bought flour tortillas. I spent a lot less than I normally would at Costco. #shelftember

With the flour tortillas I bought at Costco, I made fajitas with...

green bell peppers and yellow banana peppers from our garden, onions from the shelf, chicken from the freezer, fajita seasoning from the pantry, and sour cream from the fridge for those who wanted sour cream. 

Another errand I went on was to the library to check out a bunch of Terry Pratchett books that all reference a certain card game that some family members wanted to play. It helped for our literacy activity that night. Still going strong following Shadow Mountain Publishing adult and children's calendars for National Literacy Month.

 

September 14 Ready poetry or essays

Have a family reading night

 

Jeremy read us a passage from one of the books that talks about the game, Cripple Mr. Onion, then we played it.  

That was our Family Home Evening activity. Our treat was ice cream. Jet is so independent... sometimes (sometimes when I don't want him to be). He wanted to dish out the ice cream. Cute.

Pacific Northwest Trip 2026- part 13

The last day before we left the Pacific Northwest, I went for a walk to say goodbye to my parents' yard, including their own monkey puzzle tree and a lizard.

Jet said goodbye to his reflection in my mom's mirror. He had fun talking to himself.

 

I did some multitasking by playing a card game and having a tea party with Jet at the same time.

While we were playing, there was also some singing going on, including songs from The Muppet Christmas Carol. I said we must be celebrating LEON Day observed since we didn't celebrate it on June 25.

We did celebrate Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day that day, July 1, not by eating ice cream but by thinking of different flavors we could have. Since we had fried rice for dinner, I thought of fried rice flavored ice cream. 

 

The next morning, the kids and I headed back to Utah after saying goodbye to my parents and my brother.

Jet got pictures of my mom as we were driving away. 

 

I didn't take a "road trip" picture but I did do some juggling at one place where we always stop.

 

We had a great trip to the Pacific Northwest. I love my in-laws. I love my family. I feel very blessed.

 

Screen Free Week 2026

Last week was Screen Free Week. Let's talk about highlights from the week.

Monday through Friday, I went for daily walks to Bridal Veil Falls, including on a day when it was raining. I just took an umbrella.

 

I listened through several audiobooks.

One day I walked beyond Bridal Veil Falls and walked along the Provo River Parkway for a bit. I kept having to dodge little inchworms hanging from their silken threads. I tried to get some pictures using my hand as a backdrop (without touching them) but I couldn't get it to focus on the creatures.

Finally I gave up and started walking back. After a bit I looked down at my sleeve and saw a little inchworm sitting there. I was able to get pictures and a video of it (because my sleeve was a good backdrop) before I picked up a stick to encourage it off of me.

I found another one that I also got off. When I got back to the van, I took off my vest and brushed myself off but I didn't have any more of those little caterpillars on me. That was fun. 

 

May the Fourth, I took a couple kids to the library with me. We said Hi to Libby the Librantula (twice) and picked up some books.

There was a display in the children's section for Star Wars Day, so I picked up a book to read with Jet later.

We ate "sand"wich people at home. 

I wished my friend a Happy Star Wars Day and she let me know they were watching one of the movies.

We didn't watch a movie because it was Screen Free Week but we played a card game that night for Family Home Evening.

May the Sixth was No Diet Day so I told everyone to "Fend For Yourself" for dinner. 

 

May the Seventh was National Tourism Day so we ate Greek Pitas.

I wore my slug shirt I wore on our Pacific Northwest trip a couple years ago. Jet carried around Timothy, the banana slug we got from Mount Rainier on that trip. Jet and I both wore brown shirts and black pants that day.

May the Eighth was No Sock Day. I wore my socks some of the time but took them off other times.

It was also Fintastic Friday. We had Sharkleberry Fin Koolaid and Jeremy brought us home gummy sharks.

That night, I introduced another person to the movie, Seeking Persephone. It's a monthly tradition. This person, however, has read a lot of books by Sarah M. Eden so she is very familiar with the book this movie is based on as well as the series (and a related series).

I know it was Screen Free Week, but this movie watching was postponed from when we were going to watch it in April (I got to watch it with my in-laws). The kids were okay with it because they got to watch a movie during Screen Free Week and eat cucumber sandwiches and drink herbal tea.  

 

Other things from Screen Free Week:

Snuggles

Jet  showing that he learned "Skidamarink A Dink A Dink" at school

Jr. Jr. letting Jet play with the train he built at school (how cool is that)

 

Jeremy finally getting a haircut

Roses blooming 

I'll blog about Saturday and Sunday later. Those days were big deals.