March 2021

The troopers (Rog, Max, Eric, Michelle, and Beth) had two 10 mile hikes this month. The first was to Hidden Falls in Auburn. Lots of hills, the hardest one at the end to the parking lot. But Rog did better this time and recuperation was much quicker.

The next hike was in Cool and the gang had trouble finding the trail but managed to get in a good hike. All did well.

Meanwhile, Karissa and I continued our dance lessons and baked cupcakes and cookies. The group was happy to get warm chocolate chip cookies after the hard hike.

Karissa also designed and built little LEGO animals for the Easter breakfast table. She was quite creative this month, completing a painting using a video lesson as well as painting a golf picture for Ryan’s birthday. Michelle helped her make bath bombs for Beth’s birthday.

Speaking of their birthdays, Ryan and Beth took a birthday trip to an AirBNB at Lake Almanor so we had a few days with Princess.

I spent most of the month making the backpack tent for Rog. What a project!! It actually worked well though, and weighed in at under 2 pounds. He will have to try it out one of these nights to see if it is functional.

Meanwhile, Rog continued working on the buffet/entertainment cabinet.

Max had his Eagle Board of Review on St. Patrick's Day and we now consider him an Eagle Scout, even though the formal designation will take a few more weeks. So proud of him!!!

The craft for the month was making baskets. I soaked the Japanese grass I got from trimming last month and we used trumpet vines for the braces. Not our best project; a close second to our failed Mozzarella cheese fiasco but the kids made the best of it and still had fun. We took them to PetSmart and they picked out the new koi for the aquaponic system.

Max had a special day with us. We went to Treetop Adventures in West Sac, smack dab in a residential neighborhood. It was a challenging course and not very crowded. Max finished the course in an hour and a half and it was a real workout for him. We headed over to Pieology in Roseville for pizza afterwards.

Spring has sprung and we have had some nice warm days so the garden is bursting with new growth. The wisteria has lots of blooms, as do the azaleas. The kurapia and thyme are bouncing back from the grub damage from the fall and I have weeded and trimmed in preparation for the Easter egg hunt coming up in April. The aquaponic system is flushed and new plants put in. I also started 2 pots of tomatoes and one of zucchini.