Just Lauren

Yesterday I went to visit Kaitlin, Ollie, and EG! Oh my gosh, it was such a fun day and I enjoyed it so much. I was also very tired and couldn’t even get up the energy to write a blog post. I don’t know how Kaitlin does it every day without falling asleep at the table. I was only there for 6 hours.

I loved seeing the three of them and getting to spend time with just them. I hope to make it a weekly thing or at least every other week if I can. We started the morning by playing with playdough. I forgot how nice playdough feels in your hands. EG and I made some playdough boys and girls and a few fish, ducks, and rabbits too. I taught her to use the rolling pin to push playdough out from a cylinder. She was so happy to learn she could do it on her own.

After playdough we went to the Littleton Museum. It’s not an average museum, however, because two farms make up the museum (plus a small exhibit area inside the main building). These farms are worked as they would be in the 1860s and 1890s and everything is free. I enjoyed walking around outside and getting to see a variety of farm animals. The farms also have authentic buildings on the property that you can walk in and see how people used to live. Volunteers come and dress in old clothes and work the farms. When we went into one house, the family was having lunch, it was extremely odd. They had cooked food in the kitchen and were literally eating their food as we walked around them and in the house. That was a bit much for me but the rest of it was an absolute blast. EG loved seeing all of the animals.

At one point we found the chicken coop and Kaitlin and I got a huge laugh out of a chicken jumping up to try to grab a leaf. Oh my goodness, who knew that a jumping chicken was such a hilarious site. Go find a video of it on youtube, it will brighten your day.

After the museum we went back to Kaitlin’s house for lunch and to play some more. EG zoomied around the house until her nap time. She ran from the kitchen into my arms as I grabbed her and lifted her into the air. She enjoyed it so much (mostly because she liked looking at herself in the TV’s reflection) and she said after almost every time I set her back down, “this is so fun!”. That warmed my heart so much. Once EG went down for a nap, Kaitlin and I got to visit a bit before I headed home. She’s getting ready for Ollie’s 1st birthday party on Saturday and I got to see their gorgeous basement that they’ve been working on. That kitchen in their basement is better than mine at home!

This morning I went to my community garden where Kathi and I planted plants and seeds! I now have my very own tomato, poblano pepper, and hot pepper plants growing and there are cucumber and chive seeds that will hopefully sprout. I have some pinwheels in my plot to help add color and keep bunnies away. I’ll have to go every day, or most days at least, to water the cucumber and chives until they pop out of the ground. I’m so excited. I learned how to cut off parts of the tomato plant to make it grow better and have more tomatoes. And that you need to bury the stem in the soil until you hit leaves, a deeper stem is better. And how to make a mound for the cucumbers and wells for the other plants to hold water. This is all so much fun, I’m loving it.