Author Archives: Natalie King

What a super fun and busy weekend!

On Saturday, we had our first social outing since the pandemic started. It was Oliver’s 5th birthday and Elliot’s first birthday and so we headed over for a backyard BBQ. I actually really enjoy kid birthday parties anyway, but I was SO excited, like, ridiculously excited for this event. We headed over at 11 and didn’t get home until almost 7pm! I don’t think any of us expected a lunch AND dinner ALL day event, but it was the best day. The weather was perfect. The kids ran and played the entire time. Everyone was so excited to see each other and just be normal and have drinks outside and chat. We got to meet the newest addition to our friend group- baby Ollie is 6 weeks old and was so tiny and perfect and I didn’t even get a picture of her.

The boys jumped into this pool, not exaggerating, 50 times each. It’s been so long since they got to play with friends and I was so so happy they got to play. It was truly a perfect day and I’m so grateful we could all get together.

5 minutes into our drive home, they were both out. When we got home, they both woke up but were extremely tired. We didn’t even take a bath (VERY rare that we skip bath time). They changed into pjs and went right to bed.

Our snuggly dog is learning how to beg for food (which we don’t give him, but he seems to think if he’s cute enough, we will give him a piece of pizza or something). Mostly he just likes to be in the middle of the action and let everyone know he is a baby who needs lots of love and attention.

Today the boys spent the day with Grandma Debbie. I have no idea what they do all day, but they came home exhausted and filthy and happy, so I consider that a successful day. I went to Costco, the grocery store, washed the floors, did some work and then relaxed. It was a fabulous day.

Nate had a late tee time today, so after I picked up the boys from my mom’s house, we had dinner and then played outside for a long time. It was still pretty hot outside, so I knew that we weren’t going to be able to go for a full walk, but I didn’t want to skip it. Augustus has only come on one walk and he got tired quickly and since he was already tired tonight, he got to ride in the stroller. Xander tripped within the first 5 minutes and didn’t have a scratch on him, but did spend most of the walk crying that he was in nondescript pain (which ended after the walk).

Luckily 3 different people pointed out to me that I had my hands full as we passed by, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have realized it…. we all survived and I would have liked to have walked longer because it was a pretty nice night, but all 3 boys were DONE.

Bath, snack and bedtime were fast tonight- they were very tired. It was a busy weekend!

Xander has been on a 6/6:15am wake up kick recently. And I am TIRED. Does one hour really make that much of a difference? The answer is yes. I have been amazoning blackout curtains, because we need to get this kid to sleep in. Augustus could sleep until 8:30 or even later, but Xander wakes him up and so he’s been crabby lately. Today was a busy day, but I was dragging all day.

Xander and I started the day with a morning walk and then the boys played for a long time. I had the dishwasher unloaded, a load of laundry in and our picnic lunch packed by 9am- you can accomplish a lot when you get up that early.

We headed off to Hidden Falls to play. I brought a picnic lunch. We threw rocks into the river, ran around, and even did some biking. The weather was perfect and there was a lot of shade. It was LOVELY!

Is that his Senior picture?!

We had kind of an early lunch because they were very excited about the picnic. But they must have been hungry, because as I was unpacking it, Xander said, “those sandwiches smell great!” and then after he took a bite, he said, “is there mayo on this? This is great mayo!” and then he ate 3 hawaiian bun sandwiches. Lately he says things that sound like he is on a cheesy sitcom, but he is totally serious. He is so funny.

When we got home, we rested a while, and then Nate was home for a little while before he went golfing. He and the boys played in the basement and then we did an activity that I saw on pinterest. I froze little toys into blocks of ice (I did it a small amount of water at a time so that the toys would be layered through the whole block). I gave them hammers and they smashed away. I used little toys that came from McDonalds or the dollar store, because I knew they would get broken (and they did). But they really enjoyed it.

After the ice block activity, Xander said, “I want to do another activity”. By that point in the day, I was exhausted, and it was hot out, and I didn’t have any other activities. I said, “let’s read a book. Let’s play with toys.” Xander said, “I want to do a planned activity, like the ice block thing.” He was not satisfied that I had nothing to entertain him. After he whined and deep sighed and agonized for a while, I eventually came up with another pinterest idea- water balloons are “pinatas” that they could hit and get splashed. The balloons were actual balloons, not water balloons and they were very strong and hard to break. And they were HEAVY- I needed a higher string. But it was still a pretty fun activity and they enjoyed it.

We played until dinner and we’re having early bedtime tonight. I am HOPING that they sleep a little later tomorrow morning.

This sleepy dog is also hoping for some rest tomorrow. He is exhausted.

Starting our day with a morning walk

Today was a fun day, because Nate stayed home with the boys and I went to my office. Xander and Augustus were very excited for their special day with Daddy.

After Xander and I took Axel for a morning walk, I headed to my office to catch up on a lot of work. If you know someone who is managing to work regular hours while their children are home, send them a card or a gift, because they are amazing. I am squeezing work in when the kids are busy or resting, in the evening, and on the 2 days a week they go to my mom’s house. And luckily Nate is flexible enough to take a day off here and there so I can spend the day catching up. I was VERY productive today, so I feel great.

The boys were out and about early and went to 2 different playgrounds. They played until they were so tired that Augustus actually took a nap when they got home!

After lunch, Nate took them to get their hair cut. It has been a LONG time and it was time. The rule at Kids’ Hair is that anyone over 2 needs to wear a mask. I was a little nervous because I wasn’t sure if they would throw a fit or not. Luckily, our friend Mary made very special masks- Star War for Xander and Spiderman for Augustus and they were VERY excited about their masks. I was hopeful that the novelty of the masks would help convince them to keep them on long enough for a haircut.

Before shots-

Nate said they did great! They made it through the haircuts like pros and they look so cute and clean cut!

After shots-

After bathtime, Axel and I took a short walk (he was SO tired) and the boys watched tv for a little while. We read some books and then both boys went to sleep as soon as they climbed into bed. It was a great day.

Another fun Wednesday with Grandma. They ventured to a park a little ways away, although it turned out to be a little bit longer journey than they’d anticipated. It was a long walk, but they eventually made it home after playing. Based on how quickly bedtime went tonight, I’d say it was a good amount of exercise today.

When they got home, they rested until dinner and then afterward, we all went out to play. Xander practiced hitting the ball- first off the tee, and then out of the air. Axel chased the balls Xander hit and the ones I threw for him. He was very playful and was bounding around the yard pouncing on the balls. It was pretty cute.

A new week! I have nothing in particular planned, but I put out new books and Xander ran out screaming, “it’s dog week! Because of Axel! Dog books!” It’s exciting that he still gets excited, so I will keep adjusting the books.

I’ve started really looking forward to our morning walks, and this morning, both Xander and Augustus came too. It made for quite a production of socks, shoes and finally getting out of the house. I think they might get left behind in the future.

When we returned from the walk, it was already getting hot. We played outside for a little while. We filled the pool for later in the day. Xander washed my car. But pretty soon, all of us were ready to go back inside where it was cool

When I looked at my list this morning, it was- dishes, laundry, wash floors, answer emails, a few work projects… lame. I have a bunch of fun kid activities on pinterest, but nothing specific chosen for this week. And by 10:30, I was already looking at the clock to see when Nate would come home. I knew we had to do something or it was going to be a LONG day.

We made lunch and then decided to hop in the car and head to the park. Parks have opened in most suburbs, but not yet in St. Paul. So we can’t go to any of our parks, but luckily Roseville has a million great ones.

On our way to the park, we saw about 6 military vehicles and easily 35 National Guard members. The boys were excited to see cool vehicles and “army guys” but I felt like I was going to burst into tears at the sight of giant guns and full military on Grand Ave. Xander said, “are they here to protect our city?” and I said yes, and again, felt so sad. The boys are still just small enough that they don’t understand and beyond a quick observation of what they see, they aren’t affected.

We got to the park and it was completely empty. I knew we weren’t going to be there too long because it was a hot sunny day, but I was happy to be out in the sun and the boys were very excited.

“Push me so high I get scared!”

We’d been at the park for a little while, when a man approached. Right before I had the chance to shoot him my evil eye, warning him that I could and would tear him apart with my bare hands should he approach my children, he said, “the Giant Slide people from the State Fair have a stand selling lemonade down at the VFW” and both boys immediately started screaming, “we need ice cold lemonade!” I smiled and thanked him for the information and we jumped in the car!

As we stood in line, I asked if they also needed corn dogs. Augustus said, “no fank you mommy” and Xander said, “if we eat corn dogs now, we won’t eat our dinner” and the people ahead of us turned around to say, “whoa! I thought everyone would want corn dogs” and I had to admit that I did NOT expect that response.

Augustus ordered ice cold lemonades and we sat in the shade and drank them.

Roseville has so many parks in such a small area, so we took our lemonade and went to another park! It was getting really hot by then, so we were just there for a short time before we headed home for some cool down/rest time.

As the boys were finishing rest time, Nate got home and we all went outside to play. The pool water was HOT. Augustus and I went right in. Xander, Nate and Axel hung out in the shade.

We had the water cannons blasting, and then Nate got out the hose and before I knew it, we ended up in a family water fight. I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time. The hose water was SO cold. We all ended up SOAKED.

We had dinner and then went back outside for more playing.

He was just so cute at dinner I had to take a quick picture.

After bath time, Axel and I took a super short walk since it is STILL over 80 degrees. It was a very good day!

Our weekend started bright and early with Xander waking up at 6:15am. He said, “I wanted to see what Axel was doing”. Axel was sleeping, as were the rest of us. Xander has always been an early riser and usually he just gets up and gets himself a snack and his ipad, but I figured I probably shouldn’t leave my 4 year old alone with a 50 pound dog we’d had less than 24 hours (even though he seems very sweet).                                                                                                                                                        Axel has so far, been a very good dog. He is potty trained and hasn’t had any accidents in our house. He wanted to sleep in our bed initially, but he calmed down pretty quickly and snuggled into his dog bed next to ours, and slept through the night both nights. Saturday morning, Xander, Axel and I headed out for a walk at 7:15am. I can’t remember the last time I was out and about that early, but it was a nice walk. Axel is a good walker and we went a little over a half mile. He is very strong and when he sees a bunny or squirrel, it takes my full weight to hold him back.

Saturday was a full day. I went grocery shopping, Nate mowed the lawn, the boys played all day. Axel hung out and got used to his new life. The weather was gorgeous and it was a perfect Saturday.  

He already knows who is most likely to drop food

I’ve said before, I am writing this blog for the boys to look back on when they are older. This is mostly about their lives, but I’ve mentioned Covid-19, the stay at home order, and our last 3 months. On Monday, a police officer was video-taped killing a black man he’d taken into custody. It was awful, and unlike other people killed by police, literally everyone agrees that this was a clear cut murder. There were 3 other officers on the scene as well. They were all fired immediately, but it took a few days for the officer to be arrested, and the other 3 still haven’t been. As a result, there have been riots for the last few days. The last 2 nights, there has been an 8pm curfew for everyone, and the National Guard has been called in to keep the peace.

The rioters have been setting fires, looting, have set 200 businesses on fire. They burned the police station to the ground. It was like watching a scene from a movie or like something you see on the news in a war-torn country far away. But it’s one mile away from us. It’s unbelievable and horrible. I’m not sure what to say. Racism is wrong. Murder is wrong. I shouldn’t have to type either of those sentences. All of it is terrible and sad. The last 3 months have been difficult (a lot of good too, which is my focus of this blog), and now there is a warzone down the street. 2020 needs to get it together.

We are safe- none of the rioting has made it to our neighborhood, and likely won’t (despite being so close by). All of the Targets are closed. As I drove around today, I saw dozens of businesses boarded up (protecting their windows against the crowds that have come out each night). Nate and I have been glued to the tv watching the live coverage each night. But overall, we haven’t been impacted. And most importantly to me is that the boys are too little to be aware of any of this.

Today the boys spent the day with my mom. Her park opened back up, so they were able to ride bikes to the end of her parking lot and it’s right there. She let them paint her sliding glass door. They played with toys and ran around and had a great day.

Nate went golfing early today (7am tee time) so we had another early morning. After I dropped the boys off, I stopped at the store for some frozen marrow bones (which Olivia and Griffin used to LOVE). When I got home, Axel and I went for a walk and then he chewed on that bone for 3 straight hours. He loved it. I got a ton of work done, re-arranged my closet (I’ve been rotating the same 3 tee shirts, until I finally pulled out all my summer clothes today!), and a bunch of other little projects I needed to get done while I had some kid-free time.

Axel and I took another walk this evening, so we ended the day with 2 tired boys and a tired dog. Success.

They rescued him and got him back in shape, but unfortunately, they have 2 other dogs and once this dog felt a little better, they found out that the three of them couldn’t be together because they fought. She and her husband love him and were really sad, but didn’t have any other options. So she posted on facebook, looking for someone with knowledge of bulldogs, no other dogs, etc.  Within minutes of her posting, I saw it and had called her. I wasn’t really looking for a dog, but Nate and I have talked about it a few times. We weren’t really ready for another puppy- training, housebreaking, etc. So a 3 year old that is neutered, potty trained, and so sweet… maybe this was the dog we were(n’t) looking for. Oddly enough, it was exactly one year to the day since Olivia died. So maybe it was really meant to be. 

Meet Axel.

He’s adjusting to us tonight. He has been curiously looking around our house and yard. He’s eaten, pooped, barked at our neighbor, and I took him for a short walk. He’s unsure of what’s going on and a little stressed, but that’s to be expected. The boys have been very attentive and sweet. I know he will need a few days to adjust. I am eager to see his personality emerge as he adjusts to his new life.

What a busy day! The boys were up early this morning and Xander immediately requested a “breakfast burrito on the couch”. I told him he would have to wait until I finished my first cup of coffee before making demands.

After some morning playing for the boys and phone calls and emails for me, we headed outside.

I bought jello slime, which was very sticky and messy and fun to play with. My original plan had been blue jello (to look like water), but the grocery store was entirely sold out of blue jello, so I bought this instead and added food coloring to the water. Dollar store boats were a perfect addition. They enjoyed it for a while and then we hosed out the water table.

It was a PERFECT weather day, and hot enough that spraying each other was a good activity. I also had new water cannon squirt guns (thank you again Dollar Tree) which were a hit. Xander said, “that’s what I’m talking about baby!” And then they proceeded to shoot each other for over an hour.

After almost 2 hours of playing outside, stripping out of their wet clothes and eating lunch, we played with a new product that Christine recommended- Mad Matter. It’s a combination of play-dough and kinetic sand. The boys really enjoyed it and it was easier to clean up then kinetic sand.

After that, we were back outside for more water fun. We filled up the pool (I brought out a few buckets of hot water to balance how cold the hose water was). They squirted and splashed and went down the slide. They were so happy and it was so gorgeous outside.

Xander found some kool aid in our pantry and insisted we make it. They’ve never had it before and they cheers-ed and then slammed it like college boys at a party.

We played outside until dinner and I am so exhausted I feel like I’ll be in bed around the same time as the boys. It was a great day!

I started today feeling a little overwhelmed and a little daunted by the day ahead. I love hanging out with the boys and there has been so much goodness in all of our time together. But also, I really miss our regular life. I miss my office and normal work. I miss daycare and the boys having their own lives outside of our house. I am sick of the nonstop dishes from 3 meals a day, and also cooking 3 meals a day (plus snacks), laundry that is never done, and that all of their toys have 100 pieces and no matter how much we clean, they are always all over the floor.

Thankfully Nate did the teeth brushing and getting dressed battle this morning before he left. I was really grateful to avoid that for a morning and just jump right into the day.

It was SO humid this morning and the boys (and me) were not interested in going outside right away. We eventually went out for short periods of time, but even then, they weren’t really into it.

But the day turned out to be nice, despite my crabbiness of the morning. The boys played very well and I got a lot done.

We played with playdough and then we made banana bread.

Nate got home and we all played outside for a while.

This week we’re going to do a water theme. It’s already Tuesday and tomorrow they are at Grandma’s but I have some fun things for Thursday and Friday.