Meryl and Xanna have started having hour long FaceTime conversations on the weekends in Meryl’s room. Only, Xanna got tired of looking at the ceiling while Meryl set the phone down and sent Meryl a phone stand:)

Practice, practice, practice with a made for TV core workout balance board and a mop! Let’s just say that it’s great to see the balance board in use:)

Cooking With Meryl continued with cookie dough. The recipe included real water, a real ice cube, pinches of brown sugar, flower pollen that fell on the table, and butter. There was a lot of stirring with several utensils and intermittent sitting together on the couch while the dough rested (my favorite).

Cousin fun, that is! Meryl, Holmes, Eva, and Noelle!

With a side of meat and potatoes.

Over and over and over! Holmes realized he grew tall enough to climb the side of the chair, and then climb back down over the side - dangling feet! Oh what a ‘feat’ it was:)

And after every climb and dismount, Holmes would clap and tiptoe dance into the kitchen and back:) Rest assured, he’s self assured.

Lola and Tito came over, and thus began the first class of Cooking With Meryl. Meryl is teaching Tito how to cook! They made arroz caldo, which is a savory rice porridge.

Technique transference takes practice, after all.

After weeks of smoke, we progressed to torrential rains today…and a flooded preschool. Early pickup commanded a cookie run and a visit to the toy store. Because, the kids are home tomorrow too! We love them so much!

Meryl realized that she didn’t have food for Bunny today, so she wrote a grocery list (carrots, lettuce, and banana pancakes), drove to Ken’s Market to shop, checked out (bringing her own re-usable bag), and then put her groceries away in the fridge. Also, banana pancakes are a thing: 1 banana, 2 eggs, dash of cinnamon - smash, whisk, and cook!

We’ve decided to try to find the BEST maple syrup. On day one today, we tried ones from Vermont and…the USA:) There’s more out there and we’re ready to try them.