Blue Ribbon Day

I am not, generally, a "say no" kind of mom. Lately we have been so busy I have been forgetting to play and have fun myself, that has made me sound more "no-ey" than I intend. So, today I woke up with "YES!" on the brain and we had a terrific day.

Swim lessons happened in the morning today because of fair judging in the afternoon. Evie loved the teacher and finally got instructions on doing the butterfly. Keep in mind that this is the girl who has never taken a swim lesson (much to the shock of a friend who said, "I've been taking lessons since I was 3 months old!", cynically I thought, "wouldn't you know how to swim by now?"). Anyway, she decided she wanted lessons this summer. We guessed at the appropriate level, she jumped in just fine, she has now learned the butterfly and says unless she could guarantee working with this teacher again she will be done with lessons after this session (Thurs.) and she will just practice on her own. So cool that she knows what she wants and how to get it!

I have been WAY into foraging lately so the afternoon took us to the UW Arboretum to pick up a few books I've had my eye on. Then off to one of our favorite green spaces to get food! We picked black caps, wild mustard, canadian mint, nettles, and milkweed--wow!




Then on to the fair! She baked brownies and buttercrunch lemon cheese bars, both took first place! The lemon bars were also chosen for "special consideration" which means they are judged against everything in her category. That judging didn't start until 9:30 last night but since we live so close we went back for it. She didn't win that but it sure was fun to see all the stuff that had been chosen and just hang out as a family.




A blue ribbon day in so many ways! More fair tomorrow!