Missouri Vacation | The Farm

Every summer of my childhood we drove 12 hours from Texas to my Papa's farmhouse in Jefferson City, Missouri. We'd spend several weeks on the farm, visiting family and relaxing. After a dry spell of seven years, it felt so right to be back...this time with three children in tow! It's hard to capture how special it was to be there with my parents and watch my kids experience all the magic of the farm for the first time -- epecially their first jump in the pond :) We had so many highlights, but I'll let my mom's poem capture the extent of our stay:

First Farm Visit - 2023

This was the grandkids first time to the farm

To discover all of its rural charm.

Living in Seattle, it’s city scapes they seek

Here in mid-MO they were country kids for the week.

With the barn as their backdrop, they ran wild and free.

Such a wonderful sight for their Mirma to see.

Jumping with abandon off the farm pond dock,

Climbing and playing on the old sand rocks.

Spotting turtles, snakes and fireflies,

Watching the wide wonder in their eyes.

We collected rocks, feathers, and sticks,

And pulled off a number of pesky ticks.

A Whippoorwill’s call and woodpecker’s knock,

We listened to birdsongs as in the hammock we rocked.

From the field we heard a wild turkey call,

From down in the pasture came a young calf’s bawl.

Hiking a trail through the woods,

Eating corn on the cob and summertime foods.

On the 4 wheeler with Poppa for ride alongs,

Pounding the old piano with their made-up songs.

Water balloons, bubbles, and sprinkler play,

Were all in the course of a summer day.

In my hometown we visited favorite sites—

The Capitol, nature center, and Central Dairy for ice cream bites.

Visits with uncles, cousins and aunts,

Checking the growing garden plants.

The kids loved just digging in dirt.

Mirma was happy they didn’t get hurt!

Roasting hotdogs over the fire,

Yelling”Be careful of the electric wire!”

We hold this special place in veneration,

Passing our traditions to a new generation.

I’m sure my parents were smiling from above

To see these kids at the farm they so loved.

So very thankful for this place to gather,

Though it’s rustic and simple, there’s no place I’d rather.

One of my favorite places in the world,

-SJW

Missouri Vacation | St. Louis

June marked our first vacation of the summer -- a Missouri road trip, consisting of three different legs:
1) four nights in St. Louis to visit a college friend and meet my boss for the first time
2) nine nights in Jefferson City at our family's farmhouse, country living at its finest!
3) one night in Kansas City to visit another college friend

Working as an Executive Assistant for a St. Louis nonprofit, I've become very familiar with the city via Google maps, street names, restaurants, and coffee shops. It was so fun to be there in person -- get a feel for the neighborhoods (there's so much brick!), eat at some of the local spots, and see the city to scale :) The fact that one of my bridesmaids now lives in St. Louis made the visit all the better -- catching up with her and her husband was such a treat. Even the part where we get absolutely drenched in a pouring rainstorm in Forest Park! Plus, they graciously put our children to bed one evening so we could go on a double date with my boss and his husband. What a luxury!

While I squeezed in a work day, Mr. Fleece took the children to the STL Zoo and made the visit extra special by purchasing stuffed animals -- a coral snake (NLW), a black footed-penguin (CCW), and a llama (EDW). The zoo was such a hit that we went back as a family on our last day! We also got to celebrate Father's Day together at Winslow's Table and Mr. Fleece took NLW to see his first live performance at the Fox Theater "Bluey's Big Play," with characters we're familiar with from the beloved show, Bluey. 

More Highlights:
- Wandering through The Novel Neighbor
- Walking Lafayette Square
- Clementine's Ice Cream
- Hanging out with K&C
- Touring the office and grabbing lunch with a coworker
- Staying at the "Zoo Bungalow" Airbnb
- Playing at Turtle Playground
- Getting take-out at Revel Kitchen (twice!)
- Shopping at Schultz
- Magic House Children's Museum 

We'll be back to the Lou,

-SJW

The Epitome of Summer

Fourth of July is hands down my favorite holiday. There's no pressure for gifts or traditions, it's just a best-of summer fun day :) 

Past years have included the following celebrations:
- Nationals baseball game and Washington D.C. fireworks (got engaged the night before!)
- Swimming pool fun
- San Francisco trip with ice cream and fireworks
- Camping with friends
- Friend's wedding in Austin
- Watching fireworks from SLU
- Multiple BBQ with friends
- Greenlake picnic and sailing on Lake Washington
- Rialto Beach and lakehouse stay on the Olympic Peninsula
- West Seattle Kid's Parade
- Block Party 

This year we opted for a baseball game and cheered on the DubSea Fish Sticks, a summer collegiate league team. At $12 a tickets with the twins getting in free, this was just our speed. We got the ballpark experience I love in a family-friendly setting. This was also our third year to celebrate with neighbors on our street's block party. Water guns, chalk art, wagon rides, sparklers, and a delicious summertime spread. Happy Birthday, America!

Thankful for the freedom to choose, vote, and celebrate,

SJW

Life Wright Now | June 2023

June started out rough with a continuation of household illness. We had a dreadfully long stretch of three weeks! Daily life felt like walking through a long dark tunnel...I'm always amazed and gloriously glad when we make it to the other side! Mid-month we flew to Missouri for a 3-part midwest adventure (St. Louis to Jefferson City to Kansas City). It was such a fun family trip and I'm really proud of how well I planned our itinerary -- Blog post coming soon! 

Other Highlights:
- NLW reading his first B.O.B. books on his own!
- Hosted PEPs gathering
- Finding a new exercise routine
- Getting better at asking for help -- my sweet neighbor came and did our dishes twice! 
- Paying for extra help when necessary :) 
- Listening to so many episodes of The Girl Next Door podcast
- Children playing "airplane"
- NLW learning to play Mexican Train (dominoes)
- Pre-vacation shopping spree including new summer hats and backpacks 
- Children's first hotel stay!
- Amazing time with family, friends, and colleagues in Missouri <3 

Watching | The Right to Read 
I heard about this documentary through my work and watched a free online screening on Juneteenth. It was really well done and I'm excited for more people to view it! It was the first time I'd thought of literacy as a civil right and I was inspired to hold schools accountable for how they instruct reading, using evidence-based methods. This podcast discusses the issue in greater detail...I hope to listen soon!

Eating | Ice Cream
We ate a lot of ice cream while on vacation! Most notably, Central Dairy in Jefferson City and The Flying Cow in Kansas City. 

Reading | Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
We jumped full force into Charlotte's Web by listening to two different audiobook versions -- one read by the author and the other with a full cast including Meryl Streep as the narrator. I also started a read-aloud with NLW and we played the 1973 soundtrack during breakfast. Those songs came flooding back into my memory and Mr. Fleece and I both noticed that part of the Main Title (00:25) sounds like Harry Potter! We pressed pause on the story during our vacation and I'm still deciding whether I want to pick it back up given the premise focuses so much on death and dying.

Listening | Intimations by Zadie Smith
I’ve been wanting to pick up something by Zadie Smith for a while now and thought her most recent essay collection would be approachable and quick to get through (~100 pages / 2 hours on audio). The way she emphasized and delivered her essays paired with her accent made for a delightful listen -- definitely recommend on audio! I found myself often wanting to re-listen/rewind to catch some of her wording. This is one I’d be interested in owning/re-reading on the page. I especially liked the opening essay, Peonies with Smith's reflections on writing, femininity, and early pandemic days. 

Spraying sunscreen, 

- SJW