You're a Pepper, We're a Pepper

We went through Waco last month and stopped to check out the Dr. Pepper museum! I don't think I was aware Dr. Pepper started in Texas, but that may be because I have never been a huge fan of it. Everyone else around here loves it though! I will admit, the free Dr. Pepper float was pretty good though. We checked out the museum and the gift shop of course, and learned all about different soda brands. It wasn't quite as big a deal as the World of Coke in Atlanta, but it was still worth checking out!

Life in COVID-19 continues... don't they look excited?

It's always nice enjoying a refreshing drink on a hot Texas day!

Quarantine Remodel

If nothing else, the free time created by quarantine allowed us to get some work done around the house. One major project that still needed to be done was the master bathroom. We were really getting tired of how gross it was, plus the ants were finding a way in through the wall behind the sinks, only one sink worked, and at one point we had a mouse problem. It was past time to destroy the room and start from scratch, so we did.

The before. All the best from 1979.

There was a small shower in the back corner that was pretty nasty and definitely needed to go.

Tear it up. Make more trash. We've generated a lot of trash this past year. 

New drywall, new tile coming up.

Got a killer deal on a bathroom vanity. Home Depot accidentally marked it as a return and then couldn't figure out a way to fix it, so they just gave it to us. We'll take it!

Not bad for a couple of months worth of weekends. But I have to admit I'm a little burned out spending all of our money at Home Depot and Lowe's. Going to be a while before the next project starts, but there will definitely be more.

Days of Quarantine

When we left California back in March we knew we were coming back to a new kind of world. Even though we were on vacation, the news of the Coronavirus was all over the place along with talk of toilet paper and possible food shortages. By the time we got back, Spring Break should have been over, but it never ended. The kids never went back to school after the break, and honestly we're still not sure what the next school year will look like. But as bleak as some things were and still are, there was plenty of good. I started working from home when we got back, and with the kids being here every day, we've never spent so much time together. We've made the best of it, and here's some of that:

Having to do school at home wasn't all that bad. Nolan got to bring Farrah to show-and-tell. She was thrilled.

Brought along his paper teacher on multiple adventures. Plus his father gave him a great haircut!

This kid turned the big 10 years old.

He also got a fantastic haircut. 

And basically did a little BMX all day every day.

This kid also had a birthday, except he became our first teenager at 13...

His quarantine haircut was not quite as dramatic.

He finally got his Five Guys burger.

And his brothers rarely annoy him.

We socially distanced at the beach.

"Dropped in" at the skate park, almost every day in June. Had to get there at 8am to beat the teenagers though.

 

Whined a little. The mosquitoes and heat came back, so there was plenty to whine about.

Did a little backyard fire pit and S'mores action. No children were harmed.

And took plenty of dog walks.

No end in sight. But quarantine hasn't been all that bad. If nothing else, it'll be a summer we never forget.

A Strange California Desert

After leaving Disneyland behind, we ventured back east and out of California. But before we left the state, we stopped at another National Park along the way. Joshua Tree NP is almost like a world out of a Dr. Seuss book. It's littered with massive boulders that seem out of place in the otherwise barren desert, along with the famous trees that give the park its name. They're scattered about everywhere in strange twisting shapes with prickly looking leaves. In one part of the park there were hundreds of them in a sort of surreal looking forest. With the coronovirus just beginning to take over and shut down other things to do, the park was packed with hikers and rock climbers when we were there in the early morning. Compared to the other parks we've been to, I'd give this one a very high rating, definitely one I'd like to go back and spend more time at.