Sleepover Success, Garden Cleanup & a Busy Little Evening

Amazingly, the girls sleepover went really well! When I checked the clock at 4, Renn still hadn’t come in. At 6, Aislyn got up to use the bathroom, and shortly afterward the sound machine turned off. It wasn’t long before a little voice came from the bedroom, “Nana, I need a tissue.” Back to bed she went while I turned the sound machine back on, but she didn’t stay long before Ais fell back asleep.

She came in to me and we snuggled, chatted, listened to an audiobook, then watched some Peppa on the iPad and even Teletubbies—which I haven’t seen in about 35 years! Finally, at 7:45, I gave in and we got up. Aislyn woke to join us after 8.

Happy birthday Vance John James!

The day was underway, although one little girl was a bit out of sorts from the early wake-up. After Cheerios, the girls played and played while Grandpa eventually got up and headed to Big Brown. I tried to catch up on the blogs and discovered I had missed some photos Deb had sent from Saturday, so I added those before chugging away at the photo-heavy Sunday post.

Aislyn tried taking Renn out to the bales but she was not a fan. The bright sun was currently only 7 degrees.

With S left in charge, I finally squeezed in a workout at 11 after skipping an entire week! Lunch followed, although Grandpa changed the girls’ shows over to boring news.

The girls came with me to let Hank and Roo out into the winter pasture before we headed back to the yard. Amanda dropped Ada off while I was digging a big bag of potatoes, with Aislyn helping bag them up and Renn happily going in and out of the house. Amanda headed home to continue arranging Aislyn’s room while the girls headed downstairs to play.

some big moves

the girls pretending to drink water like the horses

Horse whisperer Aislyn & best buddies head back to the house

Ada arrives with Harley in the girls group too <3

With them occupied, I took advantage of the break and popped outside to pull more spent and frozen plants. Darn it, I also realized I had forgotten to bring my dahlia pots and the tomato plants I had potted up inside. By the time I checked on the girls again, they were busy playing, although someone was getting pretty crabby. They tried taking her out to the bales, but the meltdown came quickly, so I brought her back inside.

S was in from changing the truck’s oil by then, and we enjoyed a cold drink while the other two girls came in and joined us for some art. I tried getting Netflix working so we could watch the Mario movie with Princess Peach, but no luck—it was only available on another platform. Renn settled for an animal show about bugs instead, of all things, and I had her sit beside S on the couch. It wasn’t long before she was sound asleep by 4.

Amanda popped out to pick up the girls, and S loaded the spent plants I had gathered into the skid steer and took them to the pit to move some dirt around. While Renn slept, I headed back outside to rescue the pots and was pulling the last one in when Shaina and Matt arrived just before 5.

I woke Renn so she wouldn’t completely wreck bedtime, although it was definitely a struggle for her. The pork roast went into the Instant Pot, and B was out soon after, stopping to ask for a hug. She was declined, so she and Matt headed out to catch horses and have a lesson. Shaina caught Mac for her lesson as well.

S came back from the pit just before he was about to bury my missing pruners—he had found them down there! Whew. Renn and I put the potatoes we had dug into a bucket and picked some onions, and she was feeling much better by then. We headed to the barn to say hi to the horse people. I finished the supper veggie prep and got everything into the oven.

Harley’s food was delivered with us ignoring her enthusiastic “doorbell” barking, and the golden hour was lovely for the lessons. Once all the horses were untacked and set free, Renn ran out with Matt for a bit and then moved on to help Auntie B feed the horses.

She ran back to the house where I met her at the fence, and she came in for supper ahead of the rest of us. She enjoyed her ice cream dessert while we finally sat down to another tasty farm-to-fork harvest meal, albeit a late one.

B headed home around 8 after we all changed into our suits and headed out for a little hot tub party. Renn decided her hot tub time was over so in for a shower, pajamas and stories. Auntie joined us for the last story and goodnights before Renn and I snuggled in the spare room, listening to a few songs and stories until she fell asleep around 9:15.

The fellows settled in with sports for the evening while Shaina got creative with the wedding flowers I pressed for her a year ago. I caught up on the blog, Matt headed downstairs to relax, and I went back to my book. I shut the lights off well before the baseball watcher finally called it a night, about the same time Shaina finished her craft project.

Not a bad way to finish a very full weekend—and the first official sleepover was a success!