end of summer goulash — Stolen By a Bohlen

And here we are again with another “potpourri” post! I have to admit, I LOVE capturing our weekends and special days, but it is also fun to do a post that rounds up a larger amount of time. It makes me relive a whole timeline of memories all in one sitting.

Have you ever tried goulash? Whenever I hear the word, I instantly think about my Nanna. ❤ I find myself thinking about her so many times. The power of a grandma can never be matched. That’s for sure. She used to make goulash all the time! As a kid, I turned my nose up because…ew, stew. 👃

“Her messy hair, a visible attribute of her stubborn spirit. As she shakes it free, she smiles knowing Wild is her favorite color” ⁣

Those two ringlets melt me every time. I love her wild hair. Before she was born, I dreamed about doing my daughter’s hair all the time. You know, all the hair styles that either you’re too old for or you’re like me and your arms get too tired doing your own🤦🏼‍♀️ I love her wild hair. It matches her heart and I will probably cry the day I have to cut it!

Speaking of being cool, my MIL completely repurposed one of Ben’s old jean jackets! It’s a classic, vintage London Fog jacket that is so beautiful! You cannot find anything like that in stores these days without paying high dollar for a vintage item like that.

It has since been updated with some more patches and beadwork! Here’s a picture of Ben wearing the same jacket as a kid while he was working on his parent’s house!

Ben has always been so handsome! ❤

I haven’t taken a lot of days off since quarantine began in March. It has become increasingly harder for my to take days off due to the volume at work, but also…it’s hard to justify taking time off when you can’t really go/do anything in quarantine. Enough was enough and we went to the sunflower maze that we enjoyed together last year!

We totally took the wrong path in the maze and saw a bunch of dying sunflowers 🌻 rather than perky ones, but it was still fun to see them shine in the sun!

I ended up taking another day off later in summer to go to the Indiana Dunes. I knew Indiana was more open with their COVID-restrictions, but I thought the beach would be easy to social distance. We made it so lowkey: towels, beach tent, and a cooler with JJ sandwiches/snacks. We enjoyed our time there and Waylin did too!

Another “highlight” of our summer was buying a car. Let me tell you…it lasted less than 48 hours! 😂 My husband has owned more cars than anyone I know…hell, even more than an entire GROUP of people I know! He found a barn find: a Monte Carlo.

I told Waylin that it was going to be her car! She liked it a lot, but Ben had different ideas once we got it home. I hope one day we can buy something that the two of them can work on together, just like Ben got to do with his dad!

One of the hardest parts of quarantine this summer has been learning that my mum has terminal cancer. I made sure she was okay with me writing about this, and I plan to write more as time goes on. It was really shocking to hear because she’s been cancer-free from her bout with breast cancer for over 5 years now. We got kiwi bird tattoos not that long ago to pay contribute to that! 🥝

It’s been hard to know what to do with quarantine because family does feel safer with her not being in daycare. And obviously, I want her to see her grandparents that are battling cancer…to spend the most time possible with them while they are still here. If you can believe it, there is a downside to that though…

This picture represents a really hard “mama day” for me. One of those days where I don’t know how to comfort her. I know there will be many more down the road, but this one really tore my heart. On this day, Waylin has broken down in tears telling me she doesn’t want to play with himself anymore. 😔 I had to hold her while she cried and asked me why she doesn’t have any friends. 🥺 I couldn’t help but cry with her. It isn’t fair to her. I do so much to try to balance interaction, learning, and self-play while being respectful of my career and deadlines. I’m exhausted, but I do it for her. What is the freaking end game here? I really don’t know. I do know I don’t want to have to console her sad little heart when she thinks she doesn’t have any friends. A 3 year old shouldn’t be asking that question. Period.

We went to picnic with the wildflowers and do some exploring at a local forest preserve. We found a huge rock where someone laid this flower on it. She told me in so much excitement that it was her friend that left it for her. 💔 I don’t know who did, but it helped turn around the day.

I don’t know if what we are doing is the right thing. I do know that family means more than anything, so that’s the decision we’ve been choosing.

We have also spent a good amount of time with Poppy, Waylin’s great grandpa!

People have so much to say about coronavirus and social distancing rules. You can hear any side of the argument by simply scrolling through your social media feeds. I’ve seen it all. One side’s argument cries out about the rhetoric of loved ones dying in the hospitals without their family surrounding them. I think that’s awful and families should be able to be with each other. I think we forget that there’s a huge elderly population that is also suffering without their family in their homes. I’ve told my grandpa that he can come over anytime to see us and vice versa. It’s his decision and he said he will always choose family too. We always have a great day when we visit each other and I even got to cook him some home cooked lunches which he has been missing. 🥰 I can’t imagine a world where they don’t get to see each other. ❤️

Waylin has been really into puzzles and painting lately, so she roped Poppy into some of that while he has been here too!

One thing Waylin does look forward to is making my coffee in the morning! She does the entire process for me and I think she’s the cutest barista around! She may be a little heavy-handed on the sugar, but my arteries have survived so far! 😂

There are a lot of mornings I have woken up to her saying, “Mama, it’s time to go to Dunkin’ Donuts.” 🍩 We have definitely made the morning commute quite a few times during quarantine. She always gets a chocolate-frosted sprinkle donut.