Mornin’ friends.  How were your weekends?  We had a pretty nice one.  Peanut’s birthday was on Friday, and I took the day (mostly) off.  All she wanted to do was open her presents early and spend the day playing, so that’s what she did.  The weather on Saturday was a little gloomy, but we managed to squeeze in a hike at Riverbend Park – quickly becoming a local favorite – and spotted a new bird for Nugget’s and my life list: a common yellowthroat!  (At least, I’m pretty sure that’s what it was.  I can’t find any other possibilities that resemble the photo I got.)  The rest of Saturday was spent poking around the house.

On Sunday, we were back at Riverbend Park to explore in a different way: by kayaks.  We’d discovered that the park rents out single and double kayaks (as well as canoes, I think) and signed up online to rent a couple.  Nugget wanted to paddle with Daddy this time, so I got Peanut, who brings the drama every time we are out on the water.  This time, it was because a (harmless) spider dropped into the boat.  She freaked out and started trying to scoot away from it, and almost turned the kayak over.  I was less than pleased, because it turns out Riverbend Park has a strong current and a lot of big rocks right under the surface.  It was definitely the most technical water I’ve ever paddled, and it’s hard enough to tackle that kind of water, let alone in a heavy two person boat where your companion is not paddling at all, and then tries to stand up and get into another boat and almost dumps you in the water.  I had sympathy because she was scared – even though it was a totally harmless spider, like I said – but clearly we are not going to be paddling Riverbend again with the kids.  Bummer!  Anyway, the rest of the day was more chill.  I squeezed in a run (at the hottest part of the day, and I wasn’t feeling awesome) and spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch with my book – not too shabby.

Reading.  Good reading week!  It was a busy week of juggling work and kiddos, so workweek reading was slow, but I finished up Delta Wedding on Saturday morning.  Review coming soon!  Then I blazed through The Silver Branch, the second novel in Rosemary Sutcliff’s ancient Britain series, and loved it every bit as much as the first in the series – The Eagle of the Ninth.  (More on this below.)  Finished the weekend with the summer issue of Slightly Foxed, because it occurred to me that my copy of the fall issue will be arriving before long and I’d better get through the current issue before it becomes a back issue.

Watching.  One of the reasons I didn’t read much during the week was: I was watching the Democratic National Convention coverage.  I didn’t watch Monday, because I forgot – any suggestions where I can stream Michelle Obama’s entire speech? – but I watched every minute of Tuesday through Thursday, plus pre- and post-convention coverage.  Whew!  And for something completely different: because it was Peanut’s birthday weekend, she got to pick the movies for family movie night (within reason: no Polly Pocket, something everyone will enjoy, please).  On Friday, she chose Finding Nemo, and on Saturday, it was Toy Story (the first one) – solid choices.  So: political convention, plus Disney movies.  About sums up the current life stage, doesn’t it?

Listening.  I burned through several back issues of The Mom Hour podcast – while driving to and from the supermarket, putting away groceries, doing dishes, and running.  Finished up a couple of half-listened episodes (must-have winter gear for all ages; fall fitness update) and listened to a bunch that I’d been meaning to get to (another batch of listener questions; a grab-bag of topics; and must-have beach and pool gear).  Now that I don’t really commute anymore, my podcatcher is more out of control than ever and I’ve totally given up on ever catching up with it.

Making.  Not much.  Peanut mentioned wanting to bake an apple pie for her birthday so I went out and got the ingredients, then she changed her mind (sigh).  I’m sure I made dinner a few times, because I always do, and I made progress on unpacking.  Trudge, trudge.

Moving.  Back on the horse!  After a week of mostly just chasing the kids around – nothing formal – I had a pretty active weekend.  Hike on Saturday, very difficult paddle on Sunday, and I knocked another virtual 5K off my list: the Leesburg 20K/10K/5K.  It’s a local race that I’ve always wanted to run, but it went virtual this year.  I planned to run the 10K distance, but since I ended up going out at 1:00 p.m. when it was full sun and 90 degrees, and my stomach immediately began to churn, I decided to drop down to the 5K distance.  It was an ugly run, but I got it done.  I have a relay coming up this weekend, so I will have to keep up with running a little better this week.  Rest day today, then back at it tomorrow.

Blogging.  Finishing up August content this week – how is the month almost over?  I’ll have themed reads for you on Wednesday, on a topic to-be-determined.  And then a long garden update on Friday.  (I actually did some chores!  And a few things are growing!)

Loving.  Two bookish things to tell you this week: first, I finished unpacking and organizing my bookshelves, and my reading area is coming together!  I have a few books that are going into overflow shelving in the family room, but other than that – it’s all done, and doesn’t she look good?  I spent Saturday night reading on the couch with a candle and a glass of wine, and it was everything.

(Image source: Slightly Foxed on Twitter).  Second, my copies of books three and four in the Slightly Foxed Cubs’ reprinting of Rosemary Sutcliff’s Ancient Britain series arrived this week and I could not be more delighted.  I pre-ordered the entire set over a year ago: books one and two were published on September 1, 2019, and books three and four have a release date of September 1, 2020 – but they turned up on my doorstep early, lucky me!  The above picture is of the four editions together, and I assure you that they look even more beautiful in person.  AND – it gets better – with the package containing my books was a letter announcing that they will be publishing three more of Sutcliff’s Ancient Britain books in series with the first four – in March and September, 2021, respectively – and that they were reserving my limited editions for me, unless of course I didn’t want them.  Don’t want them?!  I logged into my account immediately to confirm that of course I want them.  And then I grabbed book two to read over the weekend and tore through it – so good.

Asking.  What are you reading this week?