Team Smith

 We missed our annual trip to Reno-Tahoe this summer. Such a bummer! Lucky for us, we have great friends who take wearing masks and social distancing as serious as we do, allowing for a social distance camping trip! Separate camp sites? Check. Separate meals? Check. Social Distance friendly games? Check. Everyone in a mask? Check! It was our first trip away, overnight since February. And wow, we really needed to be outside! Dark sky and shooting stars, volcanoes, trees, owls, and tricky squirrels made for a lovely weekend.  Some of my favorite games the girls made up were obstacle course, shadow tag, and shadow puppet dragon tales. We canceled our DC trip because it seemed too risky for everyone. We only booked these campsites three weeks ago, and while not the same, it was definitely a relief to be outside, interacting with loved ones. On our way home we stopped at three different water falls. Highway 138 has 15 different stops! It was worth the extra time. 

  Fall used to be my favorite season. For the most part it still is. Living in the PNW, I have come to crave the summer sun. We have had real sun for a little over a week. That warm, blue sky, run through some sprinklers, stay up late sun that makes you thing better days are coming and anything is possible.  Baking continues! Our neighbor gave us some rhubarb and these strawberry rhubarb tartlets were a hit! I love a light corn chowder with bacon and shrimp in the crockpot. And blueberry muffins with duck eggs! Best muffins I think we have made all summer. Matt and I continue to work from home. We scheduled a real lunch hour, drove 15 minutes to a farm, and picked blueberries for these muffins. We picked enough to freeze about a pound! I shared on facebook that we have been saving and planning to take the girls on a long roadtrip in a few years. We made our first big purchase- a used travel trailer. I'm so excited to get in there and demo this weekend. A local shop is going to clea