A walk, a fox, a fallen loaf...

We went for a walk this afternoon, as is our habit. I really needed to be getting ready to head to the dentist, but I wanted to squeeze in one more faux-spring walk before we're hit with a wet and rainy cold front. 

These little daffodils are in for a shock! I'm glad the ones in our yard haven't yet made an appearance.

Here's documentation that Zoë is growing taller and taller and taller (and, yes, Zoë—you are wearing the pants that Rachel wore to DC that one time she forgot all other pants).

Zoë, Benjamin, and Alexander split off from me, Phoebe, and Miriam. They can typically go a lot faster under these (Phoebe-free) conditions (she's got short, little legs), so they beat us home. 

Incredible, considering yesterday I said, "Okay, when you guys get home you need to clear off the table so that we can move on to our language studies..."

And the kids somehow managed to get home after me instead of before. 

Today I didn't ask them to clear off the table to do more schoolwork. Instead we were heading home to have lunch. So they were moving at a decent clip and were quite a ways ahead of us. 

Suddenly my watch (and my phone) started buzzing with notifications. The kids had seen a fox and were terribly excited about it.

(Note the weather! 20°C (68°F)!)

"Oh!" I told Miriam and Phoebe. "The kids saw a fox!"

"WHAT?!" Phoebe shrieked. "A FOX?! On our street?!"

"Yes," I said. "A fox...on our street."

"I didn't even know those guzisted in real life!!" she exclaimed. 

Considering one of her favourite animals has been Grogu (a fictional StarWars character) for a large portion of her life, she justified in feeling somewhat skeptical about the existence of creatures. Plus, a lot of her knowledge of foxes comes from Minecraft, which she know is pretend. 

She simply hadn't really considered that Minecraft is a blend of real (bees, axolotls, llamas, sheep, pigs, foxes) and pretend (creepers, ghasts, Endermen, Piglins). Or she wasn't sure where to draw the line between what was based on reality and what was imagined in Minecraft. 

So she had all sorts of questions about real life foxes and how they compared to Minecraft foxes. What was it doing out and about during the day? Why would it want to hunt rabbits and squirrels? Is it dangerous? 

She decided it probably was, ran the rest of the way home screaming, and then stood at the door shouting, "Get in! Get in! Get in!" before slamming it shut behind me and preparing for...I dunno...battle with the foxes?

(She began building a fort in the living room...for safety). 

This was funny to me, so I texted my family, and boy am I glad I did!

My mom pointed out that building a fort might not be enough protection from a fox. They are notoriously sneaky creatures. This alludes to so many animal stories—Br'er Fox, Foxy Loxy, Fantastic Mr. Fox. The fox appears in many of Aesop's fables. 

Wise, cunning, a little bit tricksy...these foxes. 

"She can defend herself by saying, 'Swiper, no swiping!'" Uncle Patrick texted. "I learned that from TV."

Unfortunately, Phoebe isn't well-versed in Dora, but Benjamin thought that was hilarious. 

Then Josie chimed in with, "Or she could say Ring-ding-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding! Gering-ding-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding! Gering-ding-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!"

That's from the song "What Does the Fox Say?" which the kids decided should be played full blast while we were making sandwiches—for Phoebe's benefit, of course. 

"Your family is amazing!" Benjamin told me (which I told them). "They just come up with the funniest stuff!"

I think it helps that he's been raised to appreciate that kind of humour (since I also appreciate that kind of humour), but it's true—my family is quick with witty comments. And aren't we so lucky that we can share little parts of our day like this?

We also got to see Rosie's most recent ultrasound pictures (she gets a lot of ultrasounds because of her MS—these were 3D ultrasound pictures and, let me just say, you can already tell that baby is adorable—pretty incredible technology). We also got to hear about how she and Austin prepared 27 freezer meals today (very impressive). 

I have never been that on top of things when I've been pregnant. 

Or...not pregnant. 

So, like, ever. 

I have simply never been that on top of meal planning.

And I may have bemoaned that fact to Andrew.

"That's okay," he said. "You don't have to be."

We all have our things that we're good at, that's true. So it's fine if meal prepping isn't my thing. 

I did make some pumpkin bread this evening. We're going to a birthday party tomorrow and the family asked for no presents. Instead they asked for help with the food. They'll be getting pizza and providing the birthday cake, but they had a sign up for some sides and drinks and things...which...I kind of think is genius. That way people still feel like they're contributing to the celebration but also...I just...I think sometimes we over-emphasize gift-giving in our culture so I like to see efforts to challenge that norm. 

Anyway, I signed up to bring a "side" dessert. My freezer is full of pumpkin. So pumpkin bread it was. 

I have made this recipe a billion times before (I...rather enjoy pumpkin bread) but for some reason it didn't rise right, and even fell a little in the middle. I doubled the recipe, so it was four loaves of bread and they all just...didn't rise well.

Perhaps all the heaviness from the past few days...settled on those loaves...and they just couldn't hold the weight. Who knows?

Whatever the case, I kind of bemoaned the status of my bread when I brought them out of the oven.

"It's okay," Andrew said, supportively. "It's not too late to make a new dessert."

"WHAT?!" Miriam choked. 

"It's...not too late to make a new dessert?" Andrew repeated.

"RUDE!" Miriam said. "I'm sure it tastes fine!"

"I'm sure it does, too!" Andrew said. "I'm just trying to be supportive!"

"Supportive by...telling me to make a different dessert?" I asked (teasingly).

"Supportive by saying that if you wanted to make a different dessert, you could!" Andrew panicked. 

"It's literally for a four-year-old," I said. "Once I cut the bread and put it on a plate, no one will even know it didn't rise properly. It'll be fine."

"Can I taste it to make sure it's good?" Miriam offered. "It smells great. But, like, just to be sure..."

So Miriam had a piece of warm pumpkin bread.

The taste checks out. It'll be fine for the party.

I have no idea what we're having for dinner tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure we'll be learning about foxes in our homeschool lessons next week...just so all my children are aware they're real.

See? I'm pretty good at planning some things...

(Also note: The Fox and the Hound and the Pax series, both of which contributed to Zoë's love of foxes. Maybe we should have Phoebe watch The Fox and the Hound. She would love it...and cry so hard...)