Stay At Home Zoo Keeper

10/19/2026

Annual Sprangers Orchard (now a part of Schmalz Acres) trip! Pick your own apples, caramel apples and new this year apple c***r slushy that was 😘 👌🏻

It’s been a CRAZY fall with back to school, mom working, transitions, meetings, Poms, neurotypical kid in middle school, advocating for neurodivergent kid, AND the double construction project….but we’re still trying to do the things, make the memories.

10/19/2026

Completely deflate blow up toys for the off season with an air pump.
While it is possible to just let the air out, using a pump will remove ALL excess air allowing the toy to be as compact as possible for off season storage.
🔗 comment PUMP to get the commissionable link right in your DM.

10/17/2026

End of summer means the end of the summer toys like sq**rt guns & reusable water balloons, toy jetski, kites, playground toys, folding pool & the pump for the water table. Helmets won’t likely be used as much, we put them up but not gone.

10/17/2026

Between the snacks, drinks, and sunscreen the collars of these lifejackets have seen better days. Gave them a good scrub, power wash if you have it, dry, and UV sanitizing before putting away for the winter.
🔗 comment LINK to get (commissionable) link for supplies in your DM

10/10/2026

It is about time to turn on the furnace, you may have had to do so already. Make sure to change out that furnace filter to help it run more efficiently and better air quality as we begin to shut things up and get ready for fall.
**hack ☝🏻Use Amazon subscribe and save for 6 months & when they arrive every it’s time to switch!
**hack ✌🏻if you buy in bulk or would rather not subscribe, schedule a task in Skylight to repeat every 6 months. Can’t remember if you did it? Check the Skylight!

10/06/2026

20 year class reunion (for Alex Gloudemans )
First there was Ashley Poppe and I (beauties at one high school) and Alex Gloudemans and Dave (besties at another). Then they started dating (met up at the my cottage), they introduced us and now we’re all still besties and high school sweethearts since freshman year and I’m First Lady to a class reunion for a school I didn’t even go to 🤷🏻‍♀️

09/21/2026

I got to experience another The More Than Project caregiver retreat. I’ve often referenced the poem: Welcome to Holland by Emily Perl Kingsley. I realized this event is like actually planning and going to Holland. We’re all here in Holland with that in common but we still have so many different stories and experiences in the same place- but it’s so exciting to be with people who understand your home place.

I had a view to die for from my front porch bed. I rested, I laughed, I cried, I had all my accessories included at Barbie night. Time with roommates, time with strangers, time with speakers, and time doing art. Pajama party and 90s trivia (only 2 wrong and I can only write so darn fast!) and just like that goodbyes until next year. I won a raffle prize to share with Eddie dog too! And then an amazing welcome home- with the bottom line in my husbands handwriting. Seen, supported, and ready to take a deep breath and dive back into the zoo and classroom too!
📸 almost all the photo credit goes to other people I didn’t take nearly enough, the photo is generated with ai, we didn’t actually go to holland 😜

09/15/2026

We do a weekly reset that includes noting on the Skylight calendar and discussing: lunches for the week, dinners for the week and anything special that needs to be packed or planned for. Want to organize you, too?
✨we do have the paid subscription✨
🔗Comment LINK to get the (commissionable) links sent right to your DM

09/14/2026

09/13/2026

Kwik Trip has $5 baked cheese mountain pizza (cheese&pepperoni) if you order ahead. Bryce was stoked- they have WHOLE PIZZAS?!?!? Our whole family of 5 ate a hot dinner before we ran out the door for the next thing and not one person complained. 🙌🏻