Beginning of Fall

Teddy got a RED RACE CAR bed (which he loves to say!). He's a big boy sleeping there for naps everyday now. He's in an especially attached to Mama phase right now, so we are allowing him to stay with us at night for now, but his time is ending soon. 

This was a fun assignment that Juliet had!

We went to the Apple Orchard. Another fun experience that we are glad we still got to have. We didn't do cider or donuts due to the long line and lack of social distancing, but we had a great time picking apples!

There was no dance season and no recital so the girls wore their costumes over to Robin's for pictures. They turned out great!

And now it feels like it's officially fall! We hope to stay safe and hope the virus doesn't get as bad as people are predicting. Fingers crossed!

 

First Day of School!

It was a rainy and gloomy day on the first day--matched perfectly with our moods about COVID still going strong and school being 100% virtual (though we agree it is the safest thing to do!). 

It is Leah's LAST YEAR at Workman and I'm in total disbelief. I remember walking her to her line the first day of Kindergarten like it was last year. This year she is in Mrs. Scott's class. She's off to a great start!

We hope that she can go back at some point and get to do the things she has been looking forward to for years--being a safety, participating in the talent show,  joining choir...

Juliet is in 3rd grade and can officially play on the "big kid" playground. This would have been the first year she was a BIG buddy instead of a LITTLE buddy. 

I never used to let them write out their own boards, but I've relaxed a lot. LOL!

I worked for the first few weeks of school before taking leave. It's a lot to work around the COVID restrictions with kids. With everyone virtual, we decided it was best to not worry about childcare and who can help the kids with troubleshoot technology with both of us working. So, I'm off until January which feels weird. I can't believe how hard teachers have to work to make virtual learning successful! I am so thankful for our school and the teachers there. They are total rock stars. 

Work made the teachers work from their classrooms which was a bit annoying. The girls came with me every day for the first few weeks. It was eerie and surreal to have them in the school as some of the only kids there. A few other teacher brought their kids, too, and we would have "recess" most afternoons. The girls LOVED this and it was nice to see them have a bit of normalcy.

We can't forget about Teddy! He started year 2 with Tina. We love her so much and are so thankful she helps us!

 

Animal Love

Some odds and ends pictures of our animals. We had a gloomy few days when we heard the results of Brain's bloodwork. It was like he knew and spent the next several days cuddling close to us. We believe he still has a lot of life in him and are so thankful that we are home more to devote time to showing him how loved he is. 

Leah and Teddy on a nature walk right after someone accidently threw their baggie of birdseed into the pond and Chris had to find and manipulate a giant stick to get it out before the swan eying it tried to eat it. Good news--he was successful!

Mama Deer brought her baby to eat. 

Brain back in the crib and Teddy thrilled to cuddle.

 

Happy Birthday, Leah Loo

Happy Birthday, Leah! For her birthday she wanted to rent a boat and socially distance on a lake. We went to the Irish Hills area which was only about an hour from our house to do this. It was a nice, clean lake and we all had a great day!

Leah Loo, 

HOW ARE YOU 11? Like, seriously. I remember you and your bangs and your shy demeaner and earnest expressions and mannerisms like they were yesterday. I can still hear you saying "up on Mama". 

But, now you are 11 and it's a weird and fun age where you are still in a child but also dipping your foot into the tween years. It's a fun mix to be able to trust you to stay alone while I run a quick errand and also watch you play imagination games with your sister. I love the age that you are. Can you stay this age for a long time? 

You still love to read. I think you go through hundreds of pages most days. You are still pretty into science fiction type books as well as books about Greek Gods and myths. This summer you read books that I've read and enjoyed, too. Books like The Hunger Games, Divergent, and Maze Runner. It's fun to talk with you about the books and hear your insight. I love when you tell me about the books you read! I don't always follow the plot, but I love hearing your excitement and the questions you have.

You continue to be my old soul. You are responsible and take things seriously. You do your best to remember expectations and don't cut corners. You are kind and giving (not so much so with your sister!). Quarantine has been weird and hard on all of us. You are just on the edge of wanting more friend time and therefore less family time. I feel like quarantine extended family time for us and I'm not sad about that at all. You still enjoy facetiming your friends and talking to them through messenger kids, but you also enjoy nature hikes, family projects, and spending time together as a family. I hope you always keep that! We love your company. 

You love dance team. We let you go back even though Daddy and I don't think it is necessarily the safest thing to do during this time. You love your friends there, and it's good exercise. You are challenging yourself to get both your left and right leg splits by Christmas. You are getting close! 

You lobbied hard to be in Mrs. Scott's 5th grade class and you are loving her! You've got some close friends in your class and are doing pretty well being in school virtually! You understand how to get through the maze that is Canvas. You are ready each morning! Often times you put on a little lip gloss and curl your eyelashes before school. 

Virtual school can never replace real school, so I add a little work on for you and Juliet many days. You absolutely hate this. I tell you that one day you will thank me for working you a little harder. If you read this in ten or twenty years, be sure to say thank you to me. 

As you get bigger we are working on helping out more without being asked. We are working on building your responsibilities at home. You don't always love your new responsibilities and jobs, but we will continue to work on that! It's so important to me that you are conscientious person.

You just started ordering adult meals from restaurants and that makes you really proud! You are expanding your palette a bit and that makes me proud. You ate steak salad a few weeks ago and enjoyed it. We ended your birthday day with a giant ice cream cone from some little shop in BFE. We got Olga's (per tradition) and watched a movie. We are so thankful that we got another birthday with you and got to celebrate as a family. 

We love you SO MUCH! You are an amazing, talented, smart, and beautiful girl. We are so thankful you are our daughter and we love you so much.

Happy 11th Birthday, Sweet Girl! 

 

OBX

We were so sad to miss out on Disney. We just couldn't imagine flying there, to begin with, and then wearing masks in 100 degree heat and missing out on all the shows, characters, and dining experiences. We decided to keep our same dates and go to OBX. 

On the way there we stopped to see the Monster Trucks. Teddy was so excited. One of his favorite words is "MONSTER" said in a very deep voice. 

We paid like $75 to get a ride in a tuck. We thought it was kind of fun and exciting until it suddenly got a bit scary. There were a few times where I was sure we were going to tip over or one of use were going to puke. Chris and Leah had fun watching Teddy and I react throughout the ride. I was glad we did it at the end, but also glad it was over and have no desire to ever do it again. 

Here's Teddy at the end. He's not sure if he's mad at us for putting him in the truck. 

The kids had a lot of fun playing together at Grogan. The pool and hot tub were big hits! All the kids played so nicely and had fun together.

Red Stripe is a very rarely known Jamaican beer. It is also tasty. 

The biggest disappointment of Grogan was the amount of flies. Chris brought back his courting ways and killed as many as possible. 

We got some family pictures. Teddy insisted on carrying around a stick and bopping people with it. I threw it away and he was SO MAD. 

This was the trip that Teddy started sleeping with a few monster trucks. Now whenever I roll over in the middle of the night I hear cars clanking together. I will miss that when I kick him out of our bed. 

Tim was a good bartender. We looked forward to his drinks of the day.