Happy Holidays, Covid style!

Dear Maya and Emi, 

Well, as predicted in the last blog post, we didn't get together with our whole family for Thanksgiving. Or Christmas for that matter. And we didn't get to sit with Santa and tell him our wishes. Or lots of the other traditions we're so used to. But we did try to squeeze some holiday spirit into these last 6 weeks.

We ordered yummy Thanksgiving meals from a restaurant and had a relaxing day. 

We picked a pre-cut tree that was wrapped up so we couldn't tell the shape until we got home. And it turns out it was one of the best shaped trees we've ever had! We decorated the tree and the window.

We had a big snowstorm and played outside. 

We went to a light parade featuring Santa in a plexiglass box on a firetruck! 

Emi, you lost your other front tooth just in time for Christmas!

We set out milk, cookies, and hand sanitizer for Santa. He left snow tubes, stuffies, toys, clothes, books, and craft supplies. Then Mom and Baba gave you new wallets with gift cards! Baba also picked out a great marble roller coaster kit that he enjoyed putting together for you (and himself!) You also got awesome instruments, crafts, books, remote control cars, and Lego kits from your aunts, uncles and grandparents. We got to visit with them on Zoom on Christmas night after a quick masked and distant visit with Nanny in the afternoon. Whew, even with these Covid restrictions you two were shown so much love from our family!

Well, the holidays may be over but the fun is still continuing! Grandpa got a Covid test so he could come visit for your birthday, Maya. And we're planning some small ways to celebrate you turning double digits in just a couple days. WOW!

Love you both!

Fall 2020 Wrap-Up

 Dear Maya and Emi, 

Whew, this last couple months will be a bit challenging to pin down in a single blog post but I'm going to try. It's been busy, it's been strange, it's been frustrating, it's been beautiful, and it's been exhausting. Here's what we've been up to:

We managed some semblance of our annual extended family apple picking outing. Luckily we found a new orchard to go to that was almost completely free of people! It was good to see the family and to see you run around with your cousins for a little while. 

School has been interesting. Maya, you've learned to roll with the punches (i.e. major internet issues) and do really well with your remote learning. You've got lots of homemade 'stress toys' at your desk to keep your mind calm and hands busy when you're listening to lessons and audiobooks, etc. 

Emi, you're having a harder time online. You get upset when you can't find materials right away and sometimes walk away from the computer. However, your desire to read and learn is still strong so it'll be okay. Also, you now love practicing your ukulele and even playing in 'concerts' via Zoom. Yay!

And of course you guys have been playing outside a lot as always. We've had a truly beautiful fall with amazing colors and lots of really warm days. The one day we had a little snowfall you two made a couple snowmen, but within a week we had temperatures around 80. Yikes!

Maya and Emi, to the milkweed seed pods: Ready...

Set...

"Merry Fluffmas!"

Also...Halloween! You guys really challenged us this year with your costumes. Maya, you wanted to be your favorite Pokemon character, Raikou. We bought a yellow dress, you made a tail, and Baba made you an amazing mask. Emi, you were a Pokemon trainer named Dawn, which wasn't too hard to put together from clothes we already had in the closet. We went 'trick or treating' to just a few houses--grandma's, Matt and Rhi's, and a teacher who lived nearby. It was safe and fun if short-lived. 

Well, I guess that about sums it up for this blog post. Oh, except to say that Joe Biden/Kamala Harris won the (never-ending) presidential election and that (never-ending) Covid-19 is back on the rise. As a result we already know that our whole family won't be getting together for Thanksgiving this year, so my next blog post may not be until Christmas. Fingers crossed we'll be able to celebrate that somewhat normally. But thank you guys for being so understanding about this rough year. I love you so much!

Summer 2020 Wrap-Up

Dear Maya & Emi, 

Since there was no summer rec program this year, mommy thought summer break was going to feel super long. Surprise! It flew right by. As I type this you're both in separate rooms at newly set up desks with your school Chromebooks, Zooming with your teachers. 2020 is really a different animal!

The unicorn birthday gifts kept coming

The night after my last post, we had planned to do a princess photo shoot, Maya. But at the last moment you said you just wanted to dress normally and be yourself. That's so like you! We tried out this new location and then went out for ice cream. 

This summer you guys spent 2 weeks at Grandpa and Lori's house instead of one. I don't have many photos of that but there was an alligator sighting! On the way home we spent a couple days hanging out with our friends Nora, Rebecca and Tony and we saw some cool farm animals with them, too.

Speaking of animals, we've been seeing some since you've been back home, too. We've been dogsitting Bridgette, and then we went to see 5 day old twin baby goats the other day at a friend and teacher's farm. How adorable!

The rest of your summer days you've kept busy, too. You've been playing indoors (legos, crafts, board games, etc.) and outdoors (lots of bike riding, using this tropical storm downed tree chunk as your own personal jungle gym, etc.)

That brings us to today, the first day of school. Our district actually has in-school instruction but allowed families to choose remote learning for the first quarter. For a variety of reasons, we chose that option so you'll be learning over Zoom with your teachers. Fingers crossed for a smooth quarter!

Well, I started writing this post during the Zooms but couldn't finish until the end of the school day and I have to say, there were lots of tears. Getting used to remote learning is going to take some time, even if we were doing it in the spring. But you guys are smart and strong so we'll get through it together! 

Love you both!