An End of Summer (Socially Distanced & Masked Up) Get Together

Public school starts on Monday for many of our friends who are going back in person. Before all the kids are exposed to all the other kids, we wanted to get everyone together. We will miss our outdoor get togethers once the weather isn't so nice.  

 

Spruce Mountain

The kids and I have been taking lots of hikes, "adventures," we sometimes call them; most people would probably call them short walks on flat surfaces in the woods. The boys have a walking limit of about 200ft and 205ft, respectively. I can usually convince SlimJim to keep walking for a mile or so, but at the 205 mark, he starts asking when he can go in the backpack. And with a three year old's concept of elapsed time, no matter how long I ask him to walk, he continues to ask, "now?" every 21 seconds. Our weekday hikes have to be short enough that I can have both boys walk most of the way, and take turns carrying them for a few minutes.

Today, last minute, we decided to get in the car and go for a real hike with Daddy. A hike up a mountain. Because there would be two grown ups to carry the boys. 

The first hour of the hike was fantastic. The weather was perfect, the woods were beautiful, plenty of snack breaks, lots of nature to explore. The boys found a frog, we looked at mushrooms and fallen trees, and we enjoyed the walk. 

The next hours were a bit more challenging. When we realized, after the first hour, that we hadn't even made it a quarter of the distance to the top, we knew we'd have to carry the boys. Mr.T. was insistent, for once, that he walk on his own. If he was going to be carried, it certainly wasn't going to be in the backpack meant for a one year old. Finally, we ended up with Mr.T. in the big kid pack, SlimJim in the baby pack, and we started climbing again. The girls did a great job- LittleL.G. bounding like a gazelle, and MiniM.E. keeping up a good pace. Though everyone was pretty tired by the end, we made it to the top. 

This hike afforded no view unless you climbed the fire tower. The kids were super excited. It got to be too high for LittleL.G., but she was super brave and made it to the top. I was charged with Mr.T. and as I climbed the steep wooden steps with no risers behind him, my gut instinct as parent was to HOLD ON! Mr.T. had other ideas, and any time I even touched him he would throw a whole-body screaming fit right there on the steep narrow stairs. I might have had a mini panic attack as I pictured my youngest child slipping through the stair treads and falling completely off the fire tower. Looking back, I'm 99% sure the most he could have fallen was half a flight- still traumatizing, but not as terrifying, but at the time I was not thinking rationally. So Daddy had to rescue Mr.T. while I crawled like a baby to the top. 

We made it. Daddy took a picture to prove it. Then I realized he was holding the baby, watching the toddler and taking photos, so once again, panic ensued. 

Daddy brought the baby down. Carrying by the male parent is obviously more acceptable. The girls did a great job navigating down. I helped LittleL.G. and SlimJim. With kids willing to hold my hands, I finally calmed down and managed to get a couple photos to prove I climbed the tower. 

Great hike, beautiful view, lovely weather. We will not be hiking a firetower again in the next few years though!

Another Week

We were lucky to have a three day weekend, after surviving the first week of school. Gram and Grumpy came for a BBQ and some kitty cuddles.

 

This week has been equally as challenging. While it has been hard to get into the swing of things for school, at least the kids are still having fun together when school is done!

We Made It!

...to the end of the first week!

It may have been ambitious to go for a five day first week. By today, everyone's patience was waning. I could tell the girls were tired of learning and the boys were tired of the new schedule. Even being so tired, the girls worked hard all morning and finished strong with a science experiment and a history lesson this afternoon. 

To celebrate, we drove to the natural playground at Hudson's Crossing Park. Sadly, it hasn't been maintained well this year- COVID maybe? The kids didn't seem to notice. We saw the locks at work, which was terrifying (who thinks two railings, 6' from the river, are enough to keep observers safe?!?!) but awesome. 

The kids played on the slides built into the hills for at least half an hour, and they could have stayed and played the rest of the day!

Hard at Work

Almost halfway through the first week of school. It is exhausting, but new schedules and routines take time to get used to. They are working hard! Everyone is going to need the long weekend.

The First Day of School!

It's hard to believe that we are starting a new school year with a fourth grader, a first grader and a preschooler! This year, especially, we are feeling so fortunate that we are homeschooling. It's going to be a wild ride. 

This photo sums up how I expect the year to go:

It took me 15 minutes to wrangle everyone to the same spot, close enough that I could fit them in the frame.

I instantly started taking as many photos as I possibly could while shouting ridiculous things, making silly faces and telling jokes to try to get everyone to laugh, while also reminding the boys to stay there and look over here. 

Within 30 seconds, the boys had disappeared and were off playing.

This is the best I got:

It was much easier keeping one kid in line at a time, the girls being the easiest. SlimJim couldn't be bothered with a first day photo and only wanted to play with an umbrella. Mr.T. didn't need a first day picture, so he only has photos with his umbrella.

We made it through day one. I wouldn't say, "nailed it!" But "made it!" is good enough. 

A Socially Distanced Birthday Party

They are so strange... We hung out in the yard and the garage, since there was a chance of rain and we can't hang out inside. We could never hang out in our garage, but this was an organized, clean, three-car garage decked out with streamers, lights and a piñata!

We all had a great time.