Halloween

 Halloween was different this year.  I was actually hoping to get out of it all together, because it's not my favorite holiday and usually a lot of work to put costumes together.  But we did get invited to a brunch with two families.  Costumes were recommended, but sort of at the last minute, so we didn't have time to get costumes together (although I guess Weston and Savannah's were ready; I didn't think eating brunch wearing a costume would work very well, and I was just feeling lazy about wearing costumes).  I thought we still had a costume store in town though, but when I went over there, it had closed down.  So I'm not sure where we would have bought a costume last minute.  Anyway, we had tons of yummy food, the ones in costume did a little parade, a bob for apples (in separate containers), and we just hung out.  Our friends have a Newfoundland dog.  I don't know if they call him their bear dog or if our kids made that up, but he's definitely large like a bear.  He's so easy-going as well.  Weston wanted to just lay on the dog, and the dog had no problem with that.  

And it turns out that Nathan, Jared, and Owen got invited to a party on Halloween night.  Again, I had heard about a get together but didn't think it was going to be a costume party.  We dug out a pirate costume for Jared, an elf costume for Owen, and couldn't come up with anything for Nathan... so we made a "No Costumes" sign and he was a protester (which was fitting for this year).  Weston and Savannah dressed up for a friend lunch at the park.  Weston wanted to be a hobbit, which we only had to cut off a pair of pants for his costume.  His hair was already pretty good!  I spent some time on Savannah's costume.  She wanted to be Mulan.  I looked on Amazon, but they were super expensive, so I attempted to make something.  I couldn't find anything at the thrift store that looked Chinese, so the only thing I could think of was drawing on fabric.  So I ended up sketching 2 dragons and then cutting those out and hand stitching them on another piece of fabric.  I don't feel like the time required to make it was worth the one lunch outing where people actually saw it... but she liked it, and she did wear it Trick-or-Treating.  However... no one even really saw her costume.  I should have let her wear it to the brunch.  Trick or treating this year had to be just a bowl of candy left outside.  We couldn't knock on doors or hand out candy.  Some people got creative and made a candy chute, where kids could catch the candy being sent down a chute.  Most people didn't do anything.  Some people left candy on a table by the curb or in a bowl on the porch.  It's just not as fun when you don't see other people or say "trick-or-treat".  A lot of people just turned off their porch lights for the night, so it was pretty dark.  We saw very few other people out there.  It was the most depressing Halloween night ever.  Savannah still managed to get quite a bit of candy.  The people doing the candy chutes were sending about 10 pieces of candy (probably since a lot of people opted out of trick-or-treating all together and they weren't getting very many kids coming by).  We went to 3 or 4 of those candy chutes.  Weston didn't want to go of course.  He hates candy.  So it was just Savannah and me wandering around a mostly dark neighborhood, grabbing a piece of candy from the bowls left outside.      

We didn't do pumpkins this year either.  

 

More outdoor adventures

 I sometimes don't get all of Alex's adventures in, since the pictures on my phone serves as a reference for me, and I forget about some of his things.  Here's another backpacking trip from March.  Alex took Nathan, Jared, and Owen on an 18 mile trip, which turned out being way too much for Owen.  He did it though, and it will go down as a memorable experience with Dad.  Part of the problem was they didn't realize how many times they'd have to cross the creek.  They started out taking their boots off so they wouldn't get wet.  Then someone came by and told them they'd have to cross about 30 more times... they stopped taking their boots off and walked through the water in them.  So obviously their feet started getting wet. Here is what Alex posted on FB:  " We decided to go backpacking (we had planned to go with two other families but decided against it to honor the virus precautions). Our original spot had a high of 31 F with snow, so we went to a lower elevation location two ridges over. We went just over 18 miles and over 2200 feet of elevation gain to Manzana Schoolhouse and west Hurricane deck. Proud of Owen - he pushed through very sore ankles - 18 miles ain’t bad for an 11-year old. We saw it all, 33 river crossings, hail, rain, snow, sun, and even a little bit of ice on the tent in the morning. But it was nice to have the nearly 800 km of San Rafael Wilderness almost to ourselves - we only passed 4 other groups in the two days we were out there."

And then more adventures from November and December: Matilija Creek and Mojave Desert. Alex took all the boys, plus a few friends on these ones. Aside from our 3 mile family backpacking trip, Matilija was Weston's first trip with the guys. It was still only about 3 miles roundtrip, but I think it was fun for him to be with Dad and all his brothers.

December trip:  "One of the silver linings of the COVID has been all the time we have been able to socially distance outside. This week, we spent three days out in the Mojave Desert. We went to a lava tube cave, Kelso Dunes, and Banchee Canyon. It was cold at night but perfect during the day."

Another birthday

 My birthday was full of yummy food, cards, and some new piano books.  I've really enjoyed the extra time to play piano.  The kids started requesting me to play at bedtime - favorite songs are Fields of Gold, Goodnight, and Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

September camping birthday

 We had a really hot weekend over Labor Day, and with no A/C at home, we decided to try to go camping again to get a little cooler temperatures.  We didn't have any luck finding an actual camping spot; they were all taken (and probably reserved a while back for Labor Day weekend).  However, we were able to just do dispersive camping along side the road.  That meant we weren't able to have a fire and we had no bathrooms.  It was still pretty warm, the flies were a little annoying, and I didn't care for using the bathroom outside.  We also forgot to pack the camping stove... so we drove in to eat fast food the first night (before we were able to buy another one the next morning).  I'll admit it wasn't a very fun weekend, but it was probably better than sitting in our 95 degree house.  AND it was Alex's birthday weekend, so we all tolerated the conditions.  Alex got his requested meals after his birthday, so it worked out well for him.

 

Fall School

School started again in August.  I don't think anyone was excited about doing school at home, but I knew that if the kids were still doing zoom meetings in the fall that we would fully home school.  I never thought I would do home schooling, but I knew it was the right thing to do right now.  School has been so unpredictable and so many restrictions with a possible return to school.  I wanted consistency and flexibility and control over what they were learning.  I know the teachers did their best in the spring, but I don't think the kids learned very much.  

Nathan and Jared stayed with the school zooms (11th and 9th grade); they're fully independent and responsible for showing up to their classes and doing their work.  Owen (6th), Weston (4th), and Savannah (2nd) are doing school with Mom.  It took a little while to work out a schedule and get a routine.  We also had to rearrange the rooms a little bit.  Nathan and Jared needed separate spaces, since their zooms are at the same time.  Alex is still working from home as well, so he set up his office in our bedroom.  Nathan is in his and Jared's room, and we moved Jared into Savannah's room.  We moved all her toys and things out so she could play during the day.  We have desks in the dining room for Owen, Weston, and Savannah.  They rotate subjects so that I can help where needed and they can do the independent things on their own.  We're using The Good and the Beautiful curriculum for Language Arts, handwriting, science, and history.  We use CTC Math online, as well as Prodigy (which is a math game).  They're also doing Typesy, a typing program.  We do the full curriculum on Monday-Thursday and have a light day on Fridays (reading, journal writing, and scripture study).  We added 20 minutes scripture study to the daily schedule; they do that before they start school.   The scripture study has been good for me too, because I'm preparing study guides for them.    

Once we got the routine down, it's been pretty stress free.  No trying to hurry out the door in the morning or be on time to zoom meetings.  We start whenever we're ready.  The kids have also been running on MFW mornings, so the consistency is nice.  Usually we start school around 9:30 or 10:00.  They do 20 minutes of scripture study and then about an hour of school.  After a 30 minute break, they do another hour.  Lunch is 1.5 hours, followed by about 30-45 minutes of school.  So they do about 2.5 to 3 hours M-Th, with no additional "homework" and done by 2:30 or so.  

They have done pretty well.  Savannah is ahead in her schoolwork.  She went through a whole year of Language Arts in a semester, so she is ready to start the next level.  Weston probably struggles the most, but I think he is doing okay.  It's nice to have older brothers to help with math sometimes.  Science has been a favorite, and we even watched some of the Nature series on Disney Plus sometimes, since we were talking about mammals.   

 

20th Anniversary

We left the kids home alone overnight for the first time so we could take a quick trip to celebrate our 20th anniversary.  The kids had fun because they got the snacks and treats they wanted, as well as getting to do pretty much whatever they wanted for a couple of days.  Alex and I enjoyed our kid free time in Monterey, CA.  It wasn't very crowded at all due to Covid.  Of course there was no indoor dining allowed, no movie theaters or museums or other things open.  We did outdoor dining for one meal and take-out for the rest.  We enjoyed running in the morning and walking along the pier.   

Outdoor adventures

The end of July and beginning of August, we did some more backpacking and camping.  Alex took the boys and two of their friends on a 10 mile backpacking trip to Kearsarge Pass in the Eastern Sierras.  

 

As a family, we did a week of camping in a few different spots - Tahoe, Lassen National Park, and the Redwoods.  I love the giant trees; they're so majestic.  One hard part of the trip was taking the dog with us.  She couldn't go on the trails in the parks, so we had to take turns waiting with her in the car.