Ending Summer Break

Even though the family reunion was cancelled, we still had the opportunity to visit many of the same family members during our visit to Grammy & Granddaddy's house (and the beach). We still planned to be mostly isolated after the visit (just in case) for a week after we got home. However, several family members are now sick (testing still in progress, but it's not looking good). We are now going to self-isolate for 2 weeks for the safety of others.

So here's the second half of our summer break so far:

June 29th - visit to Memere and Grandpa's to celebrate Gideon's birthday before beginning our pre-reunion isolation:

June 30th - visit to DeeDee & swim at Aunt Libbi's pool (also visit with 2nd cousin there)

Exhausted from a busy day

July 1 - Mom decides to rearrange house again (might as well - we're keeping to ourselves until after vacation!) Seth comes in from yard work to show us a snail he'd found.

Trying to decide how to arrange the girls' room?

(Alee and Natalie wanted separate beds instead of sharing the queen bed, so we gave the queen to Seth and gave them the 2 twins that had been hanging out in Carolyn and Kaitlyn's room the past few months since the last change.)

Found the most agreeable arrangement. We don't have matching quilts that they like so we took some unwanted ones and put them upside down on the beds. Natalie has already taken another comforter we had and replaced hers. Alee is still looking through our quilt and comforters for something she likes.

I wish their closet had doors, but I dislike bi-fold doors more than an open closet, so we'll just have to work on making the closet look better since it's open all the time. (We had curtains, but that made it hard to get things out all the time.)

Natalie and Alee are now sharing a dresser because I couldn't fit but one in the room. (It's a really weird room because it's got a closet that takes up most of one wall and a large "opening" to Gideon's "room" that consumes another wall, so we limited furniture placement locations.)

Seth got the queen bed and Natalie's dresser. His room needs work, but I have little motivation to help him since he won't keep it neat anyways.

The family reunion that would have been the next Saturday was cancelled, so we decided to visit my brother's family in NC for the weekend.

July 4th weekend

We thought their new kitten would be a problem for my animal-phobic children, but it turns out, only Gideon was a little hesitant, and he went from hesitant to threatening in a matter of 36 hours. Poor kitty.

We were so glad to be able to visit with them (we see them barely more than once a year). We hadn't yet met their newest baby, and Brittany and I enjoyed time talking about kids and homeschool and life.

We celebrated the 4th with simple at-home fun and good food.

The chocolate chip cookies were SO good. The kids wanted another...and another...

No one was quite as brave as expected for the sparklers!

After Church at home, we made the long drive back home for another week keeping mostly to ourselves until beach vacation. (We decided not to lift our isolation since we would still be visiting family and going on a trip to my parents and grandma.)

Meme by brother and a sleepy ride home.

The following week didn't go quite as expected, when Alee started running a fever Monday night/Tuesday morning. We had seen 3 different families in the past week, but none were sick.

Nervous to make a trip to visit family and bring germs with us, we took Alee to the pediatrician on Gideon's birthday (Wednesday) to have her tested. 

Thankfully, she tested negative for both COVID and strep. Her fever also was gone Wednesday morning, and we celebrated with Gideon

Gideon was excited to get his own scooter and be allowed to play with playdough again.

Six of us worked on his cake.

It was very exciting to have it turn out so well! (We changed the plan about 3 times. This picture was taken before the #95 got added to the bolt.)

Saturday we packed up to go to the beach. We also put out the trash, including a toy we've had since Seth was 2 years old. It's always been a favorite, but it's got cracks in it that are unsafe. Goodbye little inchworm riding toy. 

Sunday we were able to visit with Jean's family and Grandma.

Monday we enjoyed some pool time. Kaitlyn likes to make believe even in her teen years.

Gideon asked us to read the "No, David" books so many times, he memorized them! I was glad to leave those at Grammy's house!

We visited Grandma at her apartment. Seth embraced beach hair, and my brothers memed it.

Tuesday we went to the beach. (My mom was on a work call about school re-entry plans at the school she works, so I listened in.)

Enough work - beach time!

We went to the beach where my aunt and cousins and grandmas were staying for the week so we could visit with them on the beach.

Most of the time there we did go to the pool (so much cleaner than a sandy beach trip and going early AM meant we had the pool mostly to ourselves). Gideon got very brave and starting "swimming" in his "froggy suit" all over the pool.

One more trip to the sand one calm evening

(Everyone got a beach shirt to bring home from Grammy and Granddaddy. I love t-shirts.)

My kids:

Seth  - the fisherman and beach bum

Kaitlyn - the sand sculpter

Alee - the shell collector

Carolyn - the unpictured

Natalie - the surfer

Gideon - the runner

All this sun time is exhausting!

 

We collapsed as we arrived at home (well, after unpacking - I have to unpack right away!)

Now I'm in preparing for school mode, starting with set up. This table will be our "work table" - or one of several. I assume we will have kids spread out throughout the kitchen, office, den, and dining room.

 Alee and Carolyn will be homeschooled (this year and beyond). Seth and the twins will stay "in public school" but participate virtually from home. Gideon will be doing some preschool at home this fall (nothing big, but little activities like I've done with the others.)

I was going to start our school year aligned with public, but as public can't make up their mind what they're doing, we will go ahead and start the first week of August. I wish I could homeschool them all, but Seth is a senior this year and so close to graduating, that it's just simpler (for him and for me) to keep him in school and finish with a state-issued diploma. The twins could be homeschooled with a lot more preparation on my part, but they want to participate in the music programs they are in, and we are hoping "normal" will return by the end of the school year for them to do so.

Sadly, we have had contact with those we love who have since gotten sick and tested positive for COVID-19, so we are self isolating for the rest of the month of July. 

We are praying for them, hoping we haven't gotten it too, and winding down summer break.