First half of the summer we spent with family down south. The words that sum up our time there are swimming, cereal, zoo, family, friends, and watermelon. Lots of watermelon. I say this all the time, but we are so lucky to have friends everywhere we go. Our Tennessee friends are the best, and always show us a good time. They are so good about planning activities sand inviting us. I always look forward to meeting up with them. We all pick up where we left off. It is wonderful for me and the kids to have friends like this. The first week of July all my family was in town, for bits of it. Everyone was there for the wedding, and it was the first time in several years we have all been together. I am grateful I got to spend sometime with all of them. I got to spend a lot of time with my youngest brother. The kids had a lot of fun playing with him, and he is really missed. My sisters were really great and celebrated my birthday with me. We did a lot of shopping, and it was so fun. I am lucky to have my siblings. My parents took the kids on their annual camping trip. It was Rapha's first year going. They had a blast. It is something they look forward to every year. Enjoy the little video at the top of some of our summer highlights. It might seem like we were doing a ton, but we took it a lot slower than we usually do.
Trying to convince her to stay longer.
Adding to our Susie and Alfred collection. We are crazy cat ladies in the making.
On our way to pick blackberries.
Bird watching on the back porch. They got really into it.
Family paper chain activity for FHE.
Finished our summer reading!
Our summer gang.
Chick-fil-a cow appreciation day.
Shaking our cow tails for free food.
Cosette was wearing this dress for a play date. After we got there, they came down the stairs twinning. When your friends think a like.
Best girls night out! Tacos, bowling, and ice cream in downtown Knoxville. These are only a few of the ladies that make my summer so great.
Seeing Incredibles 2 for the third time. It was still funny.
Brothers from other mothers.
Henry packed this sweat shirt with out my knowing, and wore it at least once a week. He loves it. I thought he was crazy for wearing it in the summer heat. He never complained, and dressed himself, so I never complained.
Visiting Grandpa. The kids helped me pick out new flowers for his grave. I got some lilies, because Lilly's were his favorite. Specifically Tiger Lilly's, but they did not have any, so white had to do. Love you Grandpa. I think about you often.
Dairy Queen on our road trip back to the city. It is our road trip tradition. And I drove back by myself! I was terrified, but I did it. Conquering some fears. Now I feel so much more confident about driving in the city. I pretty much only drive when I am in Tennessee, so doing a long road trip like this by myself felt daunting.
I am grateful for this wonder summer tradition of ours.
We made it to Manila! We flew over the US and the Pacific Ocean to get here. Our total travel time was 55 hours. It was long but surprisingly not bad at all. Cosette was an angel and the Haneda Airport in Tokyo was like a hotel. If those two things had been any different attitude in writing would not be so positive. This odessy of a journey begun way before our first flight. Packing up our apartment for our subletters took a lot longer than we supposed it would. So instead of being refreshed and ready for the long trip over we were tried and I did not want to get out of bed. We got enough sleep to keep on going till our flight from NYC to San Fransicso where we tried to rest. That flight for me was the worst. Cosette did sleep but was up for a lot of it. The plane was cramped and Lyndon and I were seperated by the aile. Thankgoodness for kind and patient people who sat next to us. Playing at the San Fransico airport. Our flight to Japan was awesome. We had a
Remote learning is over for now, thank goodness. We have been doing remote learning since March 20. We are experts at google classroom, zoom meetings, and google meets. It's been rough, but we did it! This post is long and detailed about what each kid had to do everyday for school. It was intense. The kids did wonderfully. Their teachers are amazing! They worked around the clock to learn all the new technology, meeting with students individually. I received personal phone calls from them asking what they could do to help and also talking to my kids. I am so grateful for the teachers they had this year. All three kids participated in remote learning. Each grade/teacher did something different. What they all had to do was answer and attendance question by noon, read for thirty minutes a day, and I-ready (an assessment program that helped determine where they were in math and reading). Third Grade: Cosette's assignments were what she was doing in school. She completed two huge
Happy Valentine's Day! This has become one of my favorite holidays in the last few years. This year especially I am really into it. It probably has to do with my sweet Lyndon who proposed to me on V-Day four years ago. Since then he has made Valentine's Day a fun and special day. He always surprises me with something fun. Usually we go eat some where fabulous and go see a ballet or opera. He likes to do something cultural on this speical day. This year I am getting into the spirit more. Cosette can do a lot more things. We made special Valentine's for our families and made yummy cookies. She kept sneaking cookie dough and eating it. She is my daughter. The finished product waiting for Lyndon. I went to the Cake Boss Bakery last year to get Lyndon something for V-day and was inspired to make the dark chocolate bowls filled with chocolate covered strawberries. It was a lot easier that I anticipated. Oh, and that cloth on the table are the pajama pants
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