2020, August 24-30

An eventful week, this one, with the first full week of school, many trips back and forth in and around town, BYU's annual all-university conference, and other notable activities. 

Mike and Hallie went to the Springville farmers market on Monday. We saw many local crafts and foodstuffs and even bought a few tasty treats.  

Eliza enjoys having Fergus as her fellow classmate. He usually sits next to her and even lets her comb his fur. 

As we were driving home from taking Landon to school, Eliza and Mike saw this cute ladybug car. Ladybugs are Eliza's favorite insect.

Mike "splurged" on a "tapestry." Online image-to-print is amazing and surprisingly affordable! 

He also got some fun pins for him and the kids to put on our backpacks.

And facemasks. 

To help with her fidgeting, Eliza had little tubs of thinking putty and Play-Doh. She challenges herself by making tall sculptures. 

For recess, we'll take rides along Hobble Creek. This week, Eliza would skate while Mike rode his bike. On Monday, we rode to the library and got some books and videos. We also rode through some rough burrs, and Mike's tire sprung a leak. He thought it was just a slow leak, as has happened with the kids' bike tires, and that generally worked. However, on Friday we discovered that if we take too much time riding around and enjoying the stream, the tire will go too flat to ride on. Fortunately, they were only about a mile away from home, so it wasn't a terrible walk. Eliza raced back to get the pump, but somehow we missed each other as she came back. Once Mike walked the bike home, he searched for her by car. An eventful early afternoon, for sure.  

We had a bit of excitement on Saturday afternoon when we saw black flames erupting from across the freeway. Turns out there was a fire at the Springville Transfer Station (the local dump). 

We have spent the last couple of weeks following along with Taika Waititi and friends as they read Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach (one of Mike's all-time favorite books from his childhood) for Partners in Health. We finished the series on Sunday, and now it's time to read the book (and watch the movie) again! 

We wished Diamond a happy birthday and visited some with her and Caleb in the afternoon. We then had dinner at G & G M's later. As we were leaving, we noticed that the van's tire had gone flat. Fortunately, it was a slow leak, and we were able to pump up the tire and drive home. It just means that next week already promises more of the unexpected. 

2020, August 17-23

The dog days of summer are in full swing. We had multiple 100+ degree days this week, and the heat is expected to continue. We started school, such as it is, and the kids got the all-clear to go back to gym. Woo hoo! 

Landon had a preview day on Monday, which involved shortened class periods, getting to know his new teachers, and reconnecting with friends, some of whom he hasn't seen since March! He said of some of them, "They're gorillas now." COVID summer growth spurts? Low voices?

Because he goes to gym, he doesn't have a PE class at school. This means he gets to start school late with Period 2. We waited a bit for 1st Period to end, and then the boy was on his own. Try as they might, social distancing was not happening among the kiddos. Masks were more common than not, though. 

Eliza earned an ice cream at Zeppe's after we tested her for Covid-19. In the end her results came back negative, and Eliza was a trooper at the test. We are so proud of her.

For date night, Mike and Hallie went to Spilled Milk, a cereal-themed ice cream truck in Orem. It was so hot that the ice cream was melting in the shop, and the poor servers had to bring in fans. We had tasty confections made with creative ingredients. Hallie drove and by the time date night was over most of Hallie's ice cream was a puddle, some of it even on the floor of the car.

We experienced a bit of drama with one of the couches in the evening. Some food had spilled on a couple of cushions, so we removed the slip covers, as we have done many a time before only to discover that the feathers had leaked (read, "exploded") from the top layer of the cushions. 

Unending carnage! Feathers everywhere! Eventually we did manage to get the cushions washed and restuffed (after a fashion). Hallie's got an excuse to go furniture shopping. We're eventually aiming for a beach cottage theme for the downstairs again. Mike is great at cleaning up the messes that appear around here. Hallie told the kids in the morning that Fergus attacked a chicken. There were even feathers all over the grass in the front yard.

Wednesday marked the first day of the new school year. This girl will do her schooling online with Dad (and Fergus)! 

And this boy will attend school in person (unless circumstances change).

Don't they look thrilled? 

The office has been repurposed as a classroom. Fergus sleeps all day, happy for the company and cuddles. 

We do fun things like blow bubbles and ride bikes and do home chores and cook for recess. 

Eliza does lessons on the Chromebook and a whiteboard with some live and some prerecorded lessons while Dad supervises and puts in his two cents. Here she's doing some brainstorming for a freewriting activity. 

The fires in California have led to strange sunsets. 

The girl gets hold of one of the parent's phones, and chaos ensues. Eliza loves the camera, and what can we say? The camera loves her too.

More silliness from the sweetie pie. 

The object of her inspiration. 

Portrait of the artiste as taken by her father. Earlier this week Hallie was looking for a hat and Eliza found a hat that used to fit Landon. For a while Hallie had a fancy for Goorin Bros. hats and here is one of their fine hats on Eliza. Eliza has worn it many days since finding it.

Hallie started her new job. It's definitely a departure from her old job at Westside. By the time Friday arrived Hallie was very tired for most of the weekend. Working with 7 severe special ed students is no job for the unfit. Hallie is hoping that this job kicks her health back in gear. 

More silly candids. Only Eliza can get stuck in parts of our vacuum.

Landon thought it was so funny to see Fergus covering his "private" parts today.

Mike carved out some time for a little art before the new semester starts with University Conference on Monday. 

In all, it's been an eventful week! 

2020, August 10-16

This was our last full week of summer vacation! NOOO! We were on quarantine for a bit of it, but we managed to get out. 

Diamond and Caleb sent Eliza a Rey Pop! Doll to celebrate when Eliza legally joined our family nine years ago. 

Hallie took Eliza and Lily to the grands to jump on the trampoline. There was a little sprinkler action added to the heat of the day and they had a great time.

If you're going to wear a mask, have fun with it. We got Marvel-themed ones a little while back. Mike likes his Hulk one particularly. Hallie thinks the mask is great!!

Thursday, August 13, was International Left Handers Day. Mike drew some arms to celebrate for fun (in friendly and vaguely militant varieties). Here's to those who bear the smudge without a grudge! 

He went on campus and saw new signs in preparation for fall semester. They're cute. 

Hallie had an in-service day for her new job. She got presents! It was great that her lead teacher Mijken made sure that our team sat together. It made the first day a little less overwhelming.

We received some troubling news on Thursday. Someone at the gym tested positive for COVID-19, so now we're on quarantine. Our neighbor Julie brought over yummy cupcakes -- Eliza's favorite, red velvet. We didn't get a picture but our cute neighbor Hannah brought us over chocolate cake and now Hallie is beginning to understand why people gained weight during quarantine.

Fergus takes quarantine well. He'll sleep right through it. 

The rest of us are kind of bummed about it. Landon is drowning his sorrows gaming with friends and punching his bed. 

Dad got out his Transformers from the garage. This brightened Eliza's spirits. Three of the four of us have spent a bit of time with the toys that are new to us again. 

We also did a couple of family activities to get us outdoors. On Saturday we had s'mores out in the alley. On Sunday we went on a ride through the Alpine Loop, stopping at Timpanogos Caves and hiking around a bit. It has been quite warm in the valley, and it was a nice time to get out. We finished out night with yummy burgers from In-N-Out. Landon finished a 3x3 -- he must have been hungry!

School starts Wednesday for three of us, and there is a bit of apprehension, especially from Hallie. This next year will be interesting to see how it all unfolds.