December 2020

 Happy December!  We have been trying to get in the holiday spirit around here but the weather has been so nice that I always forget how fast Christmas comes because I think it should be cold in order to celebrate!  Nellie had a Zoom holiday program that we really enjoyed, we were able to sneak in a visit to Santa and I had endless hours of serenades during work while Nellie was distance learning!

Nellie turned 6 this month! It was so fun that her birthday was on Friday so she got to celebrate with her friends at school AND it was the last Friday before Winter Break so it was a lot of parties and fun!  She had her first real birthday parties with friends this year, too, which was great. When I asked her what she wanted to do for her party she said "paint a cat" so we had a painting party!

Unfortunately my sister and her family had to cancel their trip out here; the girls have been dying to see William for months and this was a perfect way for the Browns to surprise them and celebrate Christmas as a whole family but it just didn't make sense with everything being shut down and state-suggested quarantine upon arrival.  Now we are shooting for their trip next July so hopefully we will be more back to normal by then (I'm not holding my breath though!!!)

We celebrate Christmas with our neighbors and had a great time. We recently learned that our direct next door neighbor will be moving in April, which is super sad for all of us. They are keeping their house and renting to their friends so at least we know we will get along with them!

New Year's Eve was pretty quiet; we didn't plan on doing anything and then last minute randomly all ended up at the same house. The girls rang in the East Coast New Year's and had a blast with glasses they made at camp and sparkling cider.

Things we're looking forward to in January: I've got nothing!

Nellie's 6th Birthday Interview

 Birthday Interview

***Nellie is 6 years old***

1. Who is your favorite person in the whole world? Valentina

2. What is your favorite color? Blue and white

3. What is your favorite television show? Loud House

4. What is your favorite outfit? Cheetah clothes

5. What sport do you like best? Soccer

6. What song do you love? Red Kingdom

7. What is your favorite cereal? Lucky Charms

8. Who is your best friend? Valentine

9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Petsitter

10. What is your favorite book? Gaston

11. What are you really good at? Singing

12. Where do you wish you could go on vacation? Hawaii

13. What is your best memory? Spending time with mom

14. What would you buy if you have $1000? a phone and airpods

15. What vegetable do you hate the most? Mushrooms

16. If you could have a wish, what would it be? Being rich

17. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Birthday cake

18. Who is your biggest hero? Roscoe and Dad

19.  What do you like to do best with your friends? play on the playgound

20. What do you hope you get to do before your next birthday? get my nails done

November 2020

 I thought maybe if I never did this post I could pretend it never happened...but that's not the case. After 10 amazing years we lost Roscoe this month.  It was so hard on all of us but, all things considered, it happened in the absolute best way possible  I thought about writing about it in here so that I would always remember and one day the girls would know how it happened; but I honestly don't want to live through all the details again, no matter how sweet (but equally devastating) they were.  Robert and I were with him when he died and I am 100% confident that he knew exactly how much he was loved. We were so lucky to have him for all of those years.

The girls started November surfing and playing at the beach; November might be one of my favorite months of the year because you think it should be cold but somehow we end up with 70-80 degree weather every day, it's the best!

Speaking of good weather, I was fnally able to make the trip to Minnesota to meet Whitney's baby, Calvin!!! I was supposed to go earlier this year and that was cancelled due to Covid but somehow all the stars aligned and I was able to make the trip this time.  They were having a heat wave of 60 degree weather when I was there, which was awesome, especially condering they got 14in of snow the week before I came!  Cal is the best baby and it was so great to see my best friend! We didn't do much but sit around, talk/watch movies, drink wine, eat good food and hold Cal...basically the best trip ever!

Someone was excited to see me when I got home though ;)

Mid-month we went camping with the Charlands at Camp Pendleton, which was an amazing trip. You have to be active or former military to get on the base so it was a pretty special trip; we definitely can't wait to go back!  We were so close to the beach and it was the perfect amount of cold early in the morning and in the evening but warm enough for the beach during the day.

Mila started a basketball league at a local church and has had a couple of practices and one game; it's hard to find any activities that are open so I am glad that she's able to do this.  Nellie is really loving school and adores her teacher and friends, she's so cute when she talks about the kids at school and her new bestie, Valentina.

Other notables this month: Mila lost one tooth and pulled out another one, we had our quarterly Cypress wive club dinner, Nellie performed a Thanksgiving performance for us, we had a birthday party at the beach, a great Friendsgiving with our neighbors and time in Palmdale/Helendale for Thanksgiving.

We ended the month by putting up our Christmas tree and welcoming our Elf, Lucy, mask and all!

What we're looking forward to next month: a surprise Christmas trip from my sister and her family! Nellie's 6th birthday and Christmas!

October 2020

We're back in school!!! Well, part time but it's a start!!  Covid numbers decreased over the month and starting the last week of September we moved into a hybrid schedule where the girls are at home doing independent (i.e. Mom is the teacher) online learning Mon-Wed and in person school from 8am-12pm on Thurs/Fri.  

I didn't think it would be worth it but seeing Nellie's face when I picked her up made it worth every single minute we spend online. She was SO happy to be in school and now really gets what Kindergarten is like.  Knowing that they get to go and see their friends and teacher and have things be back to normal is what gets us all through the Mon-Wed online schedule.

We spent the first weekend in October camping at Crystal Cove for Robert's birthday. It is so beautiful there and one of our very favorite spots to camp.

The weekend before Halloween we went camping with six families from the police department in San Clemente. As always, we had a blast and was even able to get in some pumpkin carving as well.  Nellie carved a cat and Mila carved a puppy, both turned out so well!

Robert was selected for the Homeland Security Task Force Officer of the Year, which was an amazing honor, especially since this was the first time the award was given out.  Unfortunately family members weren't allowed to attend the ceremony due to Covid but we were able to watch online and go out for dinner that night to celebrate.

We closed out the month with a fun Halloween celebration in our neighborhood, along with a friendly chili cookoff (that I won!).  

Mila and Nellie have been loving going to the beach with friends and playing the water; we're so lucky it stays so warm through October around here!

What we're looking forward to next month: Megan's trip to Minnesota to meet Cal!, camping trip at Camp Pendleton and Thanksgiving with the family.