September 2020

 Hello school year!  Due to covid both girls started school with mandated distance learning.  We were given the options of in person school and virtual school, each for the full year. We chose the in person option but are not able to go back until "our county deems it safe;" therefore, we spent the first three weeks of September at home 100% online with the girls doing Zoom for 3-4 hours a day.  

The girls are doing well online but it's definitely much harder on them...the teachers....and the parents.  We are all wanting them to go back in person and we're hoping that will be sooner rather than later.

We celebrated our anniversary with a family weekend getaway to Newport Beach and the girls loved the hotel life.

With my parents still in town Robert and I were able to sneak away to Las Vegas for a quick adults only vacation.  It was so nice and a very much needed break after the first couple of days of homeschooling (speaking of, huge shoutout to Nana who was able to keep the girls on track and complete their distance learning while we were gone!).  Vegas was a trip, very quite and dead compared to what it is usually like. We had a great time though, basically doing nothing but laying in bed, hanging at the pool and enjoying good dinners.

Mila turned 8 this month and is such a little delight.  This age is so great, where she is pretty independent but still loves being with her mom and dad.  I am trying to soak it all up before she hits her pre-teens!  We celebrated her birthday with a water slide in the front yard, which was the perfect covid way to celebrate.  She didn't want a cake but opted for Neapolitan ice cream instead.

We also celebrated Robert's birthday as well, but in true Dad fashion we didn't get any pictures of his day!  The girls did make him coffee and toast on the special birthday plate and then we celebrated with dinner and presents.

What we're looking forward to next month: being back in school?!, annual Crystal Cove camping trip for Robert's birthday, San Mateo camping trip with the entire CCA (Cypress Camping Association)!

Mila's 8th Birthday Interview

 Birthday Interview

***Mila is 8 years old***

1. Who is your favorite person in the whole world? Mom and Nellie

2. What is your favorite color? Turquoise

3. What is your favorite television show? Loud House

4. What is your favorite outfit? shirt/shorts or my Hawaii dress

5. What sport do you like best? soccer

6. What song do you love? Old Town Road

7. What is your favorite cereal? frosted flakes

8. Who is your best friend? Jillian

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

10. What is your favorite book? the body book

11. What are you really good at? soccer

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

13. What is your best memory? walking around the house looking for dad (honey? honey?!)

14. What would you buy if you had $1,000? a car

15. What vegetable do you hate the most? brussel sprouts

16. If you could have a wish, what would it be? to loose all of my teeth

17. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? bubble gum

18. Who is your biggest hero? Dad

19. What do you like to do best with your friends? monkey bars at school

20. What do you hope you get to do before your next birthday? go surfing

August 2020

 When I first moved to Southern California I heard all kinds of things about the Junior Guards program and, to be honest, I never thought my kids would participate because I don't like the beach or the ocean and I figured they wouldn't either! How wrong I was.  What I didn't know was what an amazing program it really is:

Students gain a wide variety of skills and knowledge including:

• how to enjoy the beach safely;
• ocean and wave education;
• area familiarity;
• first aid and CPR;
• water rescue techniques;
• the importance of keeping physically fit; and other topics related to lifeguarding

This valuable experience builds self-confidence and skills for life.

Here in Huntington Beach the program doesn't start until age 9 but this year they did a pilot program called Junior Groms that models Junior Guards but is for 5-8 year olds.  They started out with one week and quickly added two more; next year they plan to offer a full six week camp with both morning and afternoon sessions; we can't wait.  Among other things, Mila learned how to surf while at camp and Nellie actually got in the ocean for the first time in her life to swim and boogie board; they came home with all kinds of fun facts about sharks and tide pools and Nellie even swears she got stung by a stingray!

Because of their new love for the water, the beach days continue!

We had two camping trips this month, the first one to Paso Robles, which was so nice but SO hot but, unfortunately due to COVID, you could only reserve a one hour per day time slot at the pool.  We went to a couple of wineries and, while the kids were troopers, we decided next time we go it will be an adults only trip!

Our next trip was a neighboorhood camping trip to San Clemente; we had never been before and it was a really cute spot. We actually have another trip planned there in October with our Cypress camping group.

We surprised Mila with an early birthday present....her own surfboard! She was SO excited but has yet to ride it because the waves weren't good the weekend we were there.

Mila has had four wiggly top teeth for a couple of weeks now and really wanted them out. After banging them on a chair at school one day she asked if Jenn, our dental hygenist neighbor, could come pull them out! I didn't actually think she would want to go through with it but she did!

Things we're looking forward to next month: our 10th aniversary!, Mila's birthday and party, Robert's birthday, a quick adults only getaway to Vegas, oh, and the start of school (but I'm not sure we're actually looking forward to that!).

July 2020

I started July off with a haircut, which was thrilling! Somehow I managed to time it just right to the week that salons were open here in California, before the govenor shut them down again due to coronavirus. 

We spent the 4th of July weekend having fun in the neighborhood and even ventured out from our little circle to hav a bike ride with Mila's friends; however, I was much more anxious there, around all those people, much more than I expected to be.  We ended up leaving right after the ride and retreated back to the safety of our block.  The girls had fun, though, and I am glad we went to make 4th of July look somewhat normal.

Pre-Covid our neighborhood goes OFF for 4th of July and we knew this year would be no different. One of our neighbors had a blow up water slide, another neighbor's band perform and a group of neighbors had their usual giant (illegal) fireworks display.

Mila went to real big girl summer camp, a beach volleyball camp, with her friends, Kira and Taytum. She loves volleyball and hopes to continue playing in the fall.  

We have been spending many of our quarantine days at the beach; the girls are turning into little fish and getting braver as they get older!  One of the days we were at the beach the fire boat showed up and gave us a show, everyone loved it and gave a standing ovation when they were done!

We went and watched Alyssa at her dance competition in South County, where we had to watch from outside due to COVID, but she did amazing and was so happy that we were all there to support her!

Robert got together with his two best friends from high school, Russ and Dusty, and we even planned an adults trip to Vegas at the end of September. Fingers crossed we actually get to go!

Nana and Papa arrived mid-month and we were so excited to see them!!  They drove out to California from Kansas and even brought out desks from Ikea for me that were sold out in California and lugged them all the way out here. Nana and Papa always save the day <3

They weren't here for much more than a day or two when we dropped the kids off and headed to our first date night since February!  We met up with Aimee and Matt in Laguna Beach and had a great time.  Wearing masks and having to order food every where we went couldn't stop us from having a good time!

We ended the month celebrating Roscoe's 10th birthday!!! He's such an old many now and we love him so much. I can't imagine life without him and all of this extra time at home has really spoiled us all.

What we're looking forward to next month: Jr. Guards program for the girls and camping trips to Paso Robles and San Mateo.