#summervacation2020

Despite living during a pandemic, we managed to have a really great summer vacation. Screw you, COVID-19!

We started things off with a family trip over to Paw Paw, MI, for a nice 4-day weekend with my mom and stepdad. We’d never been to their cabin there before, and it was wonderful. (P.S. All of these trips will have their own gallery since we take millions of pictures, so please click on each pic to enlarge it if you’d like a better view.)

Two weeks later, my dad came up for the weekend to celebrate Morrison’s birthday, so it was fun having Grandpa in town for a few days. (Please see Morrison’s 5-year post for those pictures!) We were home for a few weeks after that, then I took the kids down to my mom’s for a week after the 4th of July. My sister and her kids drove back to spend that time, too, so we all had a great visit and got to celebrate my niece and stepdad’s birthdays. We hadn’t seem them for exactly a year, which is crazy!

A quick half week later, and we went on another family vacation. That never happens twice in a summer, so it was awesome. Our great friends found a last-minute rental opportunity about 3.5 hours north of here in Crandon, WI, so I said count us in! We definitely did not regret it. It was an incredible place with a perfect property and lake for the kids, and we all had so much fun.

A couple weeks after that, I took the kids back down to my mom’s for another week of Grandma and Grandpa days. We were the only visitors this time, and we celebrated Della’s birthday. Another round of relaxation and fun – just what we needed!

We also sprinkled in a couple treat days around here – Bookworm Gardens, hunting for sea glass, donuts and the playground at school, backyard fun (we finally have grass!), the zoo, and I transformed our front porch into a perfect little sitting spot that I love.

So now we prepare for the start to our strangest school year ever. We’ve chosen to have the big 3 attend school fully virtually for the first quarter, because I can’t bring myself to make them the guinea pigs in all this. Our other option was a blended model where students go in person 2 days a week and virtual the other 3, but I’ll see how that works before sending ours in. If everyone stays healthy and school stays open the whole time, we’ll all be happy to send them back to the classrooms with their teachers and friends. But I’m just not convinced it will all work so smoothly right away. I want them back as much as they want to be back, but I also don’t need to take any unnecessary risks. Plus we don’t have an extra room for quarantining!

So, another summer break in the books. And an excellent one at that, even with masks, social distancing, and basically nothing operating like a usual summer. Who knows what these upcoming seasons will bring on all fronts, so I will cherish these last couple days like nobody’s business. Cheers!

Ten!

Della turned 10 a few weeks ago, and I can’t believe she’s in double digits! I always say it, but since we’ve had kids, to me it doesn’t feel like time has flown or stood still. It feels like it’s gone just right. Yes, I can remember the day she was born like it was yesterday, but it doesn’t feel like it was yesterday. It feels like we have known her for 10 years.

She is an absolute dream. (Sidenote: For some reason, it just dawned on me that I think I used to write these age update posts in the first person, like I was talking to each of the kids. Or the direct voice? Whatever that’s called. Geez, I’m embarrassing myself as an editor here. But anyway, I like this descriptive tone better, so I’m sticking with it.) She has a humongous heart, and we could not have ordered a better oldest sibling for the rest of our brood. She cares like a mother, and she takes care of the other 4 without even being asked.

She has become quite the chef! I keep telling her I love to see this, because I have never ever liked to cook, especially as young as the big 3 are. She can make a full meal, dessert and all. They get a monthly kids’ cooking box from America’s Test Kitchen Kids, and she’s all about it. Just the other night she made pan-seared brined chicken breasts with a chimichurri sauce (Morrison got to help with the sauce), chocolate semifreddo for dessert, and Lana made salted green beans with a lemon dressing and zucchini muffins. We were so impressed, because not only did they do it all themselves but it was delicious!

Ryan combined it all and put it over noodles, but that wasn’t how their gourmet meal was originally served. I just didn’t get a picture of the chefs in action. 😉

She’s definitely looking forward to 5th grade this year, and I just really, really hope she gets to spend some of it back in the building since it’s her last year at their elementary school. We’re starting the big 3 at home virtually for the first quarter of this school year, so I can see how everything pans out with COVID-19. If everyone stays healthy and properly distanced and school stays open, we will all be happy for them to go back to the classrooms with their teachers and friends. There’s just no way I want them to be the guinea pigs for it all. Plus, if one of us catches this miserable virus, we don’t have an extra room for quarantining! None of them relished the thought of spending 2 weeks alone in the basement. 😉

She picked up the 4th Harry Potter book again at the beginning of summer, then blew through the rest of the series within a matter of weeks. She loved it! Now we get to work through the movies, which I’m loving, too. I had only watched up through the 3rd one, so I’m enjoying them as much as she is. Math isn’t quite as high on her enjoyment list as reading is, but that’s not exactly surprising. She still loves to ride her bike, play outside, read in her new pod that hangs from the swingset, and play with friends. She’s starting to get to the point where she doesn’t want to play what Lana and Morrison are playing all the time, which makes them and me sad – I don’t want them all to grow up! But every now and then she joins right back in, which they adore. Especially now that she’s read all the Harry Potter books, their trio is back together more often.

Happy 10th birthday, our incredible Della Jolee! You gave me the surprise of a lifetime the day you were born, 8 days early, and my love for you has grown ever since. You are a fantastic kid, peanut, and I know life has wonderful things in store for you. We love you so much!!