Gobble gobble, 2020 style…

Mommy: "How is the salad?"
Isla: "It's way more than delicious!"

Thanksgiving was a muted affair this year, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t special.  Instead of big family meals we made the our first Thanksgiving dinner with the kids.  Ashlyn, James, and Isla all helped prepare the food, and Pepa gave everything his seal of approval.  It would have been great to have all the family together, but I’m still thankful that I got to spend Thanksgiving with the best family anyone could ask for.

As tradition dictates, the Christmas decorations come out when the Thanksgiving leftovers are stored.  Being stuck at home due to the pandemic must have made the kids restless because they have never been so interested in putting up decorations.  Everything went up in record time, and everything was finished with Isla putting the star on top of the tree.

Isla is reading like crazy, and is often asking one of us to read with her.  This usually means us listing to her read and correcting the occasional new word that she gets wrong.  It’s a lot of fun right now getting to watch her learn.

Camping and a birthday…

"I want to go off the trail like we would if we were climbing a mountain."
-James

This weekend we went camping again and James finally got to go on the hike he’s been asking for since the last trip.  We started to follow the trails from the beach to the camp but James decided it would be more fun to leave the trail and make our way through the forest.  He was given a general direction and he found the rest of the way on his own.  He turned out to be a pretty good navigator and even found some deer to watch.

Most of the camping experience happened at the campsite of course.  Ashlyn learned how to use her legs to walk on water, James discovered a way to remove his legs entirely, and Isla found ways to be everywhere in the camp at the same time.  We stayed two nights this time and the kids all agreed we need to do it again.

Pepa’s birthday was also this week.  While we didn’t get to have a big breakfast indoors like we would normally do, but we were able to make the best of it under the circumstances.  The kids had fun making birthday cards and Pepa enjoyed receiving them.  Happy birthday Pepa!

Soccer season ending, and in-person school beginning…

"Stop fighting, balloon is the President!"
-Isla

James had two soccer games this weekend, the first one was on Friday and it was a night game.  Because a few kids were out due to sickness or injury, all the kids on James’ team played the full hour.  Needless to say, they were tired at the end but they played a great game and James played hard.  Even though he plays a mid position, he drove the ball down and almost scored.

The next day the kids were back out on the field, and like the Friday game they all had to play the full hour.  They were noticeably slower for the game but they put in a good showing considering they had little rest and the other team was able to sub throughout the game.  This was the last game of the season, but they are hoping to join a few tournaments over the winter break before the Spring season starts.  We’re glad to see James continue being so interested in soccer, he kicks the ball all over the house (and the walls) and has shown no sign of slowing down.

Isla shut down the school issued tablet, put on a backpack, and joined her older siblings in going to school in person.  She was nervous and excited at the same time and tried to hide from pictures.  She said she had fun and she liked her teacher, so we’re off to a good start.

A soccer and gymnastics weekend…

"Ninety percent of this game is half mental."
-Yogi Berra

Isla had her last meet of the season this weekend and she was counting down the days leading up to it.  She had a strong performance, and as always said she had fun afterwards.  She’s now officially a level 2 gymnast and will start learning the next set of skills in the coming months.

James’ soccer season is nearing it’s end, and he continues to improve each game.  He put in a lot of extra effort over the past week and was rewarded with more playtime.  He’s getting more aggressive with the ball and we expect this will continue as his confidence and skills grow.