Doggy sitting!

 I've been trying to convince Steve to get a dog, so he agreed to do a trial run watching Brian's dog.  Brian dropped off Snickers for the afternoon when he and his Dad went golfing.  The kids loved it!  They were both so good with Snickers, Daphne sat with him and gave him his toys to cuddle with.  Maybe we'll be able to get a dog of our own soon!:)

Late Halloween Post

 We had to celebrate Halloween a little different this year.  We did a pumpkin decorating play date with Silas' class and also a Halloween candy hunt play date.  Both turned out really well.  We carned pumpkins at home, which the kids really enjoyed and several people stopped by "reverse trick or treating", so the kids still ended up with a lot of candy. 

Silas dressed up in his Chase costume for his Zoom classes on Friday and Daphne dressed in her Karen skirt, shoes and ears... of course I didn't get any pictures.  I'm hoping work will slow down a little coming up, and I'll be able to do more with them during the week.  

Daphne's Birthday

 We celebrated Daphne's birthday at home with decorations, presents, cake and ice cream.  She was really excited about her birthday and had a lot of fun.  Silas was really great also, encouraging her to open all her presents and celebrating with her.  I'm sad she didn't get to celebrate with goodie bags and her class, but she still had fun. 

Happy Birthday, Daphne!!

 Happy 3rd Birthday to my sweet baby girl.  I know, I know... you are a big girl now, but you will always be my baby.  I love you so much.  You are so sweet and nuturing, yet persistent and independent.  I am so proud of you and love watching how much you are learning.  I'm so sorry you can't go to Eagles Nest this year, but am trying to make our time at home memorable.  You have been so patient with me while trying to figure things out.  I love your silliness and your laugh, it brightens my heart to hear it.  I want us to always be able to tell each other secrets.  

I love you, I love you, I love you.  No matter what.

Mom

Hilltop Park

 We are trying to settle into a routine with distance learning.  Silas is busy most of the day between Zoom classes and homework, while Steve and I are trying to find time to work.  Poor Daphne gets the short end of the stick, yet again.  I signed up for Mother Goose for the whole year, I just really need to find time to do the activities with her.  I wanted to find a time that I can do the crafts with both of them, I really want to make sure Silas has enough free play time and isn't scheduled every minute of the day.

So all the playgrounds are still technically closed, but we ended up at Hillltop park a couple weeks back and were the only family there.  The caution tape around the park had been torn down, so the kids immediately started to play.  I told them that as long as we were the only family at the park, we could play.  They had SO much fun.  It made my heart happy to see them enjoy themselves as much as they did.  Espeicially Daphne.  These poor kids have put up with so much and they keep on going.  They truely are amazing.  

First week of Kindergarten

 Silas started kindergarten this week at Richmond.  Unfortunately, it's still all distance learning and likely will be for the foreseeable future.  He really misses being able to go to school, and Daphne still talks about Eagles Nest and big girl school with Muchacha.  I feel so bad for them missing out on so much....  

New Wheels!

Our neighbors across the street have been cleaning out their garage and brought over some old tricycles their kids were done with.  Silas and Daphne both had fun riding them around the yard, I think Silas really misses the bikes they had at Eagles Nest and getting to ride them.

We have recently learned that Eagles Nest will be closed for the entire 2020 - 2021 school year.  That was hard to hear,  I was really hopeful that she would get to go and learn as much as Silas did there.  I think she would have even been in the same class as Leona and Lilly, so would have been an easier transition for her.  I'll try to arrange some small pod play dates for kids her age so she can still get some socialization.

Richmond will be starting full distance until the governor approves opening schools.  For that to happen, I believe the county needs to be off the Covid watch list for at least 2 weeks.... probably not going to happen this year.   Allison is looking at arranging some regular group activity which would be good.  I just realized today that school formally starts August 26th.... so different than I imagined it would be.  I see how much Silas loved Eagles Nest and I know he would have loved kindergarden too.  I feel so bad for them both, missing out on so much.