Gardens!

We had plans to pick peaches about 45 minutes away and figured if we were making the drive we'd extend the trip and see what else was around. We ended up finding Schoepfle Gardens, which had a ton of different varieties of flowers and trees and bordered a river. It was so nice to explore and kid-friendly. There was even a carousel although it was closed on the day we were there. I would have loved to spend even more time there but we also wanted to check out the beach before we had to get to our peach picking reservation.

One of my favorite trees!

The kids were experimenting with the camera on how to get the best detail and tried it out on this guy

Paige!

Paige took this picture, she had fun documenting some of the trip

Owen and I were trying to see who was taller. It doesn't look like it in this picture but it's me! For now...

Pat was super excited to find this Redwood!

We were all laughing because Paige's original pose completely blocked the name of this tree

Find Paige! This was in the children's garden

Short stop at the beach!

 

Soccer!

It's a weird feeling to start doing things again that were normal pre-quarantine but now take so much more thought and planning. It's hard to know what to start back up and what to hold off on. Owen has been practicing soccer all summer in a very small group but the decision to participate in a game was a lot tougher. Ultimately we decided to go for it and as I watched the game I felt comfortable with Owen's participation. It was a different feeling in the stands because normally we'd be sitting with friends and cheering on the kids together but we were pretty spread apart. It was super hot too so maybe sitting apart wasn't a terrible idea:)

 

Golfs

We'd already done Footgolf this summer and now we've rounded it out with mini golf and disc golf! Any version of golf is actually a great option for social distancing and we went during the week when Pat was off work so there was really not an issue avoiding people! 

The mini golf place we went to was new to us and was a place I'd heard of and wanted to try for a couple years. It was actually a really enjoyable course to play and I'd go back for sure! We had a few arguments about scoring and how many redos people should get but overall everyone had some success on the course. Pat and Paige each got a hole in one and Owen got a great score overall, he ended up in second place after Pat!

We found out that we actually have a lot more disc golf locations around us than we realized! The one we went to was about twenty minutes away and near a college campus. I'm absolutely terrible at throwing frisbees and we didn't bother keeping score which actually made it really fun because everyone could go at their own pace and not worry about keeping track of anything. I think Pat and Owen might have been paying more attention to their numbers because they took significantly less throws to get through each hole! Paige had pretty accurate throws but needs to get more distance and I'm just hopeless at this point:)

 

Supplies Round 1-Paige

The kids will be doing virtual school for nine weeks so you wouldn't think we'd need many supplies, and we don't, but I still wanted to keep our supply shopping tradition alive! We got a handful of things for Paige like a couple notebooks and post its before we headed out to get our drinks. Normally we'd get them on the way in and shop with our drink but you can't do that and keep your mask on! Paige asked for a strawberry Frappuccino and she was in heaven because the person making it put whipped cream all over it! Inside the cup and on top! I tried a Star drink which was a kiwi/starfruit refresher with coconut milk.

Ready to shop!

Paige wants to work at Starbucks when she's old enough so she was watching how to make the drinks very closely!

Done!

 

My Birthday!

Pat and the kids treated me to a great birthday! They decorated the house and gave me presents in the morning and then later we went on a drive for ice cream at Mason's Creamery. We were the first in line when they opened and the ice cream there is always so good!! I got Mocha Oreo and mint chocolate chip (I actually ordered cookies and cream but I didn't bother getting it fixed because anything there is good anyway!). The kids got bubble waffles with strawberry and strawberry cheesecake ice cream and Pat got the cookies and cream!

On our way home we stopped at a park we'd never been to right on the lake. It was really nice and had steep steps where you could watch the sunset. We weren't there at the right time for that but I'd love to go back!

At the end of the day we went to the zoo for the Asian Lantern Festival! I'd always wanted to go but we hadn't because we were always busy with sports or it was too late at night or we were worried about buying non-refundable tickets and ending up with bad weather. We started off watching a show that had a bunch of acts. There was lion dancing, plate spinning, acrobats and a contortionist. Paige had us all cracking up when she kept saying she could do everything the contortionist was doing. She wasn't far off actually but there were at least a couple things I've never seen her do:) The lights were really neat to see but by the end of the night it felt crowded and we were ready to go home!

 

Recital!

Warning: Children are not socially distancing in these pictures!

Paige's dance company made the decision to schedule a recital but outside where people could spread out and wear masks. The day was HOT and the stage surface was hot too but everyone was so happy the kids had a chance to perform one more time. Parents did a great job of socially distancing and wearing masks and the studio hired an ice cream truck to sell treats. It was such a good day! Paige has always loved recital day and this was no exception. She even got to step in for another dancer who had to miss and perform in an extra dance. She loved performing but also looks forward to seeing her friends and the seniors dance for the last time. 

Ready for lyrical with her buddy Maeve

Maeve, Paige, Maya, Siannah

First dance up was lyrical, "Every Moment"

2nd dance tap, "Baby Come Back to Me"

So happy to be up there!

The whole group had a minute to pose between dances

Third dance was jazz, "Boss"

4th dance was mini line (see red, white and blue costume below). Paige is dressed here for the 5th dance, hip hop-"Schooled." She had a break and got to watch friends perform while she waited

6th and last dance was musical theater, "Bushel and a Peck." She was so thrilled to be asked to help out!

Eating ice cream while watching the older girls dance

All the costumes!

 

Extra Pics

Always an exciting time when Griffin chooses to get near us! Owen is playing it cool but he was pumped.

Yes, we did get Griffin some light up swimming fish to play with and he loved them.

Lights off!

Probably should have been more diligent about checking the state of Paige's dance shoes...I pulled them out of her bag to find them filled with holes and filthy. At least we know she's getting good use out of them! Probably time to get some new ones though:)

 

Ledges

We had intended to go on a hike that would lead us to some waterfalls but a lot of other people had the same idea and we had to change plans! Instead, we took a short trip to Whipps Ledges to explore. It was much less crowded and easy to avoid people there and although we didn't stay long (people got hungry! and hot!) what we saw was beautiful. 

 

Owen

Owen, waiting to go into training. They make every day different and that keeps it interesting for him, sometimes it's weight training, sometimes they're working on speed. He goes twice a week and he loves it! Also, I just really liked this picture. 

Photo editing by Jamie