Six year blogging break!

 

                      

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This week was crazy. On Tuesday we waited and watched the votes for Trump and Biden roll in, even the kids were interested in everything that was happening and wanted to watch the TV with us. We went to bed without a winner in sight and turns out we wouldn't know till FRIDAY. We had voted together on the Friday before during early voting and Zara was curious about the candidates. She asked lots of questions in the car and she predicted that Biden would win. She said that we should give him chance because everybody deserves to have a chance. Well, she was right. Biden and Harris pulled off a win and there are lots of celebrations going on right now across the country. This election was emotionally stressful mostly just because so many people were extremely vocal, especially on social media, about who they were voting for and if you don't vote for that person then you are an awful human being. Lots of aggressive words and things I think that people generally wouldn't say if they were talking face to face. This whole thing has made me think about starting a podcast for Tampa where people would be interviewed about why they are running and their top points. It would be nice to have a way to learn more about the candidates. 

While we were waiting to find out who the next president would be we did lots of fun things and tried to soak up all the nice weather. It's finally starting to cool down to the low 80's and sometimes there is even a breeze. We spent some time at a local park that we hadn't been to in a while. We enjoyed exploring the trails and finding ponds with lily pads. Lot's of time at the park this week, Leo is getting brave and crawling around the play structures. He even ventured down a slide all on his own, though I think that by the end he wasn't so sure about his decision. 

On one exceptionally cold morning (68 degrees) we ate breakfast super fast, threw on our coats and drove with the windows down to a paved path behind our old house to see the horses. I actually didn't get any pics of the horses, oops. When I rolled the windows down Hazel yelled "Hold on to your seatbelts everybody!" it was so cute and she amazes me everyday with how much she can say and express herself. The kids picked sticks and asked me to tie long pieces of grass to them to make fishing poles that entertained them all the way back to the car. We made it back just in time, the temps were back up by the time we got home. 

Yesterday we finally buckled down and worked really hard to organize the garage, since we moved to the new house the garage had been kind of crazy. The kids played in the driveway and backyard while Leo napped. Dusty hung the bikes and we got rid of tons of stuff we never use. Now Dusty can park his car in the garage! When Covid started one of my friends gave me some cds by Lauren Berkner and we've been listening to them nonstop for months, they are really cute. Lately while the kids are playing or drawing I will hear them start singing her songs and it is really sweet. As soon as we were done with the garage we hopped in the car for an afternoon lunch at Red Robin! It was the first time the kids had been in a restaurant basically since March and they were super excited. We got fried pickles, even Leo loved them, and all the kids got milkshakes. The restaurant wasn't too busy and everyone was spaced out. It was really fun to get out again all together!

Today is Sunday and Dusty has been going to church now for a while. The kids and I stay home and watch on zoom. Last week he took Hazel with him and this week was Eli's turn. When Eli decides that he wants to dress up he goes all out and it's really cute, he does his own hair and everything. He was excited to go with Dusty. After we watched church the girls and I went out to the front porch to watch the birds. There were quite a few neat ones today! A family of Sandhill Cranes that live in our neighborhood, parents and two kids, were back at our pond. They rotate between a few ponds in the area. We also saw some Wood Storks that I hadn't seen before, they are white with a little bit of black, we had fun watching them swing their beaks back and forth in the water looking for food. I've been trying to start this whole Charlotte Mason nature journaling thing and it never seems to work out. But, today I told Zara to run in and get our notebooks and some pencils and we sat out there and drew the birds. We had such a great time. We've been doing picture study during our  morning time where we look at one work from a painter and lots of times I'll just ask them "tell me something you see in the picture" so today after Hazel had drawn some lines on her page she walked around asking us "What do you see in the picture?" it was so cute. 

The kids loved playing with a huge box that Dusty got for his birthday, Dusty turned 36 this week!! The kids loved getting him a gift and picking out cards. I think Dusty was excited to receive a few camping related gifts for some trips he has planned this winter. Anyway's, they turned the box into their hideout complete with lights, pads for sleeping, books and toys. Eli even step in it this weekend during the kids sleepover (every weekend since this summer the kids have slept together in the playroom and call it their sleepover). 

Leo is getting brave and taking more and more steps everyday but what he really seems to excel at is climbing up on things! In the cabinet, up the stairs, the chair, the little table. He loves it! He is a really fun kid to have around. Zara started reading the book of mormon, by herself, without any of us suggesting it and she likes to tell me that she is almost to Nephi 2. She is a great big sister and really enjoys reading. 

I've been trying to read more here and there. This week I enjoyed a fun book called Tender to the Bone by Ruth Reichl, she talks about all the food memories she has growing up. Her mom was a bad cook and it gives me hope that at least I'm not that bad! I've also, been watching The Great British Bakeoff with a friend, it's nice to have something special to look forward to every week. I started a book called Let Them Be Kids and so far it's a good reminder to keep the kids off the screens most of the time and let them be bored a little more. I'm always amazed at the things the kids come up with when they play together and don't watch tv, it's just so hard to keep the tv off between 3-6pm when they seem to turn into little monsters and I turn into the crazy lady. 

Also! Let it be known that the last day that the kids have swum in the unheated pool so far this year is: NOVEMBER 2nd, 2020!

Tomorrow is another week of homeschool amid Corona Virus 2020, should be a good one. 

Crossing a New Bridge

No, really, they built a new bridge by our house and we went on a short trek to find it and cross it.There is a green way at the end of our neighborhood that we had heard connected to a golf course via a new bridge. A bridge! That is one of Dusty's favorite things so we went for a nice Sunday walk to explore and hopefully find this new bridge. We had no idea how long we would have to walk, it ended up being a little further than we thought but it was still a really great afternoon.

Walking and walking and walking....sometimes when we are walking we talk about how efficient bikes would be.

 Zara taking a nap during our walk like she usually does. Sometimes we would pass some other walkers and ask them if they had been to the new bridge yet, and how far did we have left? But nobody knew so we just kept walking. I think at this point we sort of wished we had remembered to bring some water, at least it wasn't very hot that day so we weren't too bad off. 

Right before we got to the bridge there were some curves. It was pretty exciting, we kept saying " Is the bridge around this corner?". Zara even woke up to take in the views of the river. 

Dusty and Zara with the bridge. It is a pretty neat bridge especially considering that it is really only for pedestrians and you can't even see it from the main road. Dusty really liked it and we walked across it a few times and talked about how much he would love to build bridges someday. I think they might paint it eventually which would be neat. 

Pavement ends, and danger signs won't deter us! Dusty did say the bridge looks structurally sound :) I think they were basically done building and just cleaning everything up so we figured it was OK.

I read one time about how sometimes when deer sleep they make a little nest or space for themselves in the grass. Well, I think that I found a spot where some deer were hanging out, I was pretty excited. We did see a few deer on the walk but they were too far away for my little iphone camera.

Our weekend

Our weekend included working out in the yard and a trip to Home Depot, that place was packed! We went there with a big scheme to fence in our garden so all the animals don't eat it up this year but ended up walking out empty handed after much debating in the chicken wire aisle. Do you ever do that? I mean we spent about 45 minutes there and ended up walking out with nothing, I'm sure the workers kept walking by saying " Gee, those people are still there!". It sort of feels like wasted time but I guess it was fun to just get out of the house and see what our options were.Saturday was one of those days that looks really nice and sunny from the kitchen window and then when you go outside you have to run back into the house to grab your winter coat. Surprise  It's winter again! That was Saturday. We still went out in the yard and weeded a little and Dusty washed the cars. We wrapped Zara up in a blanket and she took a nice nap next to us while we worked. Sunday turned out to be beautiful and a lot warmer. We are still trying to figure out how we can sleep in and have enough time for all three of us to eat and get ready, we're getting better and almost didn't have to sit in the metal seats at church :) This week our goal is cushy seats! After church we took a walk in the park by our house. The weather was great and it was fun to see so many people out enjoying the day. Hope this coming weekend is just as fun.