Biden/Harris ticket wins! Biden will be the 46th President and it feels great to know we have a leader in that position who is capable of the job and is also human, empathetic, cares for all, and is an example of what a great leader should be! Harris will be the first female Vice President, who is also the first Black and Indian woman Vice President Elect.
We happened to be in the town of Asheville during the historic moment and felt so good. It was really awesome to see the girls so involved in the election process!
Dedicated to my Justin – 12 Years…12 Years since our amazing wedding. 20 years together! It’s all gone by in the blink of an eye. It honestly feels like it was just last year that we were dating in college, hanging out at the delis, working our first jobs and doing the long distance relationship thing, you living in the loft, buying our first condo together, getting married and having the best dance party, having twins, living with my parents, having a third baby, buying a single family home, having four au pairs join our family, and so much more.
I love you, our life, and there is nobody I would rather be on this journey with.
Seven years we celebrated in Turks and Caicos. Ten years we celebrated in Colorado. Eleven years we celebrated in Italy. This year we celebrated in Vienna…on a family hike with the kids.
Your present to me this year was certainly one of my favorites….a delicious steak dinner cooked by you (no cooking for mama) and served Italian style by three novice waiters.
Delicious, thoughtful, romantic, and perfect. Cheers to many more! Love you babe!
School this year looks different than previous years as school is 100% virtual in Fairfax County. Distance learning here we come!!
We kept with the bus stop breakfast tradition. The girls were thrilled. They ate more than they normally do…I think the first day jitters weren’t as intense knowing they weren’t jumping on a bus and then into the school building, but instead were headed back to class from the comfort of their own home.
The whole gang including brothers and sisters
Quite a few of the neighborhood students already went to private school before COVID and then recently a few more switched to private school since the private schools are in person. That literally left four fourth graders and four second graders at OES.
The second and fourth graders
The day went well. They each have a full day starting at 9:15 and go to 3:45 with a number of breaks built in during the day. Harper said her day was AWESOME, Avery was genuinely happy about her day, and Emerson said she had a good day. Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for a better start. I felt like a million bucks too as I didn’t spend several hours a day today reviewing workbooks and teaching the girls. We will take it one day, one week, one month, one season at a time. It was a good start to the untraditional school year.
Our annual beach trip…we weren’t sure if it was going to happen this year….from booking late, to COVID-19, to a hurricane the week before our scheduled departure…but somehow by the grace of God, we along with the Brophys and Nidays made it safely to Holden Beach, NC this past Saturday.
We hung out with friends indoors for the first time since early March! We greeted each other with a big smile hello and awkwardly no hugs….but we were indoors with non-family members without socially distancing, without masks, and it felt amazing…almost normal!
We spent time at the beach.
Twins
The Brophys, Maddys, and Nidays…..8 kids in all!
Our family of fiveKite flyingWave watching
Fun times on the beach
We spent time at the pool.
We walked to the pier.
We walked to get ice cream and explore the candy shop.
Avery doing Avery!
Walking for treats!
We prepared and ate meals together.
The grown-ups adulted while the kids hung-out.
We celebrated Harper’s 7th birthday!
Morning presents
Breakfast pancakes, and more morning gifts!
She was thrilled when Woody made a surprise appearance and magically brought a Toy Story cake and left it on her bed as we were about to indulge in cupcakes. Her laughter and excitement surrounding the mysterious cake was magical. The kids became detectives to try to solve the mystery of the delivery.
Happiest kid on the block:)
Justin and I walked A LOT, averaging over 20,000 steps (9 miles) per day.
We took pictures together on the beach in front of our house. It was windy and the moments where all kids were cooperating at the same time was limited.
Missing Qunnie
All 8 of them!Hello wind
Family PicturesGroup shots….Look at the camera BearWow…are we really supposed to keep our eyes open looking directly into the sun!
Not having something to do each day such as walking on a pier, playing miniature golf, visiting the sand dunes or the aquarium somehow gave us two to three hours back each day. We put on real clothes once, wore make up only for picture night, and chilled for six days.
Several comments were made by the kids about feeling like the other kids were their brothers or sisters and that it felt like there was no more COVID. Indeed, indeed!
The celebration started Saturday where I surprised them with gourmet cupcakes from Teapot & Co. in Reston. We took the girls and the cupcakes to my parents, went swimming, sang Happy Birthday, ate cupcakes, and ordered takeout from Patsys.
The celebration continued Sunday where we picnicked in D.C with sandwiches made from food from the delicious Italian Gourmet. It was a hot humid day so our stay was short-lived but we did take a few pictures in front of the pretty flower garden.
And even stood too close to the sprinkler by accident.
We walked COVID style to the Washington Monument where we had the place to ourselves. Then it was time for ice-cream…we surprised the girls….Harper and I both had the idea! The girls had milkshakes from a small local shop Toby’s in Arlington.
Monday we took off from celebrating. Tuesday was the actual day. We woke up to a rainy dreary day, the effects of Hurricane Isaias. Avery and Emerson awoke to a new scooter to their delight. We enjoyed a leisurly breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and fruit. We opened more presents, which included a gift card to Gap so you each could pick out your own clothes. As the rain kept falling, the girls had a lazy morning watching The Sound of Music. During moments the rain would stop, the movie was paused and outdoor breaks on the scooter occurred.
Avery and Emerson have always stated that the worst part of being a twin is sharing a birthday. I empathasized with them and told them I saw their point. SO, this year knowing that their every other year friend birthday party wasn’t going to happen due to COVID-19, I decided we would extend their birthday…it was only fair since they would be sharing one.
Then a miracle occurred and somehow around 1:00 the sky cleared up, sun started to shine, and temperate warmed up. We were able to stick with our plan of having Cora and Grace come over for a pool party at Papa and Grandma’s house. At 2:30 we departed our house…me driving us all in masks.
You girls swam for hours, opened presents…many from Papa and Grandma, you indulged in donuts (Avery’s birthday treat) and cupcakes (Emme’s birthday treat), beat a pinata (which was a surprise), and ate pizza for dinner. Later in the evening, we read our annual birthday letters. You girls had a blast and were so thankful for your presents and party.
All three girls did soccer camp this week through VYS. I totally intended to take a picture of all three of them and then flat out forgot. They all had fun…playing in close to 100 degree heat Monday through Thursday and then in pouring down rain Friday.
Woody, from Toy Story, was a fixture in Harper’s first grade classroom. There was an instance during the school year where Woody magically appeared on Harper’s desk. To hear Harper tell that story was pure magic; she lit up as she explained Woody’s superpowers. Even after in person school ended, Harper would ask Ms. Rastelli about Woody’s whereabouts and Harper would then relay during family conversations what Woody was up to recently. A few weeks ago, Harper spoke to Ms. Rastelli and during the conversation, Harper mentioned how funny it would be if Woody showed up at our house.
Can you imagine Harper’s surprise upon opening the mailbox today, seeing a package addressed to her and Woody literally popping out of the package. I was watching as Harper grabbed the mail…she pulled Woody out so quickly and ran with him screaming into the backyard where Justin was working that it was Woody! The envelope and all the other mail dropped to the ground instantaneously upon her recognition of Woody!
It has been four hours since Woody arrived with a letter in our mail. Harper has not stopped talking about Woody’s superpowers. Woody hasn’t left her side and she has declared him her “best doll friend”. I’m sitting here watching Harper and Avery play make believe with Woody going on hour four and despite Emerson trying everything in her power to make Harper question Woody’s magic, this girl BELIEVES! Seeing her innocence, happiness, and joy is the real magic.
Needing a change of scenery, Justin and I booked a super cute farmhouse Airbnb rental in Crozet, VA for three nights for us and the girls. The Barn at Crozet.
We took evening walks…
We hiked…our first big hike was on Ragged Mountain Reservoir.
Second full day, it was a challenging hike up to Humpback Rock where we enjoyed a quick picnic lunch at the top.
Awful angle, but needed to capture me and Mr. Scruffy Mountain Man and our big feet in our hiking boots.
Second hike of the second full day was to Doyles Fall off of Skyline Drive in search of the falls. We made it to the first one, but after a few spills and some really tired girls who had hiked their butts off in search of a fall to swim, we decided to enjoy the view for a few minutes and then turn around. Forty minutes straight of a downhill path to get to the falls made for a 40 minute hike back uphill the entire time! We just kept telling the girls to put one foot in front of the other.
We ate good food which included cooking a delicous meal at home the first evening, creamy and delicious ice cream for Crozet Creamery (twice), Benny’s pizza (the largest pizza we have ever had in our entire life), and delicious pork barbeque from Smoked Kitchen & Tap.
We lounged and spent quality time together as a family cooking, playing games, reading and talking.
Justin worked for a few hours each day while I took the entire week off. The girls and I went peach picking at Chiles Peach Orchard.
We explored neighborhoods to get a feel for smaller town living. We finalized a huge decision in our house and opted for virtual learning for the upcoming school year, a decision that weighed heavily on us but in the end we felt it was the better option for our family. Neither option (virtual learning four days a week or in person two days a week) were ideal scenarios, but in the end our whole family was on board with virtual. While we certainly are mourning the loss of a normal school year due to COVID 19, we are excited abut the opportunities we will have as a family to travel by car since Justin and I and the girls will be able to work and do school work remotely from anywhere.
Friday afternoon Avery and Harper were in the living room waiting for Emerson and me to join to read a chapter of Trumpet of the Swan. Upon entering the room, Harper was crying…a true scared cry. Apparently, Avery had taken her glasses off and Harper was scared of her eyes. I was honestly dumbfounded at first. Yes, Avery’s eyes move, and they are unique, but Harper is nearly seven years old…she has been living with Avery for nearly seven years and she just now noticed Avery’s eyes? Say what? Yes, Avery has worn glasses since she was three and her glasses somewhat mask the real appearance of her eyes, but Harper and Avery have shared a bedroom off and on over the year, they have showered together…. Avery doesn’t wear her glasses to bed, Avery doesn’t wear her glasses to in the shower!
My first instinct was to protect Avery’s feelings. Avery took it like a champ though and told me that sometimes her friends call her eyes crazy and are intrigued by them….she shows them her eyes, they laugh about things, and then that is it. That hurt my mama heart too but knowing that Avery has learned implemented skills necessary to respond to such questions and comments made my mama heart smile. To my delight Emerson stepped in when it was clear I was still in disbelief that Harper had never noticed whatever it was she was noticing about Avery’s eyes that scared her. Emerson stepped in and said, “well maybe Harper doesn’t understand why Avery’s eyes move…let’s explain it to her”. At that very second, Avery ran upstairs to get her book on nystagmus and for 20 minutes read each page beautifully. She paused to explain how she relates to the characters and how she has used so many points in this book to explain things to her friends. At the end of the book, Avery stood eye to eye with Harper and said “now for the most important part. You need to see me without my glasses.” She then took off her glasses and ensured that Harper took a good look.
There are times when it hurts my heart that Avery’s eyes are different but am so quickly reminded that different is unique and more importantly experiencing something differently opens up one’s ability to see outside society’s norm, to see beyond what we view to be normal. It paves the ways for being openminded, inclusion, empathy, bravery, and kindness.
My mama heart had all the feels Friday afternoon, but most of all pure love for my girls.
All three girls did soccer camp this week through VYS. I totally intended to take a picture of all three of them and then flat out forgot. They all had fun…playing in close to 100 degree heat Monday through Thursday and then in pouring down rain Friday.
