First Day of Virtual School 2.0

We survived our first day of virtual school 2.0. Tommy is now in 3rd grade and Jake is in 1st grade. They were actually pretty excited to see other people. Even if it is on a computer. We managed all the tech stuff and got logged in on time even though 9 AM felt a little panicky. And the boys did some drawing on the computer in the new SeeSaw app that they are using for homework. We are ready for this! Or at least that is what I keep telling myself and the family because we don't really have an option.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/inybrUJsHBcLq7dh7

Family Water Balloon Fight

My family has not really has not been able to get together in person since February. Usually we do our annual trip to the ocean in August. Since we were not able to do that we decided to have a family picnic and water balloon fight. It actually was pretty awesome. It was pretty nice weather so nobody cared that we were all soaking wet.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/mQXu7iThBeChtat49

Drive In

We wanted to support our local movie theater. So we went to the drive in movie theater they set up. They were playing Finding Dori. I can't say it was super comfortable sitting in the truck. We let the boys sit in the front so they could see better. We got there pretty late (thanks Eric) so we didn't have a great view. But the boys had a good time, we got popcorn and everything. And it is nice to support struggling businesses.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ngiUqU28H1NuYC387

Mariners Poster

The Mariners were offering to have fans drop off a poster that they made and they will hang it up at T-Mobile Park. So of course I had to make one. I had Eric drop it off for more at the team store.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/z666Aj8s7wXWWGzv9

Tie Dye

The boys and I did some tie dying this weekend. The boys loved picking the colors and putting them on. They did a few and then I used up a bunch of my old softball shirts to use up the rest of dye. We also did some white cotton masks too. Thanks Sarah Sarah for giving Jake the kit for his birthday. It took us a while to find enough things to tie dye but finally made them. Lot's of fun!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3pBB2x21VMjXT3pFA

New Slip and Slide Ride

 The boys got a new rider for their slip and slide from Grannys. It is bigger than the other ones they had and popped. Boy were they cruising.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/sdCk88av3uFbnHVH7

Look At Them Apples

 Huge apples coming off of my parents apple trees.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/apy5YfzZtzQ6eHyr6

Dog Man Mania

Since Tommy is so into Dog Man books right now I bought him all of the books. We had a couple from Granny's and I was keeping an eye out for more. But since he is doing so good with his reading I didn't want to make him wait.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5wnFNTRJ3EyJGRqJ9

When You Love Your Kitty Too Much

 Tommy loves his kitty. Sometimes a little too much.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/yrJk31zMQJmEGo3y5

I Want To Read

For those of you that have heard the challenges I have had on reading with Tommy will understand how amazing this is. I no longer have to make Tommy read. I have started finding him reading on his own for fun because he likes it. Found him and Jake buddy reading together. I have been waiting for more Dog Man books to appear at Granny's. But since not are appearing I just bought him all the ones he doesn't have on Amazon. I figured since he is really enjoying them I better encourage him reading more.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/29EqZqeFf8SG8K3C9

Tommy's Pictures

We were cleaning things up around the house the last couple weeks. I found my probably 15 year old camera in a box. It was a decent camera back in the day. I got a new one that had a larger zoom and HD videos when the boys were born. I passed it along to Eric who used it for a while then got a phone with a better camera. So I gave it to Tommy to use. He has used our phones a few times to go take pictures. But this he could use whenever he felt like it. If you want to know what your kids are up to when you aren't looking give them a camera. They even figured out on their own how to do the self timer to take selfies with it. It did get taken away for a couple of days after I discovered some inappropriate selfies. But here are all the best pictures he took after I deleted a lot of bad ones. Reminds me of when I was a kid. My mom would get so mad because I wasted so many rolls of film 😂

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7ehdKxyWccSiJpQQ7

Kayaking

Eric and I took the boys kayaking. We went pretty early in the day to avoid crowds. But even at about 10:30 KVI was already fairly crowded. So we tried the Burton Waterfront. Not as nice of a beach or water. But we only came across a couple people. The boys had a great time. They are getting pretty good at paddling and now go pretty fast. I am going to have to get myself a kayak to keep up with them. They also tried a little swimming. It didn't go that great. There was a lot of complaining about how it was salt water. I kept reminding them that their grandmother did her swim lessons in the salt water. But they weren't really digging it. But they got to cool off and have some fun.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xtbyACZegmg27k1r5

Sun Rise Photo Shoot

Crazy Eric likes to wake up before sunrise and get pictures of it. He also really likes to take pictures of sunsets. No this is not a new hobby just since COVID-19. Eric put a bug in Tom's ear that his pictures of sunsets and sunrises are really good and Tom should go take a picture with him. So Eric woke up Tom at 5:30 to go see the sunset. He took his camera with him so he could take his own pictures. He loved it. Of course he was wrecked the whole afternoon. So I told Eric maybe he should do a sunset next time instead of a sunrise 😁

https://photos.app.goo.gl/8tzTB6fpcXm2TuKc6

Weaving With Your Kitty

When you are working on your yarn weaving project and your cat just won't leave you alone.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/oJESi5Keny1P4tpeA

No One Allowed

I think Jake has summed up pretty well how everyone is feeling about their personal space in our house right now.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/aXE86FH5pgeevxncA

Jake and His Daisies

Jake is so cute with his daisies.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/keRfpjMEejVhFkpYA

Potato Harvest

The boys and I had a lot of fun harvesting the potatoes the last couple days. It was like a treasure hunt. We ended up with a fair amount of them. And there were a bunch of little babies which we stuck back in the bottom layer of the potato box to see what would happen. And oddly enough the boys who don't like potatoes loved my rosemary roasted potatoes. They kept asking for more and more helpings.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2oqShygtQhN7oVoA9

Sprinkler Tricks

 It appears that the boys are working on some sprinkler tricks to pass the time.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/PCu4fFUUxFLbJhsg9

New Homework Station

The boys didn't have their greatest day, so I decided we would spend the afternoon cleaning. It actually turned out a little exciting to get things cleaned out a bit. Got some bags for Granny's ready. And we set up a new homework station in the bedroom. So now the boys can do their work separately with the other one in the living room.  Thanks Granny's online for the new lamp and epic moon painting. The boys are going to love zooming into class from space.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/aZKRzxV45ajiU3C27

Running in the Waves

There was a low tide today. So I took the boys to the beach. We went pretty early around 10 to avoid the crowd. We found a little peninsula that kept the boys in small area without me having to tell them to stay away from people. By the time we left it was starting to get pretty crowded so we had to wear our masks on the way out. I am glad we went early.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/waeRVNovfR28osJi7