Back to school

(This site changed its formatting so I have to make the photos pretty small to get them to fit on the page. I believe you can still click on them to see a larger version.) 

 

After 5 1/2 months at home, the kids returned to in-person school last Monday! About 70% of families decided to send their kids back to "brick & mortar". The others are doing virtual options. Some teachers are exclusively in-person or virtual, while others have a combination of in-person and online kids in classes together at the same time. Brielle started middle school, so she's experiencing a lot of changes, like having seven different teachers. She also now has to catch the bus at 6:40 in the morning (ouch), but she's been great about going to bed earlier and moving quickly in the morning. I couldn't take her "back to school" photo at the bus stop because it was dark! So I took these shots inside. She and Ronan both wear their masks all day, with exceptions for lunch and certain P.E./recess activities. So far they're liking it and are excited to be back and see their friends.

 

 

 

Kraig and I had a lot of catching up to do once we finally had some non-kid time. But we did take one day to go out to lunch at the beach. Looks pretty safe, huh?

 

 

Going back in time, we also celebrated Daddy's birthday in August!

 

 

 

Our main difficulty during the past couple months was that our fridge broke. Unfortunately it happened during a busy time and we thought that moving things to fix a potential airflow problem might fix it. By the time we realized this wasn't the problem, we had lost all of our food. After four unsuccessful repair attempts by the only LG-certified repair person we could get here (and risking exposure each time), he declared it "unfixable". We went SIX weeks without a fridge. Kraig did get a mini fridge to keep a few essentials, like margarine, ketchup, soy sauce, and ingredients for the next meal. Every day we ran to the Circle K to spend $4.26 for two bags of ice to put in a cooler to hold more essentials. But eventually we had to buy a new fridge then wait another week for it to arrive. It was just another hassle we didn't need during this time. Not being able to store refrigerated food meant we worked our way through the emergency COVID supplies from the pantry (when we thought the grocery stores might shut down), and we had to run to the grocery store more often just to buy items for a single meal. We love the new fridge and are so relieved that we can stop stressing about the situation.

 

 

An update on the "lizard habitat": We (and Ginny) have seen a few lizards climbing on it, but they didn't seem particularly interested by the squishy blueberries I put out on the platform. However, this cute squirrel seemed to appreciate it!

During the last month we took the opportunity to get outside when we could. Many days have been oppressively hot or dotted with thunderstorms, but we did find times to get to the pier, a park where kids can ride scooters, and Washington Oaks Gardens (about 20 minutes south of us on the coast).

There are thousands of little lizards in our neighborhood, but we rarely see skinks. We loved this "rainbow" one.

This is at Washington Oaks Gardens. I asked the kids if I could take a photo of them on the bench. Ronan was only there for one second before he ran off, but Brielle kept her pose as if he was still sitting there.

We hit the beach a few times during weekdays, when it would be pretty empty. I like how this photo seems to show both Ronan and his boogie board floating in the air.

 

 

This is the beach at Marineland. Sometimes I get photos with perfect weather and at the perfect time of day, and the colors are stunning.

We've also enjoyed some socially distanced visits with friends and family. One of the kids' favorite things to do is to visit Jessica and Jimmy's son, Kai, who turned one in June. They always bring this ball for him to play with. When he first sees them, he lights up and says, "Ball!"

We met in their backyard, where they have numerous types of fruit trees growing. They had to put yellow nets over the fruits so animals wouldn't take them. Kai showed Ronan what he found (right before we reminded Ronan to back up away from Kai).

During one of our visits, we were super-excited when an armadillo ran through their garden! Finally - this was the first time I've seen a (live) armadillo since we moved here. Jessica and Jimmy were less thrilled, since this little guy had apparently snuck in under their fence and it's not good to have armadillos ruining your garden (and possibly spreading leprosy...apparently). But Brielle, Ronan, and Kai were completely amused as Jimmy tried to get the armadillo to leave through the open gate and instead it ran across the grass. Kai loves animals and laughed as he pointed at it. After it escaped through a hole, Kai continued to trace its path to try to locate it again. It was so cute - both the armadillo and the kids' reactions.

 

 

We also got a chance to see Papa Duane and Nana Karen for the first time since the pandemic began. They brought supplies to set up in our driveway for about an hour to catch up with us. They also brought us a nice rug that will replace the aging one in our living room. It was nice to see them.

We also made a couple of trips to Gainesville to visit Granddad and Sujata. He's wearing an excellent mask from Uncle Kevin.

For the past two visits, Granddad arranged for us to have use of his neighborhood's clubhouse so we could have an indoor place (out of the heat) that would still allow for social distancing.

 

 

It was great to see them, and we also had an opportunity to enjoy take-out from Mr. Han's together. As the weather cools down, we hope to have more comfortable outdoor meetings in the future.

Finally, today Brielle and I went back to Washington Oaks Gardens for a masked playdate with her good friend, Gabby. With social distancing and assigned seats at school, there is less opportunity for social interaction with particular friends. Brielle has P.E. instead of recess (when she could play with friends from other classes), but she doesn't know the kids in P.E. yet. So it's nice that both kids were able to have play dates with friends outside of school recently.