Pandemic School Year

Last week wrapped up our extra-long summer break, and the kids headed back to school on Thursday and Friday for their first two days of their hybrid schedule.  There were so many emotions - relief, worry, uncertainty, excitement, curiosity, and happiness.  The kids were really excited to go back, and Matt and I were so exhausted from puppy nighttime wake-ups that we didn't have time to focus much on the worries.  We did our best to sift through all the information from the schools and send the kids with everything they needed for their first day, but nothing felt normal on that first morning.

Noah's teacher gave him "Jitter Glitter" to put under his pillow the night before school started

This glitter is everywhere!

Miss Frankie missed her buddies when they were at school!

Thankfully, our schools have done an awesome job so far, and the kids felt very positive about the first couple of days.  I give so much credit to the teachers for making school seem normal and fun despite all the changes to the norm.  As we have found with other pandemic changes, there are often some silver linings.  The kids like having some extra days at home, eating lunch in their classroom, having more outdoor learning time at school, and of course they're enjoying the luxury of getting a ride to/from school rather than taking the bus! Neither kid complained a bit about wearing their mask for the whole day.  

Noah was so excited to be able to bring a Chromebook home from school for his remote days

Even though it was a 2-day school week, we were exhausted by Friday evening.  We treated the kids to ice cream after school, then Matt and I celebrated with happy hour out at Black Flannel Brewery, and we enjoyed the annual Fall Fest at Aunt Pea's house on Saturday as a family. 

Celebrating the end of the first week of school

Frankie came to happy hour, and of course, everyone loved her!

Happy Hour!

King Me and their awesome music for Aunt Pea's party

Yummy Grazer's food for the party

Frankie enjoyed her first Fall Fest!

We were graced with a couple of warm September days before school started, so we enjoyed our last hurrah at the pool before it closed for the season, and joined some neighborhood friends for an ice cream birthday celebration afterward.  It was the perfect ending to a great pool season.  This year especially, the pool brought such a sense of community and normalcy when so much else was put on hold.  Now, it's time to move on to soccer season!

Noah (in teal)

Frankie continues to bring us lots of joy and very little sleep.  She is such a sweet pup, obviously with her rambunctious moments, but it is a lot of fun to see her learning and growing into her place in our family.  She loves to just be around us, whether it's napping on the kitchen floor while we cook or hanging out in the grass while the kids play outside.  But the nightttime wake-ups...YAWN!