We bid goodbye to the strange year of 2020 with a quiet New Year's celebration at home. While 2020 had much sadness, disappointment, fear and frustration, we also have a lot of positive memories from our quarantine days. Life was pretty simple, and we grew in appreciation for our community and our family. I have memories of so many family walks, bike rides, hikes, when people hung encouraging signs in their windows, and it was a treat to see other people just to say hello to from the driveway or across the street.
To celebrate the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, we made some yummy fondue and tried out our new soft-serve ice cream machine! That dairy overload didn't help the quest of making it to midnight - the kids were in bed by 9 on New Year's Eve! While celebrating at home, we also participated in the Virtual Burlington Highlight festival, which included performances and hands-on workshops for the kids. Evie did a paper bead making art workshop, and a Circus Smirkus workshop where she learned to juggle and do some hula hoop tricks, and then we watched a Circus Smirkus performance and fireworks. Fireworks on the TV really are not the same as in-person, but the other events added some fun to the day.
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| Learning to juggle with Circus Smirkus |
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| Hula Hoop tricks |
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| This was legitimately a hole in the cheese for our fondue - must be a good sign, right? |
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| If you drop something in the fondue, kiss the person to your left! |
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| Creemee time! |
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| Success! |
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| Frankie's first New Year's - she's a party animal! |
We enjoyed my favorite New Year's Day breakfast of Ebelskivers (Danish filled pancakes), followed by a chilly New Year's Day hike back to the location where Frankie fell through the ice a few weeks ago (I wanted to start the year by facing my fears, and we made sure Frankie was on leash). Later on, we warmed up by a cozy winter bonfire at Aunt Pea's.
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| Ebelskivers |
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| Ebelskiver chef |
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| Family hike |
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| The scary pond |
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| Can you see Evie and Noah's message in the sand? |
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| Winter bonfire |
A little snowfall helped us enjoy lots of outdoor time for the final few days of vacation, including a spectacular day outside with our friends building a giant snowman, sledding and letting the puppies and kids play. We realized how much we have missed our friends, and we talked about all the things we look forward to doing together as soon as it's safe.
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| Frankie and Millie were covered in snowballs! Their poor doodle fur collects snow like crazy! |
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| Team effort for snowman building |
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| 5-layer snow person |
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| Frankie's attached snowball collection |
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| Noah and Simon |
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| Friends! |
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| A very tired and soggy pup after hours of snow play |
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| Evie and Noah built this awesome igloo at home! |
Other vacation week highlights included a visit to Church Street to see the Christmas lights, a Christmas celebration with Grandpa Tom, and lots of sewing projects (Evie), woodworking projects (Noah), snuggling Frankie, and building a 1000-piece puzzle together.
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| Frankie's first visit to Church Street was very windy! But the lights were beautiful! |
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| Church Street tree lights |
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| Christmas celebration #2 with Grandpa Tom |
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| 1000-piece Lego Minifigure Puzzle complete! |
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| Evie thought this would look cute, and I have to just laugh at her fluff |
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| Evie had been sewing in her room... |
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| ...until Matt built a new sewing/craft table for her in the basement! |
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| Noah's workstation setup |
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| Noah made this puzzle with his jigsaw |
Everyone was feeling a little bit gloomy about the return to routine this week, but we were also ready to get back into a routine. A side benefit of the return to school is that the kids can see their friends, since we can't do any play dates right now, and they have definitely missed that socializing. We couldn't bear to take down our Christmas decorations just yet, so we will leave the tree up until next weekend and enjoy the glow of lights for one more week. We are excited that many of our neighbors have agreed to keep outdoor lights lit through January to boost spirits during this dark time of year!
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| Winter wonderland outside the window. So pretty! |
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| This is where we let Noah eat his breakfast on the first day back at school! Pick your battles, right? |
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| Homemade muffins to encourage peaceful mornings as we get back into routine |
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