Homework helper

I think someone is missing his "sisters" while they are at school! Morgan sat down to do her homework and Milo sat down right next to her. Notice his paw on her leg??? He just likes to be close to us.

First fire pit of the season

I hope we see a lot more of these this fall! I enjoyed relaxing by the fire with my wine! :)

2 days at school = Covid

Well, we made it two days at school and then this happened... Avery woke up Sunday morning feeling really awful. She just slept on the couch for awhile. Milo tried to make her feel better with his cuddles, but it didn't work. :(

She just kept sleeping... we moved upstairs and hung out in the master bedroom watching movies. Well, I watched them, she slept through most of them.

Then, Monday morning she woke up feeling a little better. About an hour after she woke up, she became super congested with such a runny nose. So, I tested her for Covid and it came back positive. I was kind of surprised (not sure why), so I did a second test. Both clearly positive. Ugh.

Protocol for school now is that the kids have to quarantine for 5 days after the initial symptoms and then they can come back to school. While on quarantine, they will get assignments and call in to class for lessons so they don't have to take sick days (as long as they are feeling up for it).

A couple of Avery's friends wrote her cards and had all of her friends sign it. So cute!

Oh and by the way, turns out Avery's class has a little outbreak of Covid. I think there were 5 or 6 kids with it after the first two days! Morgan's class did not have any kids out with Covid.

Pool time

We're trying to get in as much pool time as we can while the weather is nice and the pool is open. Avery was a little tired, but was excited to swim with her friend Sophia.

 

A new dance season

Avery decided this dance season to try something new... she is no longer doing lyrical ballet. She wanted to give jazz and tap a try! She's super excited! As of right now, she is the only one in her class! It's a combo tap and jazz class for 8+ year olds. Hopefully, some more kids will join, but for now she's getting private lessons!

 

Class pictures from the first day

They sent out class pictures from the first day.

Morgan is standing between Tess and Bianca

Avery is standing between Emma and Neena

First day of 4th grade

Oh man, here we go... 4th graders! I can't believe how old they are getting! Morgan has Mr. Miller and Avery has Mrs. Smitley. Avery is in accelerated math again this year, so she goes to 5th grade for math class and has Mrs. Hodkowski. Also, this year Avery is in the gifted program (called Extend). So, every Tuesday, she is bussed to another elementary school for the day and has Mrs. Stickley as her teacher. Good luck girls! We are so proud of you! :)

Milo was not cooperating with the picture taking

Such a yucky first day

As always, we celebrated a great first day with some ice cream!

Countdown to school

We had our school supply drop off / meet your teacher on Tuesday. The PTA held a little party afterwards with bouncy houses and face painting. The kids had so much fun seeing their friends!

This was the only picture I took...

 

Roadrunners

Here we go... starting our new soccer league with the Roadrunners! Practices are 90 minutes twice a week and you have to wear uniforms even to practice! :)

 

Playdates are the best!

The girls got together with their friend Lizzie and made fun creations with clay!

We missed Milo

I'm not sure who missed who more while we were in New Buffalo... Milo or the girls!

He did better this time and didn't come home really sick. The probiotics from the vet helped... or he's getting more used to being boarded. But, either way, he was really happy to be back at Milo's house and with his favorite people.

Family Pictures

We had some family pictures taken while in New Buffalo. The weather was ok until we got on the beach. Then, it was like a windstorm hit! It was so beyond windy, but we went ahead with the photos. We all look a little windblown, but still great to have pictures of everyone together!

 

Family Vacay in New Buffalo

We finally made it back to New Buffalo with my family for a vacation! The pandemic had sent us to other locations the past few years. Here is a photo dump from the week. These are not really in order. :)

Packed full.. on our way!

Avery with her bestie Calvin - walking to check out the beach

Trying out the new slide Brett brought

Thumbs up!

A little iPad time

Rainy day = movie!

We swam SO much!

She's part fish!

The kids and.... Matt!

Night swims were the best!

The hot tub had fun lights

Avery loves to pose

Waffles courtesy of Uncle Brett

Loading them up with all kinds of goodies

Beach day in St. Jospeh

Backbends at the beach

Lunch at Silver Beach Pizza - cheers!

Spaghetti is so messy!

And of course, the gigantic fountain in St. Joseph

Extreme close-up!

Drying off and warming up

Enjoying my beer from the Kropscott vacy in Ludington

Morgan helping Daddy grill

Making homemade ice cream with Papa

It's delicious!

Load it up with toppings!

Playing at the park nearby

Sunset time

Avery and Mommy selfie

Morgan with Beckett, Grayson and Nolan

Now Hunter joined them

Always swimming... even with swimmer's ear

Avery made brownies for Daddy's birthday

Decorating cupcakes for Daddy's birthday

Posing at the beach

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Night swim with Daddy

Getting one last hot tub in before we check out

Last swim before we leave

View of the back of the house and the pool area

Another view of the back of the house and pool

Sunset pictures of the kiddos

Goofball

Nice job Avery! Ha!

Avery diving on the slide

Giving Calvin a little help

I think Nolan left a little early!

They really tried to make the moat fill up with water - no luck!

Someone buried Papa's feet

Family sunset picture

Morgan and Daddy

Pretty sure she's throwing a rock, but looks like some sort of power pose :)

Grayson and Morgan

Avery doing gymnastics at the beach... again.

No luck finding actual sand toys at the store, so these had to do. :)

Silly family picture with the shirts Aunt Sandi made us all

Normal family pic - love these shirts!

Cousins!

Sisters!

Night swim in the hot tub

Night swim

Posing in front of the lights

The sun makes Avery's hair look like it's on fire!

Of course, Morgan makes a canine friend!

Hitting Oink's of course!

Ready for the family pictures

Family pictures - will post more of these later

Oink's - yum!

As always, we had a blast in New Buffalo! I have so many more pictures and memories from the week. I may try to add another post to capture some of those. But I will leave you with our favorite jokes from the youngest of the family, Calvin. He had some really off the wall jokes - ha!

What do you call a tree with no bark?

A lamp.

What do you call water without water?

Gatorade.